Crossing the Night

November 29, 2011

Tags: Spanish Civil War, Crossing the Pyrenees

Crossing the Night

Video giving an illustrated account of St Josemaria’s trek across the Pyrenees in 1937 (click on the image for a videoclip with English subtitles).

In November 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, in very painful circumstances, St Josemaria had to escape from Spain in order to be able to carry on his apostolate in freedom. Like many other Spaniards he followed the route taken in peacetime by smugglers, but which in wartime was the road to exile.

Crossing the Night is a Spanish documentary describing the circumstances that forced St Josemaria to escape from Madrid, and follows his trek to reach the neutral territory of Andorra. The documentary is based on a book of the same title, which includes plentiful accounts of the trip by people who took part, as well as photographs and notes made during the expedition itself. Some scenes have been dramatized, using contemporary clothing and items, and objects that St Josemaria used during the Spanish Civil War.

Sources: first-hand witnesses
In the 1970s Professor Juan Jimenez Vargas retraced the route taken by the expedition. The documentary has been produced using photos and is narrated by one of those who took part. Other witness accounts and commentaries give a good picture of the situation of those making the crossing.

Archive images
Archive images obtained from Universal Pictures newsreel show various events of the Spanish Civil War, from the assault on the Montana Barracks, just opposite the DYA Academy where St Josemaria was living at the outbreak of the war, to the border post at Hendaye where the refugees crossed back into Spain.

The human drama of war
The documentary follows the trek chronologically but does not aim to include every single detail of it. Instead it represents the human drama involved: the real dangers encountered and the way participants reacted to them. Obviously, the documentary focuses most on St Josemaria’s thoughts and attitudes at that time.

The trek and its stages
The documentary begins with an introduction to the events that obliged St Josemaria, like so many others, to hide and then escape in the tumultuous times following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

After this, the expedition across the Pyrenees mountains is described: how contact was made with clandestine organizations, and other preparations. A special section centers on the doubts and anxieties undergone by St Josemaria during that time, which were providentially dispelled by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Rialp district where the group was hiding in the forest before beginning the trek. The rest of the documentary relates the arduous night marches to the Andorra border.

Buy the DVD Cruzando la noche (in Spanish) here