Saint James the Greater

Saint James, son of Zebedee and brother of Saint John the Evangelist, was one of the Twelve Apostles and the first of them to give his life for Christ. He is called the Greater to distinguish him from the other apostle of that name, James, son of Alphaeus. The Church celebrates the feast of Saint James on July 25.

He was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, like his father Zebedee and his brother John; according to Saint Luke, the two brothers were partners of Simon Peter. Saint Mark describes how Jesus, walking along the shore, saw them in their boat mending their nets and called them. They left their father with the hired men and followed him. It is not known when James was born.

Jesus made him one of the Twelve and gave him and John the name Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder. Together with Peter and John, James was one of the three disciples whom Jesus took with him at special moments. He was present at the raising of the daughter of Jairus, on the mountain of the Transfiguration, where he beheld his glory, and in Gethsemane, where he saw his anguish before the Passion.

The Gospels do not hide the impetuous temper of the two brothers. When a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus, they wanted to call down fire from heaven upon it, but Jesus rebuked them. Another time they asked for the places at his right and at his left in his glory; according to Saint Matthew, it was their mother who made the request. Asked whether they could drink the cup that he drinks, they answered that they could, and Jesus foretold that they would indeed drink it.

After the Ascension, James is named among the apostles who devoted themselves to prayer in the Upper Room, and according to Benedict XVI he held an important place in the Church of Jerusalem. Between the years 41 and 44, King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, persecuting the Church, had James killed by the sword. It is the only martyrdom of an apostle recorded in the New Testament. Clement of Alexandria, quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea, handed down that the man who brought James to trial, moved by his witness, confessed faith in Christ and was beheaded together with him.

A later tradition, known at least since the time of Saint Isidore of Seville, speaks of a missionary journey of James to Spain, and another of the translation of his body there, to the place called Santiago de Compostela. Historians have long debated both traditions. Since the Middle Ages the shrine at Compostela has drawn pilgrims from all over the world, who walk the routes known as the Camino de Santiago; that is why in art James carries a pilgrim’s staff and the scroll of the Gospel. Spain venerates him as its patron.

John Paul II came to Compostela in 1982 and from there called on Europe to find itself again and revive its roots, and in 1989 he presided over World Youth Day there. Benedict XVI made a pilgrimage to Compostela in the Holy Year 2010. Saint James has been venerated since apostolic times, before canonization processes existed.