Apostle
Two of the Apostles went by the name James: James the Greater (taller) and James the Lesser (shorter). Today we present James the Greater. This James is the brother of John the Evangelist. The two were called by Jesus as they worked with their father in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had already called another pair of brothers from a similar occupation: Peter and Andrew. “He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They, too, were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1: 19-20). James was one of the “inner circle” of apostles that included the two pairs of brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John. James had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and the agony in Gethsemane.
Two incidents in the Gospels describe the temperament of this man and his brother. Saint Matthew tells us that their mother came (Mark says it was the brothers themselves) to ask that they could have the seats of honor in the Kingdom. “Jesus said in reply, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We can’” (Matthew 20: 22). Jesus then told them they would indeed drink the cup and share his baptism of pain and death, but that sitting at his right hand or left was not his to give—it “is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Matthew 20: 23).
The other disciples became indignant at the ambition of James and John. Then Jesus taught them all the lesson of humble service: The purpose of authority is to serve. They are not to impose their will on others, or “lord” it over them. This is what Jesus himself did. He was the servant of all; the service imposed on him was the supreme sacrifice of his own life.
On another occasion, James and John gave evidence that the nickname that Jesus gave them, “sons of thunder,” was an apt one. The Samaritans would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to hated Jerusalem. “When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ Jesus turned and rebuked them…” (Luke 9: 54-55).
Legend has it that following the crucifixion of Jesus, James made his way to the Iberian Peninsula (present day Spain and Portugal) to spread the word of Jesus there before returning to Judea. It was in Judea that James became the first of the apostles to be martyred. “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12: 1-3).
According to legend, James body was transported back to the Iberian Peninsula by his followers. Landing on the northwest coast of the peninsula, they proceeded up the Ulla River, landing at Iria Flavia (modern-day Padron, Galicia, Spain). The Celtic Queen Lupia ruled these lands, and when asked by James’ followers if they could bury his body she refused and sent troops after them. While chasing them across a bridge, with James body, the bridge collapsed killing her troops. Queen Lupia took this as a sign and converted to Christianity. She provided an ox and cart for the followers of James to transport the body. Unsure of where they should bury the sacred remains, his followers decided to let the ox continue until it chose a place to rest. After pausing at a stream, the ox finally came to rest under an oak tree at the top of a hill and it was here that they buried James, and it is here that the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela stands today.
One Spanish form of St James is Santo Iago, which easily is shortened to Santiago. (Other forms of James would be Diego or Jaime).
How did St. James become the great military patron of Spain? During the celebrated battle of Clavijo between Christian forces and Muslim Moors, Santiago suddenly appeared on a milk-white charger, waving aloft a white standard. This manifestation was in response to the Christian soldiers invoking his name as the battle cry of the day. The Muslim forces were soundly defeated, and Santiago was given the nickname, Matamoros, the “one who kills Moors.”
St James the Greater is universally regarded as the patron saint of pilgrims. The scallop shell is found everywhere on the shores of Galicia. When returning to their own countries, pilgrims would collect a scallop shell and display it on their hats to show that they had been on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
St James the Greater is represented in Christian Art in the garb of a pilgrim, with staff, gourd, and scallop shell. Alternatively, St James is often depicted riding a white horse into battle.
The Feast Day of St. James the Greater is July 25th.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!