Saint James the Greater
Feast day: July 25
Saint James the Greater, John’s brother, first Apostle martyred, patron of pilgrims (25/07)
Who is he?
Saint James is one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. People usually call him James the Greater to tell him apart from another Apostle with the same name, Saint James the Less. He is the patron saint of pilgrims.
Life story
James and his younger brother John were fishermen with their father, Zebedee. One day, the two brothers were mending nets in the boat with their father when Jesus called them. At once they left the boat and their father and followed him (cf. Mt 4:21-22).
Jesus gave the two brothers the name “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17), perhaps because they were hot-tempered and eager. Once, when a Samaritan village would not welcome Jesus, the two brothers asked him to call fire down from heaven to burn up that village. But Jesus turned and scolded them (cf. Lk 9:54-55). Little by little, they learned from Jesus that eagerness must go together with gentleness and forgiveness.
Together with Peter and John, he was allowed to stay close to Jesus at special moments: when Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter to life, when Jesus was transfigured on a high mountain and “his face shone like the sun” (Mt 17:2), and when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before his Passion.
After Jesus went up to heaven and the Holy Spirit came down, James bravely preached about Jesus. Around the year 44, King Herod Agrippa I persecuted the Church and had him killed by the sword in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 12:1-2). He was the first of the Twelve to give his life for the Lord.
According to tradition, he preached in Spain, and his tomb is in Santiago de Compostela. For more than a thousand years, a great many people have walked there on pilgrimage, carrying scallop shells and pilgrim staffs. That is why pictures and statues often show him as a pilgrim.
Why is he a saint?
Saint James left everything to follow the Lord. He was hot-tempered, but he let Jesus correct him and turn that eagerness into a love that serves. He was the first Apostle who dared to die for Jesus.
A lesson for you
- When you are angry and want to get back at someone, remember how Jesus corrected Saint James, and choose to forgive.
- Life is a pilgrimage back to God: each day, take one more step, with a prayer or a good deed.
- Use the energy of your young years to help everyone.
Identifying marks
- A scallop shell: the sign of the pilgrims who visit his tomb in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- A pilgrim’s staff with a water gourd hanging from it: he is the patron saint of pilgrims.
- A wide-brimmed hat and a shoulder bag: what a traveler on foot carries on a long journey.
- A sword (*): King Herod had him beheaded.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
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