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 Opening of the Holy Door in St Peter's Jesus and the Eleven (Right Panel) Scott 1134 (1999) The Feast of Saint James the Greater, one of the twelve Apostles, is celebrated on July 25. There is no Vatican stamp specifically honoring St James, but the stamp above from 1999, showing one of the panels of the Holy Door, helps to memorialize all the Apostles. One image of Saint James the Greater can be found when one visits the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, where one of the imposing statues of the apostles that line the nave leading to the altar memoralizes Saint James. A photo of his statue is shown at the bottom of the article. James and his brother John (the sons of Zebedee) and Peter were the first three disciples of Jesus. They were present with him at the Transfiguration (Matthew 4:21), as well as at the Garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was arrested (Matthew 17:1-8). Saint James was martyred by beheading ca. 42-44 by King Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem (Acts 12:2). He was the second of the apostles to die (after Judas Iscariot) and the first to be martyred. Among his many patronages, Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and, according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.  Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain Photo by Fernando Pascullo From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license James is not to be confused with James the Lesser, son of Alpheaus, another Apostle, whose feast day is May 3. Neither is James the Greater to be confused with another James, James the Just, who was one of the leaders at the Council of Jerusalem, A.D. ca. 49-50 who was in the tradition of Jewish Christianity the first bishop of Jerusalem. The relics of St James the Greater were discovered in Compostela, in Galicia, Spain in the 9th century. However, his head is said to be buried in the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral of St. James in the Armenian section of Jerusalem, erected it is said on the spot where he was martyred. St. James the Greater is a patron saint of Spain and the pilgrimage to St. James de Compostela has been an important center for centuries up to the present day. The site at Compostela is the site of an early Christian cemetery, and historian David Farmer explains the site is: "where a martyrium testifies to the cult of a saint of early patristic times; his identify is, however unknown." There is also a record of the translation of St. James’ relics from Jerusalem to Compostela in a 9th century martyrology. Perhaps, as the Muslim armies conquered the Middle East, some of the relics were relocated to Spain, as encouraged by Spanish kings such as Alphonso III (866-910) who fostered the cult of St. James.  St. James the Great, by Camillo Rusconi Nave of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome Photo by Jastrow From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license REFERENCES: |
