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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 Great, one of the twelve Apostles, is celebrated on July 25. Saint James, the son of Zebedee, along with Saints Peter and John, were the first 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. He was the first Apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2). 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 in mid-first century Jerusalem. The relics of St James the Greater were discovered in Compostela, (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, historian David Farmer explains, ‘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 an 9th century martyrology. Perhaps, as the Muslim armies conquered the Middle East, some of the relics were relocated to Spain, an encouraged by Spanish kings such as Alphonso III (866-910) who fostered the cult of St. James. There is no Vatican stamp specifically identifying St James. REFERENCES: |
