Saint James, also known as the Apostle James or James the Greater, was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He was the brother of John the Evangelist. As the two worked with their father mending their nets in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called them to become “fishers of men.”
The nickname Jesus gave the two brothers—the “sons of thunder”—was an apt one. When Samaritans would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem (a city Samaritans hated), the disciples James and John saw this and asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them (Luke 9:54-55).
James was one of three who had the special privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and Jesus’ agony in Gethsemani.
To the best of our knowledge, James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. King Herod had him killed by the sword. Little else is known of his life. Tremendous devotion to him grew up around a tomb in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. How James came to be buried there was a mystery. According to legend, he had traveled to Spain in the early years of his brief ministry and met with little success, winning over only a handful of disciples.
Legend also tells us that two of his disciples, Theodore and Athanasius, accompanied him back to Jerusalem, where he was beheaded at the hands of Herod. It is believed these disciples stole his body and with it climbed into a rudderless boat. They begged God to be their pilot; the boat drifted to northern Spain, and there James was buried. Saint James is the patron saint of pilgrims and of Spain. We celebrate his memorial feast day on the 25th of July.
Prayer
Gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the twelve to suffer martyrdom for the name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Improbable Benedictine 