St. James

St. James was one of the few closest apostles of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself called James and his brother John, when they were in the sea shore with their father because they were fishermen. James was the son of Zebedee and Salome and was born at Bethsaida. Jesus named St. James and his brother John 'the sons of thunder' because of their fiery temper. St. James was present when Jesus cured the mother-in-law of St. Peter the apostle (Mark 1:29) and was also present when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from death (Mark 5:37). St. James was also one of the three disciples selected by Jesus to witness His Transfiguration at the Mount Tabor (Mark 9:2-8). St. James was also one of the three apostles at the garden of Gethsemane and witnessed the blood sweating by Christ when praying alone (Mark 14:33). St. James was also present when Jesus appeared to the apostles on the lake shore of Tiberius (John 21:2). Tradition says that when St. James was preaching the Gospel in Iberia, after the ascension of Jesus, the Holy Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, appeared to him on January 2, in 40 A.D. upon a pillar on the bank of the Ebo River at Caesaraugusta. The pillar is preserved and venerated within the present Basilica of Our Lady of Pillar in Zaragoza, Spain. He then returned to Judea, where he was executed by King Herod Agrippa-I (son of Aristobulus-IV and grandson of Herod the Great) in the year 44 A.D. by a sword. His martyrdom is reported in the Acts of Apostles 12:2 and the only martyrdom of St. James is recorded in the New Testament. St. James was the first of the 12 apostles martyred for the cause of Christian faith. When there was a war between King Alfonso-I of the Central African Kingdom of Kongo and his brother Mpanzu a Kitima, Alfonso saw a vision in the sky where St. James appeared with the heavenly host and that frightened the soldiers of his brother Mpanzu and they ran away. King Alfonso won the battle with the intercession of St. James. In honor of the divine help rendered by St. James, King Alfonso-I declared July 25 as a national holiday.

extracts from the Catholic Liturgical Calendar

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