Saint James the Greater: Apostle, Pilgrim Patron, and Son of Thunder

Saint James the Greater is one of the Twelve Apostles, son of Zebedee and brother of Saint John the Evangelist. He is called "the Greater" to distinguish him from the other apostle James (called "the Less" or "the Younger"). James was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, beheaded under Herod Agrippa I in AD 44, and his tomb at Santiago de Compostela in Spain is one of the three principal pilgrimage destinations of medieval and modern Catholicism, alongside Rome and Jerusalem.

Calling and the inner three

James was a Galilean fisherman, son of Zebedee and Salome. With his younger brother John he was called by Christ from his fishing nets on the Sea of Galilee. Christ called the two brothers the "Sons of Thunder" (Boanerges, Mark 3:17), suggesting a fervent and impetuous temperament. James was one of the inner three of the Twelve, together with Saint Peter and his brother John. He was present at the principal moments of Christ's ministry:

The raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37-43)
The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1-8)
The Agony in the Garden at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46)

James and John, with their mother Salome, asked Christ to give them the places at his right and left in the kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). Christ answered by foretelling that they would indeed drink his cup, that is, share his Passion.

Apostolic mission

The New Testament records relatively little of James's apostolic ministry between the Resurrection and his martyrdom. A strong Spanish tradition, attested from the seventh century onward, holds that James preached the Gospel in Spain, particularly in the regions of Galicia and the Iberian peninsula's northwestern coast, before returning to Jerusalem. The Catholic Church has not formally defined the historicity of this tradition, but it underlies the eventual Spanish veneration of James as patron of the nation.

Martyrdom

In AD 44, during the early persecution under the Jewish king Herod Agrippa I (grandson of Herod the Great), James was arrested and beheaded in Jerusalem. The brief account in Acts 12:1-2 records simply: "King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to mistreat them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword." He was the first of the Twelve to die for the faith.

The early Christian tradition (Clement of Alexandria, preserved by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History) records a striking detail: the soldier who arrested James was so moved by James's witness during the trial that he declared himself a Christian and was beheaded with James. The two went together to martyrdom.

Santiago de Compostela and the Camino

The Catholic tradition holds that after James's martyrdom, his disciples carried his body by boat to the northwest coast of Spain and buried him in Galicia. The site was lost during the long centuries of the early Middle Ages but was rediscovered in the ninth century by a hermit named Pelayo, who saw mysterious lights over a field. The field was called the "campus stellae" (field of stars), the origin of the place name Compostela.

The shrine at Santiago de Compostela became one of the great pilgrimage destinations of medieval Catholicism. The Camino de Santiago, the network of pilgrimage routes converging on Compostela, has drawn pilgrims continuously since the ninth century. In Holy Years (years when James's feast on July 25 falls on a Sunday), a special plenary indulgence is granted to pilgrims who complete the Camino under the usual conditions. See What is an indulgence? for the broader Catholic doctrine.

The scallop shell, James's principal iconographic attribute, is the badge of the pilgrim. Pilgrims have carried it from Compostela home for over a thousand years; the shell now serves as the universal symbol of the Camino.

Patronage and devotion

Saint James is patron of Spain, of pilgrims, of veterinarians, and of laborers. His feast on July 25 is celebrated as a solemnity in Spain and as a national holiday in Galicia. The traditional Catholic pilgrim greeting on the Camino is "¡Buen Camino!" (Good way).

James is depicted in three principal ways in Catholic art:

As an apostle, holding the Gospel
As a pilgrim, with the scallop shell, staff, and broad-brimmed hat
As Santiago Matamoros ("Saint James the Moor-Slayer"), a medieval Spanish iconographic tradition associated with the Reconquista; this image is contested in contemporary Catholic practice and many dioceses no longer display it

The Camino is, for many Catholics, the entry point to a deeper Catholic devotional life. Walkers on the Camino often pray the rosary in stages along the way; see the Holy Rosary for the structure of the prayer. The Angelic Salutation and the Marian prayer of entrustment are commonly prayed at the Marian shrines along the route.