The Saint
St. James the Elder
One the the two “sons of thunder”, elder brother of John the Beloved. He was first a disciple of John the Baptist, who led him to the Lamb of God.
He was one of only three witnesses to the transfiguration.
Drank of the Same Cup
When his mother, Salome (father was Zebedee), pleaded with the Lord for her sons to sit at his right and left hand, Jesus promised James that he would drink of the same cup. He was beheaded in 44 A.D. By Herod Agrippa I, and thus did drink of the cup.
We at St. James give him special honor because he is an ideal example of loving Christ with zeal.
A Passionate Love
There is some hint that Salome and the Blessed Mother were sisters, making James and John first cousins of the Lord. However, such has never been actually proven.
Debate continues over whether his relics are in Spain at the sepulchre of Compostela or in the church of St-Saturnin at Toulouse, France. But there still exists an official papal pilgrimage to Compostela, and in the Twelfth Century the Knights of St. James of Compostela was founded.
What is known for sure is that St. James held a rare, open-minded zeal for the Kingdom of God all of his adult life and that his passionate love for Our Lord caused his execution.
