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James was a fisherman, a son of Ss. Zebedee and Salome, and brother, likely the elder, to St. John the Evangelist. Together they were known as the “Sons of Thunder”. James is called “the Greater” to distinguish him from the other Apostle James, known as “the Lesser” because he followed Christ later, and may also have been shorter in stature. James the Greater was one of the three Apostles chosen to accompany Our Lord at His Transfiguration and His Agony in the Garden. After Pentecost, James evangelized as far abroad as Spain before returning to the Holy Land. There James died by the sword, the first of the Apostles to be martyred for Christ. He converted his own accuser, who then accompanied James in martyrdom. James’s relics were eventually translated to Compostela in Spain, where they are the culmination of the great pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago. Many centuries after his death, James appeared in the sky to lead Spanish forces against Muslim invaders during the Reconquista; hence his Spanish title Matamoros, or “Moor-Slayer”. Among other causes, he is a patron of horsemen, veterinarians, pharmacists, and those suffering from arthritis.
ST. JAMES the Apostle, brother of the blessed evangelist John, who was beheaded by Herod Agrippa about the feast of Easter. His sacred bones were on this day carried from Jerusalem to Spain, and placed in the remote province of Galicia, where they are devoutly honored by the far-famed piety of the inhabitants, and the frequent concourse of Christians, who visit them through piety and in fulfilment of their vows.
In Lycia, in the time of Decius, St. Christopher, martyr. Being scourged with iron rods, cast into the flames, from which he was saved by the power of Christ, and finally transfixed with arrows and beheaded, he completed his martyrdom.
At Barcelona, in Spain, during the persecution of Diocletian and under the governor Dacian, the birthday of the holy martyr Cucuphas. After overcoming many torments, he was struck with the sword, and thus went triumphantly to heaven.
In Palestine, St. Paul, a martyr, in the persecution of Maximian Galerius, and under the governor Firmilian. He was condemned to capital punishment, but having obtained a short respite to pray, he besought God with all his heart, first for his own countrymen, then for the Jews and the Gentiles, that they might embrace the true faith, next for the multitude of the spectators, and finally for the judge who had condemned him and the executioner that was to strike him; after which he received the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded.
In the same country, St. Valentina, a virgin, who was led to an altar to offer sacrifice, but overturning it with her foot, she was cruelly tortured, and being cast into the fire with another virgin, her companion, she went to her spouse.
At Forcono, in Abruzzo, the holy martyrs Florentius and Felix, natives of Sipontum.
At Cordova, St. Theodemirus, monk and martyr.
At Treves, St. Magnericus, bishop and confessor.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.