Called "The Greater" in order to distinguish him from the other James.
Brother of Saint John.
Son of Zebedee.
Native of Bethsaida, Galilee.
One of the first 12 bishops of the Catholic Church, ordained by Jesus Christ Himself.
Famously, the mother of James and John approached Jesus and asked that He favor her two sons by allowing them to sit at His left and at His right in His kingdom. Christ's reply to this was to foretell their martyrdom.
He revealed that they would both sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, but not before undergoing a life of suffering and persecution, uniting their own suffering with that of Christ.
James preached the divinity of Christ in Judea and Sumeria after the Ascension. He went to Spain, at that time a province of Rome, to found the Catholic Church among the Celtics of the Iberian peninsula.
The first Marian apparition in the history of the Catholic Church appeared to James in Spain before Mary's assumption while she was still living in Jerusalem. It is still celebrated in the Church today as the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar.
When he returned to Jerusalem, Herod Agrippa condemned him to death out of a desire to please the Jews. James was beheaded in A.D. 44 shortly before the Feast of Easter.
His relics were transitioned to Compostela, Spain where they are venerated to this day.
Saint James, pray for us!
All you Saints and Martyrs, pray for us!
