The James whose shrine is at Santiago de Compostela, in north-west
Spain, was the brother of John (the Evangelist). The Gospels (Matthew
4, 21-22; Mark 1, 19-20; Luke 5, 10-11) record that they were fishermen,
the sons of Zebedee, and were called by Jesus from mending their nets
beside the sea of Galilee at the beginning of His ministry. He nicknamed
them 'the sons of thunder' (Mark 3,17). James was present at some of the
key events in Jesus's life (e.g. the Transfiguration: Matthew 17, 1-13;
Luke 9, 28-36), but the only certain fact recorded of him afterwards is
his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa in 44 A.D. (Acts 12, 1-2).
Legend has it that when the Apostles divided the known world into
missionary zones, the Iberian peninsula fell to James. 7th and 8th
century documents (i.e. prior to the discovery of the tomb) refer to the
belief that he spent a number of years preaching in Spain before
returning to Jerusalem, and martyrdom. His followers are believed to
have carried his body down to the coast and put it into a stone boat,
which was carried by angels and the wind beyond the Pillars of Hercules
(the straits of Gibraltar), to land near Finisterre, at Padron, on the
Atlantic coast of northern Spain. He was buried a little way inland,
and the site of his tomb was forgotten for some 800 years.
Early in the 9th century a hermit, Pelayo, was led by a vision to the
spot. The tomb was rediscovered, and the relics authenticated as those
of St James by the local bishop. Spain at this period sorely needed a
new champion or focus to inspire Christians against the invading Moors.
The rediscovery came therefore at a most propitious moment. And the
pilgrimage began ...
for futher reading « http://www.csj.org.uk/apostle.htm »
©The Confraternity of St James
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