Why July 25th?

[Rosina Lila]

Dear Susan,
      The Daily E-Pistle, a US based liturgical site, shows July 25th as the
day when the Apostle James, the elder, was beheaded.  If this is the
significance of the date it would seem paradoxical to call it a "feast" day.
     The same source discloses that the name Santiago is a syncopation of
Sancti Iacob which was the name given to the first of Christ's Apostles to suffer
martyrdom.  We, of course, call him James the Elder.
     Reportedly, that James and his brother John the Evangelist were the sons
of Zebedeus and Salome, a sister of the Virgin Mary, which makes them  Jesus'
cousins and  grandsons of St. Joachim and Saint Anne.
A reading of Luke's Gospel (5,10) suggests that the Zebedeus brothers  were
fishermen in Galilee in partnership with Simon-Peter and Andrew, brothers
themselves who became Apostles. Mark writes (1,20) that James, John and their
father owned a fishing business that had employees. John reveals (19,27) that he
owned a house in Jerusalem. It appears, then, that the brothers were neither as
coarse and uneducated as they are sometimes portrayed.
     James, John and Simon-Peter were the three apostles in closer proximity
to Jesus.  James was present during the Transfiguration in Mount Sinai,
(Mt17,1), he witnessed the resurrection of Jairo's daughter (Mc 5,37), he was in the
garden of olives when Jesus was arrested (Mt 26, 37) and he was one of the
four Apostles who heard from Jesus the Kingdom of God prophesies (Mc 13,3). The
Gospels tell us that Jesus sent James and John directly to spread the Good
News (Mt 10,5-8).
After the Resurrection the Gospels place James with other Apostles in Galilee
(Jn 21,1-2) and Jerusalem (He 1,12-14). Later on he becomes a figure
secondary to his younger brother John, and in fact, he is often referred to as "James,
the brother of John" perhaps to distinguish him from the other Apostle James,
the younger, who is credited with holding together the infant Christian
church in Jerusalem.
    Christian writings reveal that our James was absent from Palestine during
the years 36 to 39 AD; it is believed that, following Jesus' commands, it was
then that he went to the then furthest known point of the orb, the Roman
Finisterre. Because he was of a somewhat fiery temper. (son of thunder), it seems
logical that he would be the one apostle to venture farthest. Although there
is no proof of his visit to the Northern Spain outpost, the possibility of the
visit is bolstered by traditions in Cartagena, Lleida, Zaragoza and Braga that
precede by centuries the believed discovery of the Apostle's  grave in
Galicia.
     Back in Palestine James continued to preach the Gospel, probably in a
fairly aggressive manner in keeping with his temper.  The historian Flavius
Josephus writes that Herod Agrippa offered bribes to those who would give
information leading to the capture of the Apostles and that a scribe called Joshua,
denounced James who was arrested and decapitated a few weeks before Passover in
44 A.D.
     The local law in Jerusalem in those days dictated that the bodies of
those executed should be thrown outside the city walls to be consumed by beasts;
however, some of James' disciples, probably those who had followed him from
Galicia, "stole" the body, took it to the port of Jaffa and sailed with it to
Northern Spain. They reached Iris Flavia in Galicia, tied up the boat to a big
rock (Pedron, which gives its name and legend to the City of Padron) and asked
queen Lupa for permission to bury the body of the Saint.  The names of those
who sailed with the body to Galicia were Atanasio ("immortal, in Greek) and
Theodore ("gift of God"). After their death they themselves were buried besides
James.  Nine centuries later the grave was discovered and the rest is Camino
history.
     There are a great many books written about this subject and, of course,
a great many and diverse interpretations, but most of the ones I have read do
seem to have the same factual framework in common.
I hope the above answers your question somewhat.
Warm regards,
Rosina



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