Feast of Saint James the Greater, Apostle
July 25th is the Feast of Saint James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, an Apostle of Jesus, and the first Apostle to be martyred. He was a son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of St. John the Apostle. It was Jesus who called St. James and his brother St. John, "sons of thunder". James (with Peter and John) had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of Jairus’ daughter and Our Lord’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane. James was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to be a disciple. He preached the Gospel in Iberia (the present day country of Georgia), Spain and the Holy Land. Tradition holds that Mary appeared to St. James before her Assumption . He was beheaded in Jerusalem in 44 AD at the order of Herod Agrippa. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith