Feast Day of St. James The Apostle

Image from the Catholic Forum

From the Lectionary:

James the son of Zebedee and his brother John were among the twelve disciples of Our Lord. They, together with Peter, were privileged to behold the Transfiguration...to witness the healing of Peter's mother-in-law...and the raising of the daughter of Jairus...and to be called aside to watch and pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before His death....

I imagine what it would have been like to be with Jesus on the occasions described in the Gospels, to see him and touch him and hear his voice. I think it would have been lovely.

Jesus nicknamed the two brothers "sons of thunder",...perhaps meaning that they were headstrong, hot-tempered, and impulsive; and so they seem to be in two incidents reported in the Gospels. On one occasion,...Jesus and the disciples were refused the hospitality of a Samaritan village, and James and John proposed to call down fire from heaven on the offenders. On another occasion,... they asked Jesus for a special place of honor in the Kingdom, and were told that the place of honor is the place of suffering.

That was true for James.

Finally, about AD 42, shortly before Passover,...James was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (who tried to kill the infant Jesus.... James was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, and the only one of the Twelve whose death is recorded in the New Testament.

Now that I've found this information on the patronage of the saints at the Catholic Forum, I love it, and I must pass it on. The patronage of St. James includes the following:

against arthritis; against rheumatism; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; apothecaries; arthritis sufferers; diocese of Bangued, Philippines; blacksmiths; Chile; Compostela, Spain; druggists; equestrians; furriers; Galicia, Spain; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; horsemen; Jemez Indian Pueblo; knights; laborers; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; pharmacists; pilgrims; Pistoia, Italy; rheumatoid sufferers; riders; Sahuayo, Mexico; archdiocese of Seattle, Washington; soldiers; Spain; Spanish conquistadors; tanners; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; veterinarians.

PRAYER

O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 7:1-10;
Jeremiah 45:1-5
Acts 11:27-12:3
Matthew 20:20-28

Padre Mickey has a wonderful post on St. Christopher - no, not the non-existent Christopher - the real Christopher, who may also be the same person as St. Menas. Sound complicated? Then, go read the astonishing story of the dog-faced saint.

UPDATE: Painting of St. James the Greater by Alonso Cano (1601-67). Thanks to Lapinbizarre in the comments for the information about the painting.