St. James the Greater is one of the twelve Apostles. He is the son of Zebedee and Salome, he fished for a living with his brother John in Galilee. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke attest to his calling by Christ. Jesus nicknamed James and John “Boanerges” meaning “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17).

James was with Peter and John at the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37 and Luke 8:51). These three Apostles were also at the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2) and at the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-33; Matthew 26:37). James is the protomartyr (first martyr) of the Apostles, slain by King Herod Agrippa I in Jerusalem (Acts 12:2). He was beheaded, and his martyrdom is the only one recorded from the Apostles in the New Testament.

According to tradition, he preached in Spain before his death and thus became one of the most venerated of the Spanish saints. El Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James, is a famous pilgrimage route that leads to the shrine of the Apostle St. James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Pilgrims have traveled it for over a thousand years.