Parish history: Our Patron Saint

When our parish was founded in 1956 it was placed under the patronage of St. James the Greater, Apostle and close friend of Our Lord. (He is called ” The Greater” to distinguish him from that other St. James, Apostle and Bishop of Jerusalem, who is known as ” The Less,” perhaps because he was younger or smaller in stature than our patron.) St. James the Greater was one of those humble ones of the earth personally chosen by Our Lord to assist Him in founding His Church. He, and his younger brother, John, were the sons of Zebedee and that Mary Salome who was a near relative of Our Blessed Lady. Natives of Bethsaida, the young men grew up to be fishermen on the Lake of Galilee, in partnership with the brothers Peter and Andrew. After the Miraculous Draught of Fishes, they ” gave up all things ” to follow Our Lord and to become, in the fulness of time, ” fishers of men.” Their mother, Salome, moreover, joined the company of those pious women who ministered to Our Lord and His disciples during the public life.

She was to be found ever by Our Lady’s side thereafter, and especially in that darkest hour at the foot of the Cross.

It is clear from the Gospel narrative that Our Lord made James and John, with Peter, His closest friends. They alone faintly glimpsed His glory in the Transfiguration; they alone were chosen to be with Him in the Garden of Olives. When Our Lord had ascended into Heaven these poor fishermen, with the other Apostles, now guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, set out to conquer the world for Christ.

The sons of Zebedee were not lacking in zeal for their task. In fact, their fiery, often rather hot-headed enthusiasm, had earned for them the nickname of Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder. One of the most dramatic incidents in their lives had been the occasion when their mother Salome had asked Our Lord for an assurance that her sons would one day have the highest places in His King-dom. Our Lord, in administering a mild rebuke to the fond mother, took the opportunity to teach her the true, spiritual nature of His Kingdom and to ask her sons if they were prepared to follow Him to the high places in His Kingdom by the only road,

“the King’s Highway of the Holy Cross.” Vehemently the Sons of Thunder assured Our Lord of their firm determination to walk that holy way.

It was to prove no idle promise. Our patron, St. James, in particular, was to be the first of the Apostles to lay down his life for his beloved Master. After Our Lord’s death, St. James worked for the spread of the Christian faith in Judaea. But according to the tradition of the Church in Spain, the Apostle, during these years, left Judaea for a time, travelled to Spain and planted the seed of the Church there. On his return to Jerusalem, he found the infant Church suffering bitter persecution at the hands of Agrippa, grandson of Herod. When Agrippa visited Jerusalem just before Easter in the year 43 A.D., he ordered the arrest of James, who had earned for himself the particular hatred of the Jews by his fearless and outspoken preaching of the Word of God.

Clement of Alexandria tells us that James faced death with characteristic courage and composure; so much so, that one of his chief accusers repented and publicly declared himself a Christian.

James pardoned him his offence with the words, ” Peace be to you.”

The two embraced and together suffered martyrdom by beheading.

According to the tradition of the Church in Spain, the body of St. James was first buried in Jerusalem, then removed by his disciples and taken to Ira Flavia on the borders of Galicia in Spain. There the sacred relics remained hidden till they were discovered in the beginning of the ninth century. The reigning King of Leon, Alphonsus the Chaste, then ordered their removal to a place four miles away, which came to be known as Compostella.

The people of Spain took St. James. to their hearts. He became their great patron, their leader in the wars against the Moors.

From the great ages of Faith down to modern times, pilgrims from all over the Christian world have flocked to Compostella to view the body of the warrior saint and to plead for his intercession.

The pilgrim who was making the long and arduous journey to Compostella wore on his person the scallop-shell emblem as symbol of his destination and of his devotion, and to-day the children of our own parochial school of St. James wear the same emblem on their caps and blazers in honour of their great patron and ours.

We have much to learn from the life of our Saint, who gave up all things to follow Our Lord and who, as an Apostle, gave an example of fearless, uncompromising loyalty to his Master, and an inspiration to succeeding generations of Christians everywhere.

Truly we have a glorious Patron.