History Series: St. James Day
History of St. James Day: and the Camino de Santiago
The Apostle and the popular Pilgrimage
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6 min read12 hours ago
July 25 is the Feast Day of St. James, and Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and some Protestants accordingly celebrate St. James Day. For Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar, it’s on April 30.
Each summer, pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, that finds its way to the traditional grave of Saint James in Spain.
Who was St. James, and what is his relation to this pilgrimage?
Who was St. James
There are two St. James mentioned in the New Testament:
- One is the half-brother of Jesus, who wrote the Book of James in the Bible and was the leader of the church in Jerusalem after the departure of St. Peter.
- But we will discuss the other one, James the Greater, or Great, so designated because he was older or taller, not more important than Jesus’ half-brother.
St. James the Great was one of the Sons of Zebedee along with his brother St. John the Evangelist. Jesus called these two brothers “the Sons of Thunder” or Boanerges (probably from the Hebrew bene reghesh, “sons of the tumult.”)
