Daily Saint

James the Greater was executed by King Herod Agrippa, a regional Jewish king under Rome’s authority. The king sought political favor with the local Jewish authorities, who viewed Christians as heretics. His death is the only martyrdom of an Apostle recorded in the New Testament, perhaps because Jesus foretold it. When James and his brother John asked to sit at Christ’s right hand in His Kingdom, Jesus responded that they would “drink the cup” of His Passion, a prophecy fulfilled when James became the first of the original twelve Apostles to be martyred. His death marked the beginning of the intensified persecution of the early Church. Seeing that the Apostle’s execution was popular with the Jewish leaders, Herod immediately issued an order to arrest Peter. James’s death underscored a pivotal moment in the early Church, defining the Apostles’ ministry as one that required the courage to face death rather than abandon their preaching.

The relics of James the Greater are believed to be housed at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. According to tradition, his disciples took his body and were guided by angels across the sea to Galicia in northwestern Spain, where they eventually buried him at a site later named Santiago de Compostela. While there are no written records from the first century, archaeological evidence exists. In 1879, excavations under the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela revealed a first-century Roman mausoleum and the remains of three individuals, confirming the presence of a significant burial site. Pope Leo XIII sent a special envoy to verify the findings. The envoy concluded that the remains were those of St. James the Greater and his two disciples, Athanasius and Theodorus. After receiving a detailed report, the pope issued the bull Omnipotens in 1884, declaring that the remains in the Cathedral were indeed those of St. James.