James the great and james the less
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In our Catholic Christian tradition we’ve been blessed with many role models for holiness in our saints. But sometimes it can be difficult to keep them all straight.In this series, “Telling them apart,” I’m going to present some side-by-side comparisons in order to help us keep track of commonly confused saints.And I’m going to start with two apostles named James.A few years ago I achieved a long-time goal of walking the Camino de Santiago – a pilgrimage route dating back to the Middle Ages which leads to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Many of us had started at the border with France, intending to walk the full 800 kilometres across Spain, though I also met people who had begun walking from their homes in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. From time to time, we’d get talking, and someone would ask the inevitable question: Which St. James the Apostle is it?And no one knew. (Evidence of the enduring Cath
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Who was James the son of Alphaeus?
Answer
James, son of Alphaeus, was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles (Matthew 10:2–3) and one of three people named James mentioned in the New Testament. He is distinguished from the other Jameses in the Bible bygd his father’s name. In Bible times, people did not have last names as we do in Western cultures. They were often identified by their fathers and grandfathers. For example, the other James of the twelve apostles is described as “Jamesthe son of Zebedee” (Mark 3:17). A third Jamesmentioned in Scripture was the brother of the Lord Jesus (Galatians 1:19), a leader in the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17; Galatians 2:9), and the author of the book of James.
James, son of Alphaeus, is also called “James the Less” (Mark 15:40). The word lessshould be understood to mean “little” or “younger.” Some Bible versions call him “James the Younger,” but the word may also imply smallness of stature or a lesser importance. Other than being listed as a
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James the Great
One of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
Not to be confused with James the Less.
"St. Jacob" and "St James the Great" redirect here. For other uses, see St. Jacob (disambiguation) and St James the Great (disambiguation).
Saint James the Great | |
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St James the Elder (c. 1612–1613) by Peter Paul Rubens | |
| Born | Bethsaida, Galilee, Roman Empire |
| Died | AD 44 Jerusalem, Judea, Roman Empire |
| Honored in | All Christian denominations that venerate saints |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Feast | 25 July (Western Christianity) 30 April (Eastern Christianity) 30 December (Hispanic Church) |
| Attributes | Red Martyr, Scallop, Pilgrim's hat |
| Patronage | Places Spain, Guatemala, Seattle, Orlando, Levoča, Nicaragua, Cali, Guayaquil, Betis Church, Guagua, Pampanga, Badian, Cebu, Bolinao, Pangasinan, Ibaan, Batangas, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, Plaridel, Bulacan, Paombong, Bulacan, Paete, Laguna, Sogod, Cebu, Compostela, Cebu, Santiago de Chile and some places |