James the Greater, Apostle of Spain (*)
Saint
James traveled from Jerusalem through the Greek islands and Sicily to
Spain, stopping in Galicia. As he was not well received in that region,
he moved on to another; however, he fared no better there. He was taken
prisoner and would have been killed had an angel not miraculously
delivered him from the hands of his oppressors. He left seven disciples
in Spain and moved on to Rome, passing through Marseille in the south of
France. Later, he returned to Spain and traveled from Galicia, through
Toledo, to Zaragoza. Here, many of the locals were converted; entire
neighborhoods acknowledged Christ and cast off their objects of
idolatry.
I have seen James in great danger here. Vipers were
thrown at him, but the Apostle took them calmly in his hands. They did
him no harm. On the contrary, they turned furiously against the priests
of the idols, who from then on began to fear and respect him. I later
saw how, barely beginning to preach in Granada, he was imprisoned along
with all his disciples and converts. James called upon Mary for help—who
was then still living in Jerusalem—imploring her to aid him. I saw how,
through the ministry of angels, he and his disciples were delivered
from prison in a supernatural way. An order from Mary was imparted to
him by an angel to go to Galicia to preach the faith there, and then
return to his residence in Zaragoza.
The Vision of the Pillar
Later,
I saw James in great danger due to a persecution and storm against the
faithful of Zaragoza. I saw the Apostle praying at night with some
disciples by the river, near the city walls; he asked for light to know
whether he should stay or flee. He thought of Mary Most Holy and asked
her to pray with him to seek counsel and help from her divine Son Jesus,
who could then deny her nothing. Suddenly, I saw a radiance from heaven
come upon the Apostle, and angels appeared above him, singing a very
harmonious song while carrying a pillar of light. Its base, in the midst
of a luminous ray, pointed to a spot a few steps from the Apostle, as
if indicating a specific site.
The pillar was quite tall and
slender, of a reddish glow with streaks of various colors, and ended at
the top like an open lily that cast tongues of fire in several
directions; one went West, toward Compostela; the others in various
directions. In the radiance of the lily, I saw Mary Most Holy, of snowy
whiteness and transparency, of greater beauty and delicacy than the
whiteness of fine silk. She was standing, resplendent with light, in the
manner she used to be in prayer while still living on earth. Her hands
were joined, and a long veil was over her head, most of which hung down
to her feet as if she were wrapped in it. She rested her small, delicate
feet upon the flower that shone with its five tongues. The whole scene
appeared wonderfully delicate and beautiful.
I saw that James
rose from where he was praying on his knees; he received an internal
notice from Mary that he should immediately erect a church there; that
Mary’s intercession should grow like a root and expand. Mary told him
that, once the church was finished, he should return to Jerusalem. James
arose and called the disciples who accompanied him, who had heard the
music and seen the radiance; he told them the rest, and they all then
witnessed how the glow of the apparition faded away. After James carried
out in Zaragoza what Mary had ordered, he formed a group of twelve
disciples, among whom I saw men of science. These were to continue the
work he had begun with such fatigue and contradiction.
Martyrdom in Jerusalem
James
departed from Spain to travel to Jerusalem, as Mary had commanded. On
this journey, he visited Mary in Ephesus. Mary predicted the proximity
of his death in Jerusalem and consoled and comforted him greatly. James
said goodbye to Mary and his brother John and headed to Jerusalem, where
shortly after he was beheaded.
James was taken to Mount Calvary,
outside the city, preaching along the way and converting many
listeners. When they bound his hands, he said: “You may bind my hands,
but not my blessing or my tongue.” A cripple by the roadside cried out
to the Apostle to give him his hand and heal him. The Apostle replied:
“Come toward me and give me your hand.” The cripple went toward James,
took the Apostle's bound hands, and found himself healed. I saw his
betrayer, named Josias, run toward him and ask for forgiveness. This man
confessed Christ and was killed for his faith. James asked him if he
wanted to be baptized, and having answered yes, the Apostle embraced and
kissed him, saying: “You shall be baptized in your own blood.” I saw a
woman approach James with her blind son and obtain health for her son
from him.
First, James was shown with Josias in an elevated
place: there, their guilt and sentence were read aloud. Afterward, I saw
him sitting on a stone, to the sides of which his hands were tied. They
blindfolded him and cut off his head. Meanwhile, they had locked James
the Less in his own house. At that time, Matthew, Nathanael Chased, and
Nathanael the bridegroom (of Cana) were in Jerusalem. Matthew lived in
Bethany. Lazarus's house had long been intended for the use of the
disciples, as were his possessions in Judea. The city castle had been
occupied by the Jews. After the Apostle's death, a great tumult broke
out in the city, and many were converted to the faith of Christ.
The Return to Spain
The
body of James remained for a time in the vicinity of Jerusalem. When a
new persecution broke out, some disciples, including Joseph of Arimathea
and Saturninus, took it to Spain. But Queen Lupa, who had persecuted
James, did not allow him to be buried. The disciples placed him upon a
stone, which sank and hollowed out, forming a sepulcher. Another marvel
occurred there: some bodies buried there were cast out of their places.
Due
to Lupa’s snares, the disciples were imprisoned by the king;
miraculously freed from jail, they were pursued by the king and his
knights while fleeing. The bridge broke as they crossed, and the king
and his people perished. Terrified, Queen Lupa ordered the Christian
disciples to go to the desert and take wild bulls to hitch to a cart:
wherever these animals led the body of James, there they could build a
church for him. She thought that in this way, the fierce animals would
destroy everything in their wildness. Upon entering the desert, the
disciples encountered a dragon, which burst in half by their blessing.
The fierce bulls, however, allowed themselves to be yoked calmly and
carried the sacred body into the interior of Lupa's own castle. Thus it
happened that James was buried in the castle, as Lupa converted to
Christianity with her people. The castle became a church.
Many
miracles were wrought at this tomb. Later, his body was taken to
Compostela, which became one of the most famous places of pilgrimage.
The Apostle James worked in Spain for nearly four years.
(*)
That James went to Spain to preach is affirmed by Saint Antoninus; Saint
Isidore, in the book Vita et morte Sanctorum; Braulio, Archbishop of
Zaragoza (651); Julian, Archbishop of Toledo; Popes Callixtus II, Pius
V, Sixtus V, and the Venerable Bede. The historian Gretscher affirms
that it is an ancient tradition of all the churches of Spain.