00:01On July 25, the Church celebrates one of the twelve apostles, Saint James the Greater, brother of Saint John, witness of Christ until martyrdom and central figure of the pilgrimage to Compostela.
00:16This is his story. James is one of the first called by Jesus.
00:21He was fishing on the Sea of Galilee with his brother John when they were both called to become fishers of men.
00:30Nicknamed the sons of thunder, Jacques and Jean are ardent, passionate, sometimes impetuous, but deeply loyal.
00:42James is part of Christ's inner circle. He witnesses the resurrection of Jair's daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony in the Garden of Olives.
00:53After the resurrection, according to Spanish tradition, James went to evangelize the lands of Hispania, present-day Spain, but met with few conversions.
01:06Discouraged, the Virgin Mary appeared to him in Zaragoza, standing on a column. This was the first Marian apparition in history, called Our Lady of the Pillar.
01:18Reinvigorated, James continued to preach and then returned to Jerusalem. There, he became the first apostle to be martyred.
01:28Herod Agrippa had him beheaded around the year 44 and, according to tradition, his disciples took his body to Galicia.
01:39His tomb was rediscovered in the 9th century in Compostela, Spain.
01:44This place became one of the largest Christian pilgrimages in the world, the Camino de Santiago.
01:52Today, thousands of pilgrims still walk each year on foot to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, to encounter God and themselves.
02:05Saint James the Great, apostle of Christ, pray for us and accompany all the pilgrims of the world.
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