Feast of St. James the Greater - July 25

Today is the Feast of St. James the Greater, one of the apostles. He was the brother of St. John, a son of Zebedee and Salome. Jesus called St. James and St. John "Sons of Thunder", something that may have referred to their fiery personalities.

St. James was one of a handful of the apostles who were witnesses to nearly all of the greatest events of the New Testament including the raising of Jairus' daughter, the agony in the garden of Gethsemani, and the Transfiguration. The painting of the Transfiguration above is by Raphael.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we find that St. James was one of the earliest martyrs.