St. James the Greater

St. James the Greater was an Apostle and the brother of St. John the Apostle. He was a fisherman who left everything when Jesus told him to follow him and be a “fisher of men.” He witnessed many of Christ’s recorded miracles, and he preached in Judea, Spain and Samaria. He was he first Apostle to be martyred when King Herod Agrippa stabbed him with a sword in 44. St. James is patron saint of pilgrims because there is a popular devotion surrounding the pilgrimage of his relics to Compostela, Spain.