St. James the Greater
Jul 25
Patron Saint of Spain and Laborers
James was one of the first apostles called by Jesus, and was one of the three selected to witness His transfiguration.
James was apostle in Iberia, in the region of present-day Spain.
Ancient tradition ascertains that when praying one night in the year 40, the Virgin Mother, then still living, appeared to him on the banks of the River Ebro to encourage him in his difficult mission.
She was accompanied by a multitude of angels who bore with them a marble pillar on top of which was a small statue of her holding the Child Jesus.