Sancte Jacobe, ora pro nobis

The feast of St James the Apostle occurs today. Hence the presence of the Moorslayer's picture which enhances Recta Ratio this week. (Ecumenism it seems was not the strong suit of the medieval bestowers of saintly nicknames.) Saint James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, was martyred in the year anni Domini 42. Taking up an official position in the middle east has been a dicey proposition for a long time.

The collect and vita for St James from the Pauline breviary:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Apostolorum tuorum primitias beati Iacobi sanguine dedicasti, da, quaesumus, Ecclesiae tuae ipsius confessione firmari, et iugiter patrociniis confoveri. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.


Filius Zebedaei et frater Ioannis apostoli, natus est Bethsaidae. Praecipuis miraculis a Domino patratis interfuit. Ab Herode occisus est circiter annum 42. Colitur maxime Compostellae in Hispania, ubi insignis exstat ecclesia eius nomini dicata.

Quamvis S. Iacobus martyrium subiit diebus Paschae (Act. 12, 2), tamen die 25 iulii inscribitur in Martyrologio hieronymiano, eiusque festum eadem die Romae celebratur a saeculo IX.