ST. JAMES THE GREAT

In loving memory of
William Hamilton Carlisle and Julia Vance Carlisle

Two of our beautiful sets of St. James windows are fittingly dedicated to the saints of that name in the Western Church tradition.

One of our windows shows the Apostle James, "the Great" who, along with his younger brother John, and Peter, belonged to the innermost circle of Jesus' friends. He witnessed the Transfiguration, and was present at Gethsemane. He became a great leader in the early church, and as such was the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament; he was put to death by the sword at the order of Herod Agrippa I, A.D. 44 (Acts 12:2). His feast day is July 25.

An eighth-century legend tells how James preached the Gospel in Spain, and after his death his body is said to have been brought there for burial. A ninth-century hermit, instructed by a vision, found the supposed remains in a ruined chapel in northwest Spain. St. James became patron saint of Spain, and the holy site, named Compostela, one of the three great centers of pilgrimage in Europe, rivaling Rome and Jerusalem in popularity. It is this tradition which is honored in our window -- a fitting symbol for that journey towards the heavenly City which makes of every Christian a pilgrim. The saint is shown dressed as a pilgrim, because he is the patron saint of pilgrims. Slung over his shoulder is a "scrip" or wallet, on which is fastened his special emblem of a shell. On his feet are sandals and he carries the pilgrim's staff and bottle. Lines from Sir Walter Raleigh's fine poem "The Passionate Pilgrim" sum up the spirit of this window. Perhaps they were in our stained-class artist's mind: