July 25th is the Feast of St. James the Apostle (James the Great/Santiago), the patron saint of Spain.
Saint James the Greater. Gil de Siloe . 1489–93. Made in Burgos, Castile-León, Spain. Metropolitan Museum of Art - The Cloisters. Accession number: 69.88
Feast Day: July 25 (Western Christianity), April 30 (Eastern Christianity), December 30 (Hispanic Church)
Attributes: Red Martyr, scallop shell, pilgrim’s hat
Patronage: Veterinarians, equestrians, furriers, tanners, pharmacists, oyster fishers, woodcarvers, Spain, Guatemala, Seattle, Leovca, Nicaragua, Guayacil, some places in Mexico and the Philippines, and Santiago de Chile
The Legend of St. James
The 12th century Historia Compostelana commissioned by Diego Gelmírez provides a summary of the legend of St. James, as it was believed at Compostela at that time. Two propositions are central to the legend: first, that James preached the gospel in Hispania as well as in the Holy Land; second, that after his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa, his followers carried his body by sea to Hispania, where they landed at Padrón on the coast of Galicia, then carried it over land for burial at Santiago de Compostela.[19]
According to ancient local tradition, on 2 January AD 40, the Virgin Mary appeared to James on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he was preaching the Gospel in Hispania. She appeared upon a pillar, and that pillar is conserved and venerated within the present Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, in Zaragoza, Spain. Following that apparition, St. James returned to Judaea, where he was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I in AD 44. -Wikipedia
James the Greater was the second Apostle to die and the first Apostle to be martyred. He is also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob.
The most famous tale of St. James claims that the saint miraculously appeared to fight for the Christian army during the battle of Clavijo during the Christian Reconquest. The traditional Spanish call to arms has been "Santiago y cierra España" – “St James and strike for Spain”.
the botafumeiro
The central celebration of the Dia de Santiago is the King's Offering to the Apostle, a high mass attended by the Spanish Royal family and high-ranking government officials. During the mass, an enormous botafumeiro (incense burner) is swung from the ceiling of the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela.
The ritual use of the botafumeiro has been recorded to the 12th century, and may have begun as a prophylactic practice to ward off disease carried by foreign pilgrims.
Contando Estrelas from Vigo, España / Spain, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Why Scallops?
Scallop shells are a symbol both of Santiago and of pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), one of the great medieval pilgrimages. The shell, with grooves coming together in a single focal point, represents the different paths to Santiago. Also, scallop shells were plentiful on the coasts of Galicia, and became an ideal utensil for a pilgrim to both drink and eat from. Finally, legend records that Saint James himself rescued a knight from the sea covered in scallop shells.