The Feast of St. James is July 25, 2004
click here to view images of this year's celebration

Let Catholics rejoice!

Thrice had she been at Jerusalem;
She had passed many a strange stream;
At Rome she had been, and at Boulogne;
In Galicia, at Saint-James, and at Cologne:
And much she knew of wandering by the way.

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

It’s not difficult to imagine what the pilgrims of the Middle Ages must have gone through, journeying hundreds of miles on foot or on horseback towards the great shrine of St. James in northwestern Spain, Santiago de Compostela. The dirt; the danger; the crooked innkeepers and questionable company; the inevitable illnesses, delays, and difficulties; the doubtful food and worse water: even experienced pilgrims, like Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, must have been thoroughly exhausted, in mind and body, by the end.

But what did they feel when they reached Compostela, the city of pilgrims, “the end of the earth,” as it was called? That’s perhaps more difficult to imagine. To wash away the dust of hundreds of miles in the river; to pass through the narrow streets and colorful squares; to see pilgrims from every land, and hear them speaking in many different tongues; to step into the glorious cathedral, with its splendid portico della gloria, its blindingly-baroque high altar, its gorgeous gold appurtenances, and, not least, its immense botafumeiro, or thurible, swinging dramatically over the heads of dazzled pilgrims; and then, at last, to kneel at the shrine of St. James, and bring before this powerful friend of God all the intentions they had carried in their hearts on their long journey—whatever they felt, they surely were not disappointed!

And pilgrimage is not a thing of the past! For all of us, devoted to the apostle James, 2004 is a “Holy Year”: that is, one of those rare times when the 25th of July falls on a Sunday. During this year, Compostela will be thronged with visitors: curious tourists will rub shoulders with devout pilgrims, as they pass together through the holy doors into the great Cathedral.

Here in Seattle, in our own great Cathedral dedicated to the apostle James, we may not be dusty or footsore, but we can surely enter into the joy of this Año Santo, as we celebrate that day when James completed his earthly pilgrimage and came at last to the heavenly dwelling-places… for that is a pilgrimage we all hope to make!

Let Catholics rejoice!
And let the citizens of heaven be glad this day.
Let the priests study their most beautiful songs and chants this day.
For this is the ever-to-be-praised day, shining with light divine,
When James to the palaces of heaven ascended.
Conquering by Herod’s sword, he received the reward of life this day.
Therefore let us bless the Lord unendingly this day,
giving thanks and praise to the great Father of us all, this day.

12th-century pilgrim song from the Codex Calixtinus

Getting into Details This year, a new image of St. James will figure in the entrance procession at the Masses on July 25. Donated to the Cathedral by a generous parishioner, this reliquary bust gives us a beardless, thoughtful James, wearing his customary hat, adorned with cockle-shell. The opening in his breast was intended to display a relic of the saint—and on July 25, for the first time, perhaps, in hundreds of years, the sculpture will again house a relic of James! The artist and exact provenance of the bust is unknown, but it is thought to be the work of a 15th-century German sculptor. The reliquary bust joins a growing collection of images of St. James at the Cathedral, the largest of which is, of course, Kitty Kavanaugh’s 18’-high puppet of James, who will again make an appearance this year!

Return to the Liturgy Notes page
Read more about the pilgrimage to Santiago
Read more about our patron, Saint James the Greater
Read a homily given by Father Ryan during the Choir pilgrimage to Spain, March 2001