• June 25, 2026, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET
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Friends of the Rosary,
Today, July 25, is traditionally the Feast of St. James, the Apostle, known as the Greater, in order to distinguish him from the other Apostle St. James. Jesus called him Boanerges, “son of thunder.”
James the Greater was our Lord’s cousin (an old legend states that Salome, his mother, was a sister of Mary), and John the Evangelist’s brother and the son of Zebedee, the fisherman from Galilee. With Peter and John, he was one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration, and later of the agony in the garden. He was beheaded in Jerusalem in the year 42 or 43 A.D. by King Herod Agrippa, becoming the first apostle to give his life for proclaiming Christ.
In Spain, his magnificent shrine at Santiago de Compostela has been a place of pilgrimage since the ninth century, through el Camino, “the Way of St. James”. After the pilgrimage to Rome or the Holy Land, it is the most famous and the most frequented pilgrimage in Christendom. The paths to Compostella form a network over Europe; they are dotted with hospices and chapels.
Saint James is a powerful saint for today because he shows both human ambition and holy transformation.
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 20:20-28), Jesus tells James and John that greatness in His Kingdom is not about status, but service: “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” The glory comes through the chalice — suffering, sacrifice, and service. Saint James followed that path all the way to martyrdom.
Staying close to Jesus, we will see how He will turn our ambition into mission.
Saint James, pray for us!
Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!
+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York
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