No, this is no mistake, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[scruffy1]

Christmas again in Jerusalem, the Armenians are in the middle of their Christmas celebrations, a week long affair. The important mass falls on January 25. Ah...Scruff...this is a forum for Santiago and Saint James remember? The Armenian Cathedral in Jerusalem of Saint James is founded on one of the places in Jerusalem where James, son of Zebedee, was executed and became Saint James. The Armenians have a shrine above the crypt where they believe may be found the head of Saint James. Above the entrance door is a painting recalling the Sindone di Torino, (Turin Shroud) portraying this said head of Saint James. Many Jerusalem Armenians have walked to Santiago, they recognize anyone bearing a shell who enters their site as a pilgrim. I will be attending the mass, quite a medieval affair very very impressive and very different from any mass you have ever witnessed, Latin or Greek. The Armenians are very very strict and will not allow photography within the cathedral during mass but I will try and take some pictures as we enter and as we leave. Watch this Space!
One photo from my first visit years ago back when I didn't know any better and an indignant priest came and shut me down

 

[simeon]

So does that mean the the body of st James in santiago is headless!!! Does anybody know if there are any other sites where parts of st James are..... Now that would be a long Camino route between them all. Merry Christmas!!!

 

[simeon]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_son_of_Zebedee

according to Wikipedia there may also be relics in tolouse . Starting in Jerusalem then to tolouse, and finally to santiago. That would take a while....

fascinating to properly read the history again. Apologies if my earlier post was a little flippant!

 

[Bradypus]

@simeon I try not to question too deeply about the authenticity of relics. There was a huge medieval market in fakes! Especially relics of Jesus which were in short supply because he ascended bodily into heaven. So at one time there were perhaps a dozen or more foreskins of Jesus in circulation There is also the apocryphal story of one relic merchant who tried to sell the same buyer the skull of John the Baptist twice: when challenged he argued that one was from John as an adult, the other when he was a boy...

 

[FamPed]

Merry Christmas! Hope you have a wounderful time in Jerusalem. Enjoy the mass!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

So does that mean the the body of st James in santiago is headless!!! Does anybody know if there are any other sites where parts of st James are..... Now that would be a long Camino route between them all. Merry Christmas!!!

I read somewhere a list of the number of body parts and where they are supposed to be. You do end up with what would,have been a very funnu looking human being: 7 arms, 2 heads, etc. And let's not forget that just about every history book, or even Camino guide, puts in question the veracity of the bones of St-James having been those at the cathedral in Santiago.

 

[Mike Savage]

Have a wonderful time Scruffy!

 

[scruffy1]

I am the last one to question anyone's beliefs I do find this interesting. There is indeed a tradition that some of the relics of the Apostle are kept in the church of St-Saturnin at Toulouse, another which I can remember but cannot pinpoint claims that a reliquary containing the forearm is also somewhere in France. There are many interesting works on the subject, "The Cult of the Saints" by Peter Brown and "Furta Sacra" by Patrick J. Geary come easily to mind. Both extremely informative and easily read for anyone interested in pursuing the subject.

 

[simeon]

scruffy1
there is a church in Prague a st James with a forearm however it doesn't appear to be st James. It was of a robber who was trying to steal from the altar
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._James_the_Greater_(Prague)

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Reading Cathedral in England had the hand of St. James for a very long time. It's still in the diocese, now at a smaller parish church.

 

[simeon]

anybody else know where other relics of st James are?

 

[JabbaPapa]

He has two skull relics, one in Toulouse, one in Compostela. Plus apparently this one.