Fountain 53 Water tap, Souillac 27 August

 

St. James the Greater

son of Zebedee and Salome,

one of Jesus' 12 Apostles,

a fisherman, 

and the big brother of my favourite apostle, John the Beloved. 

James, recognisable by his walking staff, stout boots and the large scallop shell on his hat stands resolutely in the church at Souillac.

The scallop shell, the definitive symbol for the pilgrim, is now used to mark the routes to Compostela throughout Spain, France and Italy.

Originally it was worn as a sign of intention. It enabled the pilgrim to gain access to free bed and meals,but also acted as a talisman to ward of robbers

Now little metal scallop shell pins or pendants are sold at pilgrim route souvenir kiosks.

Even I have one to remind me of my visit to a personally important church.

There are several explanations for the appearance of the scallop shell.

According to Wikipedia, two versions of the most common myth about the origin of the symbol concern the death of  James.  According to Spanish legends, he had spent time preaching the gospel in Spain, but returned to Judaea after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River.  A while later, in 44 CE, James became the first martyr of the Christian church when he was beheaded in Jerusalem.

Version 1: After James's death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost to the ocean. After some time, however, it washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.

Version 2: After James's death his body was mysteriously transported by a crewless ship back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. As the ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on shore. The young groom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse got spooked, and horse and rider plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, the horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.

According to another, now forgotten, Catholic website :

Legends have sprung up that James evangelized Spain before he died but these stories have no basis in historical fact.
James is the patron saint of hat makers, rheumatoid sufferers, and laborers.  

Interestingly, being the patron saint of hat makers, rheumatoid sufferers, etc doesn't need to have a basis in historical fact, it just is a fact.

 

"St.James slaying the infidel Moors"

Oh internet! You treasure trove and den of iniquity.

My spelling is atrocious, as is my vocabulary. I no longer trust my definition for words and because I am interested in etymology, I Google and Google, even the most obvious and banal, which can open new doors and take me to interesting places.

While checking that I wasn't making a faux pas, I fell upon this shockingly xenophobic website.

Having been raised to be a devout Catholic I feel entitled to have an openly critical opinion, however, will I have my phone tapped?

Will I get through security at the airport if I cut and paste it here as an example 

 of what serves to fuel this senseless fire that is raging the planet and spoiling it

 for the rest of us open minded, peace loving individuals?

http://www.opusdeialert.com/st-thomas-aquinas-against-mohammed.htm

The Apostle of Jesus Christ, St. James the Moor-Slayer (Santiago Matamoros)

The [True] Catholic Church to this day, celebrates the miraculous appearance of St. James the Apostle, to the Catholic Armies of Spain in the 11th Century. St. James lead the Spanish Catholic Militia to triumphantly defeat the *infidel Mohammedans (Moors). All Catholics should invoke this Holy Apostle of Jesus Christ, asking his powerful intercession to once again, throw back the idolatrous Muslim hordes that are wreaking havoc on the vestige of what is left of Western Civilization.

*The word infidel is from the Latin infidelis and literally means "no faith." Chief examples are the unbelieving Jews and Mohammedans.

You what? Am I reading this correctly?

Can anyone actually believe this?

Not that I disagree with asking for saintly intercession,
but I was taught that Jesus said to 'turn the other cheek' and
that 'he who is without sin may cast the first stone' etc.

Perhaps I, too, join the infidels if I don't buy into the globalised religion of fear?

**Where is Archangel Michael when we need an unbiased judge of human deeds?

                                     or at least, where is the feeble human voice of reason?

                                               

 The Last Judgement by Hans Memling, painted 1445-50.

It hangs in the Hotel-Dieu, in Beaune, Burgandy, a hospital founded in 1452

 during a time of great destitution and plague.

 It depicts the Archangel Michael weighing the souls of the dead to determine their fate.

** With reference to the post Fountain 49 and its mention that Archangel Michael
 is one of the few figures who hold an important position in the three key

 (and warring) religions - Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

 

After a dry and inhospitable visit to Rocamadour earlier in the day,

I was grateful to find even a water tap in Souillac, where I could refill my bottle.

                                 Carved from a single stone, this knotted Celtic design of dogs
                                and beasts and griffons, with the sacrifice of Abraham tangled in,
                                             acts as a trumeau at Sainte Marie de Souillac.
                          

         elsewhere in the church is a similar tangle of people in turmoil

 (as always, it seems)