Tag Archives: St. James

Moses Atop Mt. Tabor and Mt. Sinai

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The Transfiguration of Christ: Part of an iconostasis from Mt. Sinai in the style of Constantinople (mid-12th century). We see the Prophet Elijah as an older man beside Christ and Moses, holding a copy of the Law given to him on Mt. Sinai, on Christ’s other side. St. Peter kneels below Elijah, with St. John the Divine below Christ and St. James below Moses.

Christ took the apostles Peter, James, and John the Divine to the top of Mt. Tabor to pray. The apostles fell asleep. When they awoke, they saw Christ transfigured–more brilliant than the sun–and Moses was there, with the Prophet Elijah, speaking with Christ about the Passion that Christ would soon experience in Jerusalem. (Moses and Elijah–the primary representatives of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament–were also representative of the living and the dead as Elijah was taken alive into heaven by the chariot of fire and Moses died on Mt. Nebo just outside the Promised Land.)

Although seen by the apostles on Mt. Tabor, Moses is more commonly associated with Mt. Sinai. The famous monastery of St. Catherine (a treasure trove of manuscripts and icons) marks the place on Mt. Sinai where Moses is said to have encountered God–his own face shining more brightly than the sun afterwards–and Moses gazes out at the congregation in the monastery church from the Transfiguration mosaic behind the altar-table; the church on Mt. Sinai is dedicated to the Transfiguration, underscoring Moses’ connections with both Sinai and Tabor.

The oldest record of monastic life at Sinai comes from the travel journal written in Latin by a woman named Egeria about 381–384. She visited many places around the Holy Land and Mount Sinai, where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments.

The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as “Saint Helen’s Chapel”) ordered to be built by Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. The living bush on the grounds is purportedly the one seen by Moses. The place where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments is further up the mountain, behind the monastery.

The library at the monastery preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library The large icon collection begins with a few dating to the 5th-6th centuries; these icons are unique as the monastery was untouched by Byzantine iconoclasm, and never sacked.

A view of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai
Apse mosaic of the Transfiguration from Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, AD 565–6.

Scallop Shells and Saints

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A scallop shell marks the pilgrimage route to Santiago.

The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of St James the Great and is popular with pilgrims returning from the Way of St James (Camino de Santiago) and the apostle’s shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. Medieval Christians would collect a scallop shell while at Compostela as evidence of having made the journey. The association of Saint James with the scallop can most likely be traced to the legend that the apostle once rescued a knight covered in scallops. An alternative version of the legend holds that while St. James’ remains were being transported to Galicia (Spain) from Jerusalem, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered in the shells.

In French the animal (as well as a popular meal of it in cream sauce) is called coquille St. Jacques. In German, they are Jakobsmuscheln – literally “James’ mussels”. When referring to St James, a scallop shell is displayed with its convex outer surface showing. In contrast, when the shell refers to the goddess Venus (who stepped out from the sea on a scallop shell), it is displayed with its concave interior surface showing.

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484-86). Tempera on canvas. Uffizi, Florence

Pilgrimage to Santiago

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The Botafumeiro is a famous thurible found in the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. In the past, similar devices were used in large churches in Galicia; one is still used in the Tui Cathedral. Incense is burned in this swinging metal container, or “censer”. The name “Botafumeiro” means “smoke expeller” in Galician.

The Camino de Santiago known in English as the Way of Saint James is a network of routes and pathways for pilgrims to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where the remains of the saint are buried.

The Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, together with those to Rome and Jerusalem. Canterbury (which had the shrine of St. Thomas Becket) was the fourth most popular pilgrimage.

Legend holds that St. James’s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. (The name Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Latin Sancti Iacobi, “Saint James”.)

During the Middle Ages, the route was highly travelled. However, the Black Death, the Protestant Reformation, and political unrest in 16th century Europe led to its decline. By the 1980s, only a few hundred pilgrims per year registered in the pilgrim’s office in Santiago. However, since the 1980s the route has attracted a growing number of modern-day international pilgrims.

Today, hundreds of thousands (over 200,000 in 2014) of Christian pilgrims and many others set out each year from their front doorsteps or from popular starting points across Europe, to make their way to Santiago de Compostela. Most travel by foot, some by bicycle, and some travel as some of their medieval counterparts did, on horseback or by donkey (for example, the British author and humorist Tim Moore). In addition to those undertaking a religious pilgrimage, many are hikers who walk the route for other reasons: travel, sport, or simply the challenge of weeks of walking in a foreign land. Also, many consider the experience a spiritual adventure to remove themselves from the bustle of modern life. It serves as a retreat for many modern “pilgrims”.

There is a famous church in Prague also dedicated to St. James.