St. James the Less (JMAS 05) Planner

The roundel at the top of this picture features St. James the Less shouldering a large, heavy club, a fuller’s club, the instrument of his martyrdom and his primary symbol. His hands folded in prayer is not just a stock pious pose though, but another significant attribute: So intense was his prayer life that St. James reputedly developed thick calluses on his knees earning him the nickname “[Old] Camel’s Knees”! (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 2:23-24 after Hegesippus). The lush floral ornamentation at the bottom derives from miniatures, that is, the small illustrations used to decorate ancient or medieval illuminated manuscripts, in the Vatican Library. + Feast: May 3 + Image Credit (JMAS 05): Antique image of St. James the Less from a late 19th-century devotional print in chromolithography with gilt accents originally published by Josef Müller, Art Publisher, Munich, Germany, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. The image is one of twelve in the publisher’s Apostle Series (No. 12155).