Parishioners of Holy Trinity Church on West 82nd Street in Manhattan honored St. James, also known as Santiago, on Sunday with Mass followed by a fiesta.

The feast day of St. James is July 25. One of the original 12 apostles, St. James was the first of Jesus’ disciples to be martyred and is the patron saint of Spain. His remains are in Galicia in northwestern Spain. The name Santiago came through Spanish from the Latin “Sancti Iacobi,” or church of St. James.

The tradition of devotion to Santiago is especially strong among the people from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. It has been maintained in the United States and is growing as more people arrive from that region. The celebration at Holy Trinity Church goes back almost 25 years, to the time of Monsignor Thomas Leonard.

Founded in 1898, Holy Trinity Church on the Upper West Side serves about 1,400 parishioners, celebrating Mass and offering the sacraments in English and Spanish. Monsignor Thomas P. Sandi is the current pastor.

Special thanks to Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Whalen, Vicar for Clergy, and Gary Mead for their contribution to The Good Newsroom.