Patron saints are saints who were chosen as special protectors or guardians over certain things like occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes, in fact, anything that is important to us.

Our patron saint is Saint James who was son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of Saint John the Apostle, and may have been Jesus' cousin. He is actually called Saint James the Greater because he became an Apostle before Saint James the Lesser. He was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist and a fisherman by trade.

James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. He left everything when Christ called him to be a fisher of men, on the shores of the River Jordan.

James is shown in St. James's Church in two ways - through a mosaic of him, on the left, and through a shell. In the picture James is holding a staff, perhaps a pilgrim's staff. He is also holding a book inscribed with a cross with a shell in the middle of it. The book is presumably the Gospel - the good news that James was sent out to proclaim. A shell is another symbol of a pilgrim.