Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

August 8, 2008 By Fausta

St James lost his sword in Nieva de Cameros

Santiago Matamoros
Santiago Matamoros
Via Gates of Vienna,
SPAIN: PARISH PRIEST ‘DISARMS’ SAINT, DEVOTEES REBEL (paragraph breaks added)

Saint James ‘the Moors killer’ – ‘matamoros’ according to the Spanish tradition – remained without sword, after the decision of the parish priest of the village of Nieva de Cameros, in the province of La Rioja, to eliminate the weapon clasped by the Saint’s statue, kept in the Church of Saint Martin.

But the decision did not appeal to everyone, so much so that in Spain a widespread controversy, which also appeared on the Web, has arisen. The nickname of ‘matamoros’, which designates the apostle Saint James (Santiago in Spanish) especially along the route of the Way of Saint James towards Santiago de Compostela, was given to the Saint because of the legend which spread during the Reconquest.

The legend says that in the year 859 the King of Galicia, Ordono I, while fighting with his soldiers against the Muslims, saw a knight on a white horse appear to his rescue; the knight launched into the battle and managed to defeat the enemy. Since then, Saint James the apostle has become a symbol of the Reconquest, depicted with the sword in hand on a white horse.
…
This decision [Ftr Jose’ Luis Fernandez’s] has divided the devotees of the parish church and has triggered also an inflamed and controversial debate on the Internet. To begin with, don Fernandez decided to ”disarm” Matamoros on July 25, on the occasion of the day of Santiago, patron Saint of the village: ”I did not approve of the fact that the statue would be carried in procession through the village brandishing the sword”, the priest told the media. The priest had prepared beforehand the devotees to the Saint’s radical change of image with a sermon focused on the fifth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill. ”The sermon was also inspired by the sentence uttered by Jesus to the Apostle Peter: Put your sword in the scabbard,” don Fernandez explained. Then, after a quick survey among the village’s residents, the priest decided to remove the sword, embedded in the hand of the Saint through a jointed piece of iron, and to place it in front of the horse’s hoofs, ”so that, instead of representing a symbol of violence, it might be trampled and disowned by Santiago”, the priest remarked.

Thus Santiago, who has become the ex-Moors killer, appeared on the pages of the local newspapers. But he has stirred up also a lively debate on the Internet, where on the blog Urania, for instance, the disarmament is defined as ”a supreme act of violence” which responds ”to the migratory invasion of Europe by 30 million Muslims”. But the priest strenuously defended his decision: ”Santiago cannot be Matamoros, because he never killed anybody,” he said.

Father Pepe must be drinking deeply from the revisionist well.

Spanish blogger Urania titles her post VIOLENCIA CLERICAL CONTRA SANTIAGO MATAMOROS, clerical violence against Santiago, the ‘Son of Thunder’.

Mind you, disarming Santiago is a powerful symbollic gesture. There’s good reason for the debate – while the priest of that small parish disarmed Santiago, Santiago is the national patron of Spain and the subject of one of the most famous religious pilgrimages, the Camino de Santiago.

Digg!

Share on Facebook

Share

Filed Under: Islamic Jihad, Matamoros, Spain Tagged With: Fausta's blog

Comments

  1. Anthony (Los Angeles) says

    August 8, 2008 at 9:07 am

    For a priest, Fr. Hernandez is certainly full of himself.

  2. Sil says

    August 8, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Perhaps he ‘disarmed’ old Sant’Iago because he turned traitor and became Sant’Iago Mataespañois – killer of Spaniards?
    He is lucky he didn’t chop off his head!!

    In Peru, during an indigenous uprising in 19th-century they adopted Santiago as its champion, using the “Matamoros” iconography of “Santiago Mataespañois” that in Peru had come to be associated with a pre-Columbian deity who drove out evil forces.
    There is a mid-19thC silver statue of Santiago Mataespañois in the Museum of Pilgrimages in Santiago de Compostela.

    http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/spain2005/mataespanoisSantiago.html

  3. Pat Patterson says

    August 9, 2008 at 7:56 am

    Sometimes as a Lutheran, where all our noteworthy saints generally used swords, knives, smoothbore cannons, muskets and the rack to solve theological disputes, the argument over whether a saint should have a sword in his artistic depictions is somewhat baffling. In some ways its like a Youtube argument over which is better Luke Skywalker’s light saber of Thor’s hammer.

    O/T-There is a very small Catholic church near where I live that was built by the immigrant Mexican workers and a local Anglo farmer during the 30’s, Saint Isidore’s, that is struggling to stay open. But in the courtyard there is a prayer bench and a donated and perfectly ghastly plaster statue of St. Isidore showing him with various tools and what I though was a small chicken but is actually a dove. However on occassion some of the local kids place a spray bottle of Round Up in the saint’s hand which to me seems appropriate but doesn’t really please the parish priest.

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com