The Church today venerates the memory of James the Apostle, brother of St. John the Theologian.
James was one of the 12, like his brother John, siblings whom the Lord called “Sons of Thunder,” because they became great preachers and because of their profound theology, which was not experienced by all the Apostles.
It was the Saint’s boldness in preaching the Gospel that Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great, could not endure, so he took him into custody during the days of the Passover, and slew him with the sword — thus James drank the cup of which the Savior had spoken to him prophetically.