ts future.
It is probable that a fraction of the little school which surrounded
Jesus in his last days remained at Jerusalem.

It is about this period that we can place the vision of James, mentioned
by St. Paul. James was the brother, or at least a relation, of Jesus. We
do not find that he had accompanied Jesus on his last sojourn to
Jerusalem. He probably went there with the apostles, when the latter
quitted Galilee.

It is very remarkable that the family of Jesus, some of whose members
during his life had been incredulous and hostile to his mission,
constituted now a part of the Church, and held in it a very exalted
position. One is led to suppose that the reconciliation took place
during the sojourn of the apostles in Galilee. The celebrity which had
attached itself to the name of their relative, those who believed in
him, and were assured of having seen him after he had arisen, served to
make an impression on their minds. From the time of the definite
establishment of the apostles at Jerusalem, we find with them Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus. In what concerns Mary, it
appears that John, thinking in this to obey a recommendation of the
Master, had adopted and taken her to his own home. He perhaps took her
back to Jerusalem. This woman, whose personal history and character have
remained veiled in obscurity, assumed hence great importance. The words
that the evangelist put into the mouth of some unknown woman, "Blessed
is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked," began
to be verified. It is probable that Mary survived her son a few years.
As for the brothers of Jesus, their history is wrapped in obscurity.
Jesus had several brothers and sisters. It seemed probable, however,
that in the class of persons which were called "Brothers of the Lord"
there were included relations in the second degree. The question is only
of moment so far as it concerns James, whom we see playing a great part
in the first thirty years of Christianity.

The apostles henceforth separated no more, except to make temporary
journeys. Jerusalem became their head-quarters; they seemed to be afraid
to disperse, while certain acts served to reveal in them the
prepossession of being opposed to return again into Galilee, which
latter had dissolved its little society. An express order of Jesus is
supposed to have interdicted their quitting Jerusalem, before, at least,
the great manifestations which were to