The Holy Apostle James (44), the brother of St. John the Theologian
James was the son of Zebedee, the brother of John and one of the Twelve Apostles. At the invitation of the Lord Jesus, James left his fisher- man’s net and his father and, together with John, immediately followed after the Lord. He belonged to that trinity of apostles to whom the Lord revealed the greatest mysteries, before whom He was transfigured on Ta- bor, and before whom He was in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane preceding His passion. After receiving the Holy Spirit, he preached the Gospel in various places and traveled to Spain. Upon his return from Spain, the Jews began to quarrel with him concerning Holy Scripture, but no one was able to withstand him, not even a certain magician, Hermogenes. Hermogenes and his disciple Philip were defeated by the power of the truth which James preached, and both of them were baptized. Then the Jews accused James before Herod and persuaded a certain Josias to slander the apostle. Josias, seeing the brave conduct of James and listening to his clear explanation of the truth, repented and believed in Christ. When James was condemned to death, this same Josias was also condemned to death. En route to the place of execution, Josias implored James to forgive him the sin of slander. James embraced and kissed him and said: “Peace and forgiveness be to you!” Both of them bowed their heads under the sword and were beheaded for the Lord, Whom they loved and Whom they served. St. James suffered in Jerusalem in the year 45. His body was translated to Spain, where miraculous healings occur over his grave even to this day.
