December 10 / November 27

The Holy Martyr James the Persian (400)

James was born of Christian parents in the Persian city of Elapa (or Vilat), brought up in the Christian Faith and married to a Christian woman. The Persian King Yezdegeherd took a liking to James for his talents and skillfulness and made him a noble at his court. Flattered by the king, James was deluded and began offering sacrifices to the idols that the king worshiped. His mother and wife learned of this, and wrote him a letter of reproach in which they grieved over him as an apostate and one who was spiritually dead. Yet, at the end of the letter, they begged him to repent and return to Christ. Moved by this letter, James repented bitterly, and courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord to the king. Angered, the king condemned him to death by a special torture: his entire body was to be cut up, piece by piece, until he breathed his last. The executioners fulfilled this command of the wicked king to the letter, and cut off James’s fingers, then his toes, his legs and arms, his shoulders, and finally his head. During every cutting, the repentant martyr gave thanks to God. A sweet-smelling fragrance, as of a cypress, emanated from the wounds. Thus, this wonderful man repented of his sin and presented his soul to Christ his God in the Kingdom of Heaven. James suffered in about the year 400. His head is to be found in Rome and a part of his relics in Portugal, where he is commemorated on May 22.

2. The Seventeen Venerable Monk-martyrs of India (4th c.)

They were Christian monks who suffered at the hands of the Indian King Abenner. Enraged at Elder Barlaam because he baptized his son, Ioasaph, King Abenner sent men in pursuit of him. The pursuers did not capture Barlaam, but captured seventeen other monks and brought them to the king. The king condemned them to death and his men plucked out their eyes, severed their tongues, broke their arms and legs, and then beheaded them. Even so, the Christian Faith in the Kingdom of India was strengthened all the more by the blood of these knights of Christ.

3. The Venerable Romanus the Wonderworker, of Cilicia, near Antioch (5th c.)

Romanus lived a life of asceticism in the vicinity of Antioch. He never kindled a fire or lit a candle in his cell. He reposed peacefully and was a miracle-worker both during his life and after his death. He intercedes for barren women when they offer prayer to him.

4. The Venerable Pinuphrius of Egypt (4th c.)

Pinuphrius was a contemporary of St. John Cassian (February 29) and a great Egyptian ascetic. He lived in the fourth century and carried out his life of asceticism in various places, always fleeing the praise of men. He had many disciples, who strove to imitate the lofty example of their teacher.

5. The Venerable Nathaniel of Nitria (6th c.)

Nathaniel was a Nitrian monk. He prayed to God both day and night, and was enlightened by the contemplation of divine matters. He neither left his cell nor even crossed the threshold for a full thirty-eight years. He entered into rest in the Lord in the second half of the sixth century.

❖ St. Palladius of Thessalonica (6th-7th c.).
❖ St. Palladius, bishop of Elenopolis, author of The Lausiac History (ca. 430).
❖ St. Maximus of Riez (ca. 460).
❖ St. Virgil, bishop of Salzburg, Irish missionary (784).
❖Uncovering of the relics (1192) of St. Vsevolod (in baptism Gabriel), prince and wonderworker of Pskov (1138).
❖ St. Theodosius of Turnovo, monastic founder at Mt. Kelifarevo (1363).
❖ St. James, bishop and wonderworker of Rostov (1392).
❖ St. Diodorus, founder of Yuriegorsk Monastery (Solovki) (1633).
❖ St. Andrew Ogorodnikov, fool-for-Christ, of Simbirsk (1841).
❖ New Hieromartyrs Nicholas, archbishop of Vladimir, Nikon, archimandrite, of the Staro-Golutvin Monastery (Kolomna), Ioasaph, archimandrite, of Nikolskoye Monastery (Moscow), Nicholas, hieromonk of the St. Nicholas-Peshnosha Monastery (Moscow), and Apollos, hieromonk, of Moscow (1937).
❖ New Hieromartyrs Cronides, archimandrite, Seraphim, abbot, and Xenophont, hieromonk, all of St. Sergius Lavra (1937).
❖ Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Radonezh.
❖ Commemoration of the Miracle of the Weeping Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of the Sign” at Novgorod (1170).
❖ Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of the Sign”: “Kursk Root” (1295), “Of Abalak” (1637), “Of Tsarskoe Selo” (17th c.), and “Of Seraphimo-Ponetaev” (1879).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr James the Persian

The Creator does not lose repentant souls:
He loves a true penitent the most.
James denied Christ the Living God
For the sake of the godless emperor, his flatterer.
His mother reproached him as did his wife:
“All the riches of the earth are as transient as foam.”
James repented, and bitterly repented,
Then openly spoke about what he had kept secret: “
A Christian I was, and again I am a Christian:
Foolish and weak are your idols!”
This James said, as he stood before the emperor;
This he said openly and remained true to it.
The emperor took all his imperial gifts from him,
And clothed the wondrous James with torture.
James was reddened with wounds and blood,
And like eagles on a carcass, men attacked him!
They dismembered the body of Christ’s hero,
And cut St. James into bits.
Now James prays before God in Paradise
That all Christians overcome all attacks.

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