2012 Church Calendar Ver 3.5.pub - St. Gregorios Church

Saint James
St. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, was martyred in 62 AD
and was an important figure in Early Christianity. He is distinguished
from the other Apostle St. James by various epithets. He is
called “James, the brother of the Lord” by St. Paul (Galatians 1:19),
“James, the Just” by Hegesippus and others, "James, the Righteous",
"James of Jerusalem", "James Adelphotheos", and so on.
St. James became the leader of the Christian movement in
Jerusalem in the decades after Jesus' death, but information about
his life is scarce and ambiguous. Apart from a handful of references
in the Gospels, the main sources about his life are the Acts
of the Apostles, the Pauline epistles, the historian Josephus, and
St. Jerome, who also quotes the early Christian author Hegesippus.
The Epistle of St. James in the New Testament is traditionally
attributed to him, and he is a principal author of the Apostolic
Decree of Acts 15.
The Liturgy of Saint James is the oldest complete form of the
Eastern varieties of the Divine Liturgy and still in use among
certain Christian churches. It is based on the traditions of the
ancient rites of the Early Christian Church of Jerusalem. It forms
the historical basis of the Liturgy of Antioch, which is still the
principal liturgy of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
Saint James was martyred at the hands of a mob incensed by his
preaching about Jesus and his "transgression of the Law", a factitious
accusation made by the Jewish High Priest of the time,
Hanan ben Hanan.