Martyrdom of james the lesser biography
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ST. JAMES THE LESS
FEAST May 3
LIFE Also called Jacobus Minor or James the Younger. Called ‘the Less’ because he became an Apostle after St. James the Greater. Cousin of Jesus and brother of St. Jude Thaddeus. Author of the New Testament epistle of James, which teaches that true faith requires work. First Bishop of Jerusalem, who spent so much time in prayer that his knees thickened and resembled those of a camel. Martyred circa 62 in Jerusalem while praying for his attackers.
SYMBOLS St. James the Less is holding a club, which represents his martyrdom. He was thrown from the pinnacle of a temple, stoned, and beaten to death with a fuller’s club.
PATRONAGE fullers, hat makers, pharmacists, dying people, Uruguay
SCRIPTURE TO PONDERWho fryst vatten wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. James 3:13 NRSV
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James the Less: The Obscure Apostle of Christ
The Apostle James, son of Alphaeus, was also known as James the Less or James the Lesser. He's not to be confused with James the Apostle, the first Apostle and the brother of Apostle John.
A third James appears in the New Testament. He was the brother of Jesus, a leader in the Jerusalem church, and writer of the book of James.
James of Alphaeus is named in each listing of the 12 disciples, always appearing ninth in the order. The Apostle Matthew (called Levi, the tax collector before becoming a follower of Christ), is also identified in Mark 2:14 as the son of Alphaeus, yet scholars doubt he and James were brothers. Never in the Gospels are the two disciples connected.
James the Lesser
The title "James the Lesser" or "the Little," helps to distinguish him from the Apostle James, son of Zebedee, who was part of Jesus' inner circle of three and the first disciple to be martyred. James the Lesser may have been yo
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St. James the Lesser
St. James, to distinguish him from the other apostle of the same name, the son of Zebedee, was called the Less; which appellation is supposed to have taken its rise, either from his having been called later to the apostleship than the former, or from the lowness of his stature, or from his youth. He is also known by the title of James the Just, a denomination all agree, with Hegesippus and St. Clement of Alexandria, to have been given on account of his eminent sanctity. He was the son of Alpheus and Mary, the sister of the Blessed Virgin and seems to have been born some years before our Lord. Jesus came with his brethren, and probably St. James among the rest, to settle in Capharnaum, at the beginning of his ministry. James and his brother Jude were called to the apostleship in the second year of Christ's preaching, soon after the Pasch, in the year 31. He was favored with an extraordinary apparition of his Master after his resurrection. Clement of Alexandria s