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Published
by the Russian
Orthodox Church in the USA,
October 10, 2005
THE
LITURGY OF ST. JAMES, THE BROTHER OF THE
LORD, WILL BE COMMENCED ON NOVEMBER 5, 2005
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On
November 5 2005 at 10 A.M. His Grace Bishop
Mercurius of Zaraisk, the Administrator of
Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, will celebrate
the service of ancient Liturgy by Apostle St.
James, the Brother of the Lord, at St. Nicholas
Patriarchal Cathedral in New York.
According to the majority of the Church Fathers,
Apostle St. James was a son of the holy and
righteous Joseph from the prior marriage to his
betrothal with the Holy Virgin. St. James is
distinguished from James, the son of Zebedee,
and James the son of Altheas. The relation
regarding why he is called the brother of Christ
reached us as follows. When Joseph was dividing
the land among his children from his first
marriage, he wanted to give a part to Jesus
Christ, Who was already born from the Blessed
Virgin betrothed to Joseph. All sons of Joseph
were against this will except for James who took
Jesus Christ (then still a child) into joint
ownership of his land. The name of brother of
our Lord was also given to him because according
to the tradition he went along with the Blessed
Mother of God, Jesus and Joseph when they
escaped from the prosecutions of king Herod.
After the Resurrection of our Lord he received a
special revelation of the Lord. [1 Cor 15,7].
From youth James was different in his strict
ways of life: the rigorously obeyed the lent,
never cut his hair, wore a hair shirt and he
prayed so passionately, that from kneeling the
skin of his knees were as tough as one of a
camel. For his beneficence James was known to
the people as righteous, and was so well
respected among the Jewish leaders that he was
the only one, apart form the High Priest,
allowed to enter the Holy of Holies - the inner
part of the Jerusalem Temple, where he would
isolate for his prayers. In addition, St. James
was highly regarded by the early Christian
society: he was considered the Apostle of the
Church. Upon the will of the Lord he was
established the Bishop of the Jerusalem Church
and headed the Bishop’s Council. St. James
spent all of his time service as Apostle in
Jerusalem and a lot of the people gathered not
only to listen to his words but even to just
touch the bottom of his risa. His preaching of
Christ was so popular that it raised a great
envy from the Jewish leaders to the point that
they conspired to dispose of him. They demanded
that he should admit that Christians were
confused regarding Jesus Christ as the Son of
God in presence of all the people at the
celebration of Jewish Passover. However, when
St. James was walked to the edge of the rooftop
of the Temple, everyone heard the brave word of
about Jesus Christ the Son of God and many
became believers. Then the scribes and Pharisees
regretted about the whiteness the Christ was
given by the mouth of well respected father, and
in order to threaten the people they threw St.
James from the top of the roof with the words
“thy righteous, mistaken is he”. St. James
did not die right away but having gathered his
strength, he kneeled and said a prayer for his
enemies. Having become vicious the mob stoned
him to death. This is how the holy martyr has
finished his life on the 96th year. Shortly
after his death the Jewish – Roman war began
(66-70 AD) and the sorrows brought by this war
were accounted for the God’s punishment for
the death of righteous St. James.
There was a tradition from the ancient Church
that St. James, the brother of Christ, composed
a liturgy that was celebrated in Jerusalem. St.
Proclus, the Patriarch of Constantinople and a
student of St. John Chrysostom in his
composition “About the the Divine Liturgy”
listing those who put together and documented
the order of performance of the Sacraments
mentions Apostle St. James, “who received the
Jerusalem Church and was its first Bishop”.
Later, when describing how liturgies of St.
Basil the Great and St. John originated, St.
Proclus points at the St. James’s liturgy that
was a foundation for both liturgies. Apostle
James’s liturgy was predominant in East and
West until the ninth century. It was kept in
Palestine, Cyprus, Zakinf, Mount Sinai, and
South of Italy. However, it became replaced by
the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom due to of the
influence of Constantinople.
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