St. James the Less COLLECTION (JMAS 05)

The name “James” is so common in the New Testament that epithets are used to distinguish the various “Jameses”. In Eastern Orthodoxy, St. James, the son of Alphaeus (1st century), is known as “brother of the Lord” or “the Just”; in Western Christendom, he is dubbed in English “the Less” to distinguish him from St. James, the son of Zebedee, who is known as “the Greater”. Until the Resurrection, St. James the Less worked as an Apostle quietly in the background. Afterwards, despite his humble nature, he became a mover and shaker in the early church authoring the Epistle bearing his name, becoming the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and helping to formulate the Apostolic Decree at the Council of Jerusalem, an agreement whereby Gentile converts to Christianity need not conform to all of Jewish religious law especially male circumcision. In 80 A.D., he was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, stoned, and finally beaten to death with a club. + Feast (with St. Philip the Apostle): May 3.