Saint James

[James Nee]

Hey folks, I've decided that St James should be my "saint" because my mother named me James after Christ's disciple. But in doing a search on the internet for information about him, I've found that there is St. James, the Brother of Christ, and St. James of Jerusalem, and they appear to be two different saints. Now I'm confused!

Does anyone have a resource/link to where I could find more information on the Disciple? I'd like to learn about the saint I'm "praying to". Thx.

[Fr Averky]

Dear in Christ james,

What a wonderful patron saint you have chosen. St. James the Brother of the Lord was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and presided over the first council of the newly-established Christian Church. The James we read about in Acts who decides the issue between the Apostles Peter and Paul is that person. Pray to your holy saint, and let him be an example in your Christian life. My monastery is one of the few places that annually celebrates the ancient and beautiful Liturgy of St. James.

I hope you will not "pray" to him, but pray to him, for he is the one who will be granting the favors here-approach all things to do with God with humility-it is the folly of Americans to think that they have something to give, well, all you can give is a broken and contrite heart. Forget the "Evangelical," and emphasize the Orthodox, and you will do well. As a new Christian, you will be like a new born child, not in a position to "teach," but to Learn. may God help you, you will be in my poor prayers.

Father A.

[James Nee]

Father A,

Thank you for the information and the sound encouragement. One of the great blessings of my journey into Orthodoxy is meeting people like yourself and seeing your example.

My wife loves to read what you have to say, btw!

[Trudy Ellmore]

Dear Fr. A,

Can you please clarify what you mean in post #592 where you wrote in response to Jim Nee's posting where he wrote he is choosing the patron saint St. James the Disciple. The two sentences are as follows...:
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I hope you will not "pray" to him, but pray to him, for he is the one who will be granting the favors here and Forget the "Evangelical," and emphasize the Orthodox, and you will do well.
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I am not clear what you mean by them, especially the first sentence and the difference of the two words "Pray".

I hope I've written this in such a manner as to make my question clear. I am not sure of how to format this.

Thank you, Trudy

[Fr Averky]

Dear Trudy,

I rather think that James understood me, at least I think he did. I said what I did because he wanted to know more about St. James because he would "pray" to him. I responded by quietly pointing out that we actually do pray to the saints, and that he should, especially to his new heavenly patron.

Praying to the saints is an aspect of Orthodoxy which along with devotion and praying to the Mother of God cam be difficult for some converts. In this case, I was not implying such to James, but simply pointing out that coming to Orthodoxy is serious business, and there is no room for "picking and choosing" when it comes to Orthodox praxis. I hope that this will answer your question.

James, I will continue to pray for you and your wife; approach Orthdodoxy with humility and simplicity, as if you are small children. Christ's Church is a deep Mystery, and no matter how much we "study" Her, we will have to be spoon fed for many years and will but barely scrape the surface of the great knowledge and Grace of which She is possessed.

Do not be in a rush to "know" everything, but be patient, and God Himself will instruct your willing souls. Very important is to develop a good prayer life, for without prayer, there is no life. God bless and help you!

In Christ,

Fr. A.

[Byzcath1]

My Patron is St. George, Patron of Military Service men.

[Justin]

James,

I think there are 4 or 5 Jameses in the New Testament, with the two most prominent ones being 1) The Apostle James, who was martyred in Acts 12; and 2) James, the (step-)brother of our Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem, who was martyred at a later date. There are a few books on James, though you'll have to do some digging if you want to find them (I'm on a computer at a library, so I'm afraid I can't look up the names and whatnot!). Also, beware of revisionist scholarship--there is at least one (rather thick) book on James that tries to recreate the Saint in the author's own view.

The only other thing I could think to suggest would be to check collections of the lives of the saints, which will of course have small entries on the Saint Jameses. I'm not sure if the following would help... but at the very least it might give you some leads as to where to look for more information:
http://www.geocities.com/stainlesskings888/epistlejames.html

[Laura Nee]

Father A,

Thank you so much for your kind words to my husband. It was very timely for where he is on his journey.

Laura

[James Nee]

Father A,

Yes, I did understand what you were saying, and thank you! I wasn't picking or chosing, simply trying to be gentle in the way I used the words, maybe moreso than I should have.

Thank you again for your kind instruction and encouragement. It means a great deal to me! Re: our prayer life, we're so thankful for the prayer book we've borrowed from our parish library. It is revolutionary in many senses and has helped to create much discipline in my life! I'm amazed at just how much I am being changed by those prayers.

Thanks again, Father A. Blessings to you, as well!

[ronald j. brotzman]

James Nee, my Orthodox name is also James. I guess I am named after James the Lesser, the brother of the Lord. My grandfather's name was Jacobi, James in German. That translates to Iovocos in Greek. There is also James the Greater, who was the apostle of Spain. Under his cross Crusades were carried out and the America's were conquered. Santiago, the great evagelizer. The Lesser was the first president at the first Ecumenical council. He was also the first of the apostles to be martyered. In Saint of the Church, both Orthodox and Catholic there are nearly fifty St Jameses. It has been a popular name.

[Melissa]

Father Averky --
"Do not be in a rush to "know" everything, but be patient, and God Himself will instruct your willing souls. Very important is to develop a good prayer life, for without prayer, there is no life."

Thank you for your words to James in the post to Trudy. I am also taking them to heart. Prayer through St. Theophan the Recluse (The Psalter), and St. Seraphim, have been important parts of my life recently.
God bless you. Melissa

[Fr Averky]

My Dear Friends,

No one puts it better than St. John of the Ladder:

"Prayer, by reason of its nature, is the converse and union of man with God, and by reason of its action upholds the world and brings about reconciliation with God; it is the mother and also the daughter of tears, the propitiation for sins, a bridge over temptations, a wall against affliction, a crushing of conflicts, a work of angels, the food for all bodiless spirits, future gladness, unending activity, a source of virtues, a means of obtaining graces, invisible progress, food of the soul, enlightenment of the mind, an axe against despair, a demonstration of hope, a cure for sorrow, ...a revelation of future things, and a sign of glory. For him who truly prays, prayer is the court,the judgement hall, and the tribunal of the Lord before the judgement to come. "

St. John says so very wisely:

"Try to lift up, or rather, to enclose your thought within the words of your prayer, and if in its infant state it wearies and falls, lift it up again. Instability is natural to the mind, but God has the power to establish all things. If you persevere indefatigably in this labour, He who sets the bounds of the sea of the mind will visit you too, and during your prayer will say to the waves; "Thus far ye shall come no further." (Job 38, 11) Spirit cannot be bound; but where the Creator of the spirit is, everything obeys."

I can tell you that in the many times in my life I have faced sorrow or loneliness or great loss, if I had not had my life of prayer which gave me*comfort and surety, I would never have made it. Prayer is those moments when we have the possibility to turn in our heart to God, telling Him of our trials and sorrows, our heaviness of heart, and share with Him the day's events, good or bad. Putting our hand in His like a small child, we have the confidence that a child has in a parent-safety, warmth, and the confidence that all will be well. My joy and my comfort has also been the Mother of God, who as a true Mother, protects me, loves me, and covers me. I know that if I did not have prayer, I would have nothing at all. Just think of it, St John says that prayer "upholds the world," and when we pray, we participate in that upholding-not only ourselves, but many, many others.

May all of you who are new learn to pray and to pray heartfully and simply. And, in my own poor way, I will be praying for you. James, I think that James the Brother of the Lord would make a wonderful patron. If you would like a prayer book, contact me via a private message, and I will gift you with one.

God bless all of you.

Fr. A.

[Jim Nee]

All (especially Father A)

Thank you for your words and information! I did find some information on James from the OCAs site, but I was wondering if someone with more experience would mind taking a look at it for me. It seems to contradict some of what is stated above. Saint James Bio (http://www.lifescocktails.us/orthodoxy/StJamesBio.html)

I had no idea there were so many James-es!

[Effie Ganatsios]

I don't know if the following information will help or further confuse matters.

James (Jacob in Hebrew) is Iakov in greek. Greek has no hard G or J sound and the English b is phonetically v in Greek. The Greek phonetic b is spelt mp - ìð in Greek.

In case the above hasn't confused anyone enough all words in Greek end differently dependent on the grammar form used i.e. when addressing someone named James/Jacob we say Iakove, when using the possessive we say Iakovou, etc.

In the Greek version of the Bible the name James/Jacob - Iakov (Éáêùâ) is frequently met. For example : The sons of Zebedee were John and Jacob - Éùáííçò and Éáêùâáò. There is no James as such.