Great Martyr James the Persian

James was born in Persia into a Christian family. He rose to a high position at the court of King Yazdegerd I and then of his son Bahram V, and, according to his Life, gave up Christianity to please the king. His mother and wife wrote to him in distress, and he repented. When the king learned that he had returned to the faith, he decided to have him put to death slowly.

James was taken to a place of execution and, one after another, his fingers, toes and limbs were cut off, and he prayed aloud as it happened, giving thanks for each. At last he was beheaded, in 421 in the usual dating. Because of the way he died, he is known as James the Dismembered (“Intercisus”), and he was venerated widely in the Christian East.