Holy Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord

James, called “the brother of the Lord” (Galatians 1:19), led the Christian community of Jerusalem after the apostles dispersed. Acts shows him speaking decisively at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), and the Epistle of James is traditionally ascribed to him. Eastern tradition, followed by the Rostov Lives, holds that he was a son of Joseph by an earlier marriage.

Known as James the Just, he was famed for his strict life; Hegesippus says his knees grew hard as a camel's from prayer. The Jewish historian Josephus records that the high priest Ananus had him stoned in 62; Hegesippus adds that he was thrown from the Temple and killed with a fuller's club. The ancient Liturgy of St James bears his name.