3rd May: St. James the Lesser

Today is the feast day of St James the Lesser, also known as James the Just, one of the twelve Apostles. 10 things you might not know about him.

1. He is known as James the Lesser to distinguish him from the other apostle called James, who was older.
2. His mother’s name was Mary, which led some to believe he was actually Jesus’s brother, but since the only other son mentioned in the New Testament in connection with this Mary was called Joseph, it is deemed unlikely – but he may well have been a cousin. Other theories suggest he was a half-brother of Jesus, from an earlier marriage of Joseph, although it’s generally accepted that his father’s name was Alphaeus.
3. A 13^th century work on the lives of saints suggests that James the Lesser had two more brothers – Simon Cananean and Judas Thaddeus.
4. He’s not actually mentioned in the Bible all that much. He was one of those who witnessed the resurrection; he was with Peter when he was fleeing from Herod Agrippa and rose to prominence in the church. That’s all the Bible says.
5. According to tradition he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
6. He died after being taken to the roof of a temple by the Scribes and Pharisees and threw him off. He survived the fall so they stoned him and beat him to death. One of the people carrying out the execution was a fuller, who beat James using his club – hence in pictures, James is pictured with a fuller’s club. Afterwards, his body was cut to pieces with a saw, so a saw is also sometimes used as his symbol.
7. According to legend, he spent so much time praying that his knees became callused and looked like those of a Camel.
8. It’s also said that after the crucifixion, James declared that he wouldn’t eat until Christ returned, so when the risen Christ appeared to him, he fixed James a meal.
9. When mentioned in a list of apostles, he is always mentioned ninth.
10. He is the patron saint of pharmacists, the dying, hatters, fullers, pie makers and the nation of Uruguay.

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