Feast of St James the Persian

celebrated in both East and West.

In Persia, St. James, a famous martyr surnamed "Dismembered." In the days of Theodosius the Younger, he denied Christ to secure the favor of King Isdegerd; whereupon, his mother and wife avoided his company. Repenting of his deed, James approached King Vararanes, the son and successor of Isdegerd, and confessed that he was a Christian. Hence, the angry monarch sentenced him to this death: his limbs were to be cut off one by one and finally he was to be beheaded. At that time and in the same place, innumerable other martyrs were slain.