James of Alphaeus the Apostle
His gentle[2], even ascetic[3] character contrasts with the dominant nature of his brother Jude.
His contemplative tendency, his "patient and secret" attitude recall his uncle Joseph, to whom he also physically resembles.[4]
James is very close to Jesus: they are approximately the same age. In their childhood, they shared the same teachings from the Virgin Mary.[5] When Homilizing him as an apostle, Jesus presents him thus:"my perfect childhood friend, the one who was my brother during our youth!"[6]
He is the 11th and penultimate apostle to join Jesus. For this reason, he is called "the lesser" in contrast to his namesake James of Zebedee the Apostle, "the Greater," one of the first to follow Jesus.
This late commitment is due to his concern about convincing his Family hostile to Jesus. Joseph, his elder brother, is stubborn and rigid. Simon, the second is fickle.
His father Alphaeus fumes against Jesus ("he is a madman!" he says). Only his mother Mary, daughter of Cleophas, and his brother Jude show favor towards Jesus.
His mother, having become a widow, follows Jesus as a woman disciple up to the foot of the cross. His brother Jude is already an apostle. James stays, as long as he can, with his dying father before being forced to choose between his Family and Jesus. He chooses Jesus:"But now that I know, now that you have told me that even above the father there is God, then I could no longer bear it. (...) But they did not want to understand us and did not even want to listen to us. And I left. Forced to choose: Jesus or the Family, it is You I chose. Here I am, if at least you want me (...)"[7]His father dies shortly after.
His gentleness is not without courage: despite his lack of confidence, he is the first of the Apostles to preach the Messiah.[8]
During a private meeting on Mount Carmel, Jesus reveals the Future to him and entrusts him with the future Church of Israel.[9] The Christ says to him:"you will be the leader of those who will be in the Jerusalem Christianized by your Jesus".[10]
Coming down from Mount Carmel, James performs his first miracle by healing, in the name of Jesus, the young child of a woodcutter.[11]
James is present at the main events of Jesus' public life: Witness of the Last Supper[12], the Resurrection[13], the Ascension[14] and Pentecost.[15]
But he does not attend the passion and the crucifixion of Jesus: he flees at the time of his capture.[16]
He becomes the first bishop of Jerusalem, one of the very first figures of the nascent Church.[17] He fears that he will not be able to carry out this task. Jesus appears to him to comfort him[18] and encourages him during his speech just before his Ascension.[19]
Together with others, he collects the body of Stephen, the first martyr, who died stoned.[20] Despite the burgeoning persecution and advice of prudence, he remains in Jerusalem.[21]
His name[edit | edit source]
Jacob, James (ז'אק – יעקב): Ya'aqob.
Etymologically: "he who takes by the heel, who supplants" (a reference to the birth of the twins); another etymology proposed is a contraction of Ya'-cob-El: "May God protect" -
Historical reference: Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebecca, the twin brother of Esau. He took the name Israel after struggling with the angel.
He is known under the triple title of James, son of Alphaeus, James the Lesser (became apostle after James "the Greater," son of Zebedee), or James the Just due to his reputation for holiness as bishop of Jerusalem for more than thirty years, until his assassination in 62 on the order of the High Priest Ananias II, the fifth son of the High Priest Hanne, reportedly.
Where is he mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
Hidden Life of Jesus: GRM 35 GRM 38 GRM 39Preparation for Public Life: GRM 44 GRM 51 GRM 56
Choice of the last Apostles: GRM 90 GRM 93 GRM 95 GRM 96 GRM 97
The last shepherds: GRM 98 GRM 99 GRM 100 GRM 101 GRM 102 GRM 103 GRM 104 GRM 105 GRM 106 GRM 108 GRM 109
In Judea before the common life: GRM 110 GRM 111 GRM 112 GRM 115 GRM 116 GRM 117 GRM 118
Teachings on the Ten Commandments: GRM 119 GRM 120 GRM 121 GRM 122 GRM 123 GRM 124 GRM 125 GRM 126 GRM 127 GRM 128 GRM 129 GRM 130 GRM 131 GRM 132
Year-end festivals: GRM 133 GRM 134 GRM 135 GRM 136 GRM 137 GRM 138 GRM 139 GRM 140 GRM 141 GRM 142
The Samaritan woman: GRM 143 GRM 144 GRM 145 GRM 146 GRM 147 GRM 149
Female apostleship: GRM 151 GRM 153 GRM 154 GRM 155 GRM 157 GRM 158
In Galilee, the choice of the Apostles: GRM 160 GRM 162 GRM 164 GRM 165 GRM 166
The Sermon on the Mount: GRM 169 GRM 170 GRM 171 GRM 172 GRM 173 GRM 174 GRM 176
Apostleship in Galilee: GRM 177 GRM 178 GRM 179 GRM 180 GRM 181 GRM 182 GRM 183 GRM 184 GRM 186
The second Easter journey: GRM 187 GRM 188 GRM 189 GRM 190 GRM 191 GRM 192 GRM 193 GRM 194 GRM 195 GRM 196 GRM 197 GRM 198 GRM 199 GRM 200 GRM 201 GRM 202 GRM 203
Apostleship in Judea: GRM 204 GRM 205 GRM 206 GRM 206 3.69 GRM 207 3.70 GRM 208 3.72 GRM 210 GRM 211 GRM 212 GRM 212 GRM 214 GRM 215
Apostleship in Philistia: GRM 216 GRM 217 GRM 218 GRM 219 GRM 220 GRM 221 GRM 222 GRM 223 GRM 224 GRM 225
The conversion of Mary Magdalene: GRM 226 GRM 229 GRM 230 GRM 232 GRM 233 GRM 235 GRM 237 GRM 238 GRM 239 GRM 240 GRM 241 GRM 242 GRM 243 GRM 244 GRM 245 GRM 246 GRM 247 GRM 248 GRM 249 GRM 250 GRM 251 GRM 252 GRM 253 GRM 254 GRM 255
Sending the Apostles and Disciples on Mission: GRM 256 GRM 257 GRM 258 GRM 259 GRM 260 GRM 261 GRM 262 GRM 265 GRM 268 GRM 269 GRM 271 GRM 272 GRM 273 GRM 274 GRM 275 GRM 276 GRM 277 GRM 278 GRM 279 GRM 280
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: GRM 281 GRM 284 GRM 285 GRM 286 GRM 287 GRM 288 GRM 289 GRM 290 GRM 292 GRM 293 GRM 294 GRM 296 GRM 297 GRM 298 GRM 299 GRM 300 GRM 301 GRM 302
Year-end festivals in Nazareth: GRM 304 GRM 307 GRM 312
The journey of the Disciples to Antioch: GRM 313 GRM 314 GRM 315 GRM 316 GRM 318 GRM 319 GRM 320 GRM 321 GRM 322 GRM 323 GRM 324 GRM 325 GRM 326
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: GRM 327 GRM 328 GRM 329 GRM 330 GRM 331 GRM 332 GRM 333 GRM 334 GRM 335 GRM 336 GRM 338 GRM 339 GRM 340 GRM 341 GRM 342 GRM 343 GRM 344 GRM 345 GRM 346 GRM 347
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: GRM 348 GRM 349 GRM 350 GRM 351 GRM 352 GRM 353 GRM 354 GRM 355 GRM 356 GRM 357 GRM 358 GRM 359 GRM 360 GRM 361 GRM 362 GRM 363
The second-to-last Passover: GRM 364 GRM 365 GRM 366 GRM 367 GRM 368 GRM 369 GRM 370 GRM 371 GRM 372 GRM 374 GRM 375 GRM 376 GRM 377 GRM 378
In Judea: GRM 379 GRM 380 GRM 381 GRM 382 GRM 383 GRM 384 GRM 385
God in Judea: GRM 386 GRM 387 GRM 388 GRM 389 GRM 390 GRM 391 GRM 392 GRM 393 GRM 394 GRM 398 GRM 399 GRM 402 GRM 403
Plain of Sharon: GRM 404 GRM 405 GRM 406 GRM 407 GRM 408 GRM 410 GRM 411 GRM 412
Pentecost, Decapolis and Esdraelon Plain: GRM 413 GRM 414 GRM 415 GRM 416 GRM 417 GRM 418 GRM 419 GRM 420 GRM 421 GRM 422 GRM 423 GRM 424 GRM 425 GRM 426 GRM 427 GRM 428 GRM 429 GRM 430 GRM 431 GRM 432
Summer in Nazareth: GRM 433 GRM 435 GRM 436 GRM 440 GRM 441 GRM 443 GRM 444 GRM 445 GRM 446 GRM 447 GRM 448 GRM 449 GRM 450 GRM 451 GRM 452 GRM 453 GRM 454 GRM 455 GRM 456 GRM 457 GRM 458 GRM 459 GRM 460 GRM 461 GRM 462 GRM 463 GRM 465
In Syro-Phoenicia: GRM 466 GRM 467 GRM 469 GRM 470 GRM 471 GRM 475 GRM 473 GRM 474 GRM 475 GRM 477
The Feast of Tabernacles: GRM 488 GRM 489 GRM 490
In Moab and Judea: GRM 497 GRM 498 GRM 499 GRM 504 GRM 505 GRM 507 GRM 508 GRM 509 GRM 510 GRM 511 GRM 515 GRM 520 GRM 523
The Feast of Dedication: GRM 527 GRM 528 GRM 529 GRM 532 GRM 535 GRM 538
The resurrection of Lazarus: GRM 547
Exile in Samaria: GRM 551 GRM 552 GRM 554 GRM 555 GRM 556 GRM 566 GRM 567 GRM 568 GRM 571 GRM 574
Return to Jerusalem: GRM 577 GRM 584 GRM 585 GRM 586
Holy Week: GRM 590 GRM 593 GRM 596 GRM 597 GRM 599
The Passion: GRM 600
Easter Sunday: GRM 621 GRM 626
From Resurrection to Ascension: GRM 628 GRM 629 GRM 630 GRM 631 GRM 634 GRM 635 GRM 636 GRM 638
Apostolic times: GRM 639 GRM 640 GRM 641 GRM 642 GRM 646 GRM 649
Learn more about this figure[edit | edit source]
Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, According to Maria Valtorta (Msgr. René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Éditions Salvator, 2012).James son of Alphaeus is celebrated on May 3 along with Philip the apostle.The theologian Jean Beleth[22] claims that his father Alphaeus was also the brother of Saint Joseph[23], but for Jacques de Voragine, this brother was Cleophas.[24] For Maria Valtorta, this Cleophas is the maternal grandfather of James.
James is also known as "James the Just" due to his reputation for holiness as bishop of Jerusalem for more than thirty years.
According to the faith of Hegesippus[25], a figure of the generation after the Apostles, Eusebius of Caesarea and then Saint Jerome call him Nazarene (consecrated to God) from birth: "He always preserved his virginity and his complete purity. His prostrations to the ground in prayer were so frequent that the skin of his knees had hardened like that of a camel."[26]
James was one of the "pillars of the" nascent "Church". Saint Paul even names him before Peter.[27] He is the presumed author of the first of the seven catholic epistles.[28] A 2nd-century apocryphon, the Protoevangelium of James, is attributed to him.
Saint Jerome and Saint Epiphanius confirm that he was bishop of Jerusalem, at the express request of Jesus.[29]
James was stoned in 62 by order of Ananias II, the acting high priest, along with several of his companions. Salton Flavius Josephus, he was thrown from the top of the Temple terrace into the Kidron Valley where a fuller finished him off with blows of a stick.[30] According to Hegesippus, his last words were those of forgiveness. He was buried near the Temple, on the very site of his martyrdom.[31] Part of his Relics rest in Rome[32] with those of Saint Philip, but many Churches claim fragments of his Relics.[33]
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.
- ↑ GRM 123.7
- ↑ GRM 577.1
- ↑ GRM 639.1
- ↑ GRM 577.7
- ↑ GRM 38.7-9
- ↑ GRM 95.2
- ↑ GRM 95.1
- ↑ GRM 130.2
- ↑ GRM 258.5
- ↑ GRM 258.4
- ↑ GRM 259.9-11
- ↑ GRM 600
- ↑ GRM 627 ; GRM 629.
- ↑ GRM 638.16-23
- ↑ GRM 640
- ↑ GRM 621
- ↑ GRM 638.12
- ↑ 1 Corinthians 15,7
- ↑ GRM 638.12
- ↑ GRM 646.1-2
- ↑ GRM 646.4
- ↑ A French theologian (c.1135-1182), rector at Paris and Amiens after having been a student at Chartres. He is known for his "Summa de ecclesiasticis officiis" one of the foundational works of Christian liturgy.
- ↑ Jean Beleth, Summa de ecclesiasticis officiis, chapter 124.
- ↑ Jacques de Voragine, The Golden Legend, Saint James, the apostle (the lesser).
- ↑ Fifth book of his Memoirs, Salton Eusebius of Caesarea. Work now lost.
- ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea Ecclesiastical History, Book 2, chapter 23.
- ↑ Cf. Galatians 2:9.
- ↑ Benedict XVI, catechesis of June 28, 2006.
- ↑ St Jerome, in Gal. p 164, and St Epiphanius 78, c.7 (reported by Maistre, History of St James the Lesser 1870, p 395).
- ↑ Flavius Josephus Jewish Antiquities (20, 201sq).
- ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea Ecclesiastical History, Book 2, chapter 23.
- ↑ In the crypt of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles.
- ↑ Notably: Saint-Sernin Cathedral of Toulouse, Monastery of Saint Zoile of Compostela, Church of the Jesuits of Antwerp, Saint-Etienne of Forli, Cathedral of Langres, Saint-Cornelius of Compiègne...