James the Less was assumed by Christ from the number of the twelve apostles, as appears from the Gospels. He is called “the Less” with respect to James the Greater discussed above, not with respect to merit or holiness but with respect to his calling to the apostolate, because he was called after the other James.
Pope Anacletus says of him in Distinction 68: “Moreover, blessed James, who was called the Just and was named the Lord’s brother according to the flesh, was the first archbishop of Jerusalem. He was ordained by the apostles Peter, James”—namely the Greater—“and John, giving a form to their successors that a bishop should not be ordained by fewer than three bishops.” Thus far Anacletus.
The Gloss says there that although James, like the other apostles, had been made a bishop by Christ through invisible anointing—said to have occurred at the Last Supper—he was then ordained a bishop by the aforesaid apostolic bishops through visible anointing, that is, through certain exterior ceremonies, although these are unknown to us.
Or all were ordained bishops by Christ but without the title of a determinate place. The aforesaid apostolic bishops and Peter, the supreme pontiff, gave James a certain and determinate title and jurisdiction, namely Jerusalem and its territory.
This archiepiscopal title was afterward enlarged into a patriarchal title. After the Roman See, which is above all, it holds fourth place among the other patriarchal sees, as appears in Distinction 22, the final chapter.
James is called the Lord’s brother for two reasons. First, he was the son of Maria Cleophe, who was sister on her mother’s side to the Virgin Mary, Christ’s mother. James the Less was therefore Christ’s brother as a first cousin.
Joseph, Mary’s spouse, is also said to have been Clopas’s brother. Since many thought Joseph was Christ’s father, many likewise considered James to be Christ’s brother as a first cousin on both his father’s and his mother’s side.
Second, he is called the Lord’s brother because he so greatly resembled Christ in appearance that, unless a person had lived familiarly with them, he could not distinguish one from the other.
Thus, when the officers came with Judas the traitor to seize Christ, Judas gave them the sign of the kiss to distinguish Christ from James, lest they seize James in Christ’s place. Because Judas belonged to the household, he distinguished the two very well.
Ignatius, John’s disciple, also testifies to this in an epistle to John, saying: “If it is permitted me, I wish to come to you in the regions of Jerusalem so that I may see that venerable James, whom they say is so like Christ Jesus in face, life, and manner of conduct that he appears to be his twin brother from the same womb. If, as they say, I see him, I shall see Jesus himself according to all the lineaments of his body.”
James is also called the Just because of the merit of his most excellent holiness. According to Jerome, he possessed such reverence and holiness among the people that they eagerly sought to touch the hem of his garment.
Egisippus, who lived near the time of the apostles, writes of his holiness, as is read in the Ecclesiastical History: “James, the Lord’s brother, who was called the Just, received the Church at Jerusalem to govern, and he endured until our times.
“He was holy from his mother’s womb. He drank neither wine nor strong drink. He never ate meat; a razor did not go upon his head; he was not anointed with oil and did not use baths. He wore a linen garment. He had bent his knees in prayer so many times that he had calluses upon his knees as upon his heels. Because of this unceasing and supreme righteousness, he was called the Just.
“He alone among the apostles, because of his exceedingly great holiness, was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies.” Thus Egisippus. He did this for the sake of prayer, not sacrifice.
It is also said that he was the first among the apostles to celebrate Mass. Because of the excellence of his reputation for holiness, the apostles themselves accorded him this honor. Or he is understood to have been the first to celebrate it solemnly, namely pontifically.
According to Jerome against Jovinian, James remained in perpetual virginity.
Jerome and Josephus also relate that on the day of Preparation James vowed to the Lord that he would not eat until he saw the Son of Man risen from the dead.
James therefore tasted nothing until that day. On the very day of the Resurrection, the Lord appeared to him and to those who were with him, saying: “Set out the table and bread.” When they had done so, Jesus took bread and gave it to James the Just, saying: “My brother James, eat, for the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
Paul notes this apparition to James in First Corinthians 15 when he says, “He was seen by James,” although he does not state when or how.
§ I: James’s Ministry and Martyrdom
In the seventh year after Christ’s Passion, when the apostles came to Jerusalem for the day of Passover, James asked them what great things the Lord had done through them among the people.
James and his companions preached to the people for the seven days of the feast before Caypha and the other Jews. When the people were almost ready for Baptism, a man instigated by a diabolical spirit rose in their midst and cried: “O men of Israel, what are you doing? Why do you permit yourselves to be deceived by these magicians?”
He so stirred up the people that they wished to stone them. The man who had cried out climbed the step where James was preaching and hurled him down. From that time James limped greatly.
In the thirtieth year of James’s episcopate, the Jews saw that they had been unable to kill Paul because he had appealed to Caesar. They therefore directed the tyranny of their persecution against James, seeking an occasion.
As Egisippus, a contemporary of the apostles, relates in the account given in the Ecclesiastical History, the Jews came to James and said: “We ask you to call back the people, for they err concerning Jesus by thinking that he is the Christ. We therefore beg you to persuade everyone assembling for the day of Passover.
“We shall all obey you, and both we and the people bear witness concerning you that you are just and show partiality to no one.”
On the appointed day, they placed him upon the pinnacle of the Temple. When a very great multitude had gathered, they cried: “O most just of men, whom we all ought to obey, since the people err after Jesus who was crucified, declare to us what seems true to you.”
James answered with a mighty voice: “Why do you ask me concerning the Son of Man? Behold, he sits in heaven at the right hand of the highest Power and will come to judge the living and the dead.”
When the Christians heard this, they rejoiced greatly. But the Pharisees and scribes were troubled and said: “We acted badly in allowing him to give such testimony. Let us climb up and throw him down so that others may be terrified and not presume to say such things.”
Together they cried with a loud voice: “Oh, oh, even the Just has erred!” Some climbed up and threw him down. While he lay there, they covered him with stones, saying: “Let us stone James the Just.”
Although cast down, he not only did not die but fell upon his knees and prayed for them, saying: “Lord, I beg you, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Then one of them seized a fuller’s club, struck his head with a powerful blow, and dashed out his brains. By this martyrdom James passed to the Lord.
He was then buried beside the Temple, but his body is now said to be at Rome.
Josephus relates that the destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of the Jews occurred because of the death of James the Just. But it should be believed that Judea was destroyed with so great an extermination of that people not only because of his death, but because of the Lord’s Passion and their hardness in that perfidy, as the Lord himself had foretold to them in the Gospel: “They will not leave in you one stone upon another,” and so forth, “because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
But because the Lord does not desire the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live, he waited forty years for them to do penance, recalling them to penance through the apostles for many years and continuously through James for thirty years.