James the Hermit of Syria
Our Venerable Father James the Hermit (Solitary) of Syria
Venerable · d. 5th century
Commemorated 26 November — Repose; falls within the Nativity Fast
James the Hermit of Syria was a solitary of the fifth century who struggled on a mountain near Cyrrhus in northern Syria, a disciple of the great teacher of hermits Maron. Wearing iron chains, eating only after nightfall and praying without ceasing, he attained through these labours to a high measure of spiritual perfection, receiving from the Lord power over demons, the gift of healing, and even, it is said, the raising of the dead. He fell asleep in peace, and is commemorated on November 26.
James lived in the fifth century in the region of Cyrrhus (Cyrrhestica) in northern Syria, the same austere landscape of solitaries whose lives Theodoret of Cyrrhus, their bishop, recorded in his History of the Monks of Syria. He was a disciple of Saint Maron (commemorated February 14), the hermit-teacher from whose circle the Maronite tradition takes its name, and he settled to his ascetic life on a mountain not far from the city.
His discipline was of the severest Syrian kind. He bore heavy iron chains upon his body, took food only in the evening, and gave himself to constant prayer, enduring grievous bodily ills without relief. By such labours he was raised to great spiritual stature, and the Lord granted him authority over unclean spirits, the healing of the sick, and — the tradition affirms — the power to raise the dead. After a life wholly given to God he fell asleep in peace.
Little more is transmitted of him. He is to be distinguished from the several other Syrian ascetics named James of the same period, including the James of Cyrrhestica described at length by Theodoret and the ascetic bishop James of Nisibis (†c. 350, January 13); the identification is not certain, and the surviving synaxarion notice for November 26 is brief. He is likewise not to be confused with James the Ascetic of Porphyreon (6th century, kept January 28), the penitent hermit of the Phoenician coast — a different James, with whom he shares the epithets "the Ascetic" and "the Anchorite."
Feast and commemoration
November 26 (church date; Old Calendar civil December 9), within the Nativity Fast, shared with Alypius the Stylite, Nikon Metanoeite and Stylianos of Paphlagonia. As a minor synaxarion commemoration he has no proper service; the common office of a venerable ascetic is used.
Iconography
James would be depicted after the manner of the Syrian solitaries — an emaciated ascetic in monastic garb, often bound with chains, holding a scroll or with hand raised in blessing — but no early portrait identifiable specifically as this James has been secured for storage here; the standard type of the venerable hermit stands in for him.