Saint James, the Brother of the Lord

According to tradition, James was a son of Joseph from an earlier marriage, which is why he is called "Adelphotheos" (brother of God). He became the first bishop of Jerusalem and led the earliest Christian community there with justice and steadfastness in the faith. The oldest Divine Liturgy of the Church is attributed to him, as is the Catholic Epistle in the New Testament that bears his name, which urges believers to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only".

His stand angered the Jewish authorities, who seized him and threw him from the parapet of the Temple; while he was still alive, they finished him off with a blow to the head from a club. He is commemorated on 23 October and also on the Sunday after Christmas, together with David and Joseph the Betrothed.