Our Holy Father James the Confessor
Commemorated March 24
He suffered for the sake of the holy icons under the Emperor Leo the Armenian (813-20). He was a monk and a brother of the Studite monastery. When the great Theodore of the Studion was sent into exile, James was given over to great tortures to force him to renounce the veneration of icons. But he remained steadfast and faithful to Orthodoxy to the end. They returned him to his monastery beaten and tortured when the evil Emperor Leo had made a bad end. He died of his grievous injuries there in the monastery, and entered into the company of the citizens of heaven.
Troparion
The teacher of orthodoxy, preceptor of piety and chastity, luminary of the universe, God-inspired instruction of the hierarchs, O James, greatly wise, thou hast illumined all by thy teaching, O spiritual flute; entreat Christ the God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion
Having found delight in abstinence, thou hast stilled the very desires of thy body, appearing to be reared on the faith, and as the paradisical tree of life hast thou blossomed, O James, sacred father.
Source: Crkveni Kalendar
