De sancto Jacobo interciso
The Call to Repentance
James, a noble Persian, is seduced into idolatry but returns to the faith after a stern rebuke from his family.
James the martyr, known as 'the Dismembered,' was noble by birth but even more noble in faith, coming from the Persian region and the city of Elap. He was born to deeply Christian parents and had a Christian wife; he was well-known to the King of Persia and held a leading position among the nobles. It happened, however, that he was seduced by the prince's excessive affection and swayed toward the worship of idols. When his mother and wife heard of this, they wrote to him immediately, saying: 'By obeying a mortal, you have deserted Him with whom is life; by pleasing a corruption that will soon decay, you have abandoned the eternal fragrance; you have exchanged truth for a lie, and by yielding to a mortal, you have forsaken the Judge of the living and the dead. Know, therefore, that from now on we shall be strangers to you, and we will not stay with you any longer.' When James read this letter, he wept bitterly and said: 'If my mother, who bore me, and my wife have become strangers to me, how much more has my God become a stranger to me!' After he had afflicted himself greatly for his error, a messenger told the prince that James was a Christian; the prince summoned him and said: 'Tell me, are you a Nazarene?' James replied: 'Yes, I am a Nazarene.' And the prince said: 'Then you are a sorcerer.'
The Pruning of the Vine
James begins his martyrdom, comparing the cutting of his fingers to the pruning of a vine for greater fruitfulness.
James replied to him, "Far be it from me to be a sorcerer." When the prince threatened him with many tortures, James said, "Your threats don't disturb me, because your fury passes over my ears quickly, like wind blowing over a rock." The prince said, "Don't act foolishly, or you'll die a painful death." James replied, "This shouldn't be called death, but sleep, since after a little while resurrection is granted." The prince said, "Don't let the Nazarenes deceive you by saying that death is sleep, because great emperors fear it." James said, "We don't fear death, because we hope to pass from death to life." Then the prince, on the advice of his friends, passed this sentence upon James. The sentence was that James should be punished limb by limb to terrorize others. When some people wept for him out of compassion, he said, "Don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves, because I am going to life, and eternal punishments are owed to you." Then the executioners cut off the thumb of his right hand, and James cried out, "Nazarene Liberator, receive this branch of the tree of your mercy, for a vine-dresser cuts a shoot from the vine so that it may sprout more and be crowned more abundantly." The executioner said to him, "If you're willing to agree, I'll still spare you and apply medicine." James replied, "Haven't you ever looked at the stock of a vine?" For when the shoots are pruned, the knot that remains produces buds in its own time, when the earth begins to warm, at each place of the cutting. If, therefore, a vine is pruned in the changing of the seasons so that it may sprout, how much more so a faithful man who is joined to the true vine, Christ!
The Sacrifice of the Fingers
James offers each finger as a prayerful sacrifice, finding spiritual significance in the numbers and the suffering of Christ.
Then the executioner stepped forward and cut off the second finger, but blessed Jacob said, "Lord, receive these two branches that your right hand has planted." He cut off the third, and Jacob said, "Delivered from a threefold temptation, I will bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With the three boys rescued from the furnace, I will confess you, Lord, and in the choir of martyrs, I will sing to your name, Christ." The fourth was cut off, and Jacob said, "Protector of the children of Israel, who were declared in the fourth blessing, receive from your servant the confession of the fourth finger, as if blessed in Judah." After the fifth was cut off, he said, "My joy is complete." Then the executioners said to him, "Spare your soul now, Ana, so that you don't perish, and don't be saddened if you lose one hand, since many people have only one hand and still abound in many riches and honors." Blessed Jacob said, "When shepherds begin to shear their sheep, do they take only the right fleece and leave the left? If a sheep—a brute animal—is willing to lose its entire fleece, how much more should I, a rational human, not disdain to be killed for God?" The wicked men then came to his left hand and cut off the little finger, and Jacob said, "You, Lord, though you were great, willed to become small and little for our sake; and therefore I return to you the body and soul which you created and redeemed with your own blood." The seventh finger was cut off, and he said, "Seven times a day I have spoken praise to the Lord." The eighth was cut off, and he said, "On the eighth day Jesus was circumcised, and a Hebrew is circumcised on the eighth day so that he may pass over to the legal ceremonies. May the mind of your servant, Lord, pass over from these uncircumcised ones who have a defiled foreskin, so that I may come and behold your face, Lord." The ninth finger is cut off, and he says: 'At the ninth hour, Christ gave up his spirit on the cross; therefore, Lord, I also confess to you and give thanks in the pain of this ninth finger.' The tenth is cut off, and he says: 'The number ten is in the commandments, and Jota is the first letter of the name of Jesus Christ.'
The Sacrifice of the Feet and Limbs
James rejects the pleas of onlookers to recant and continues to offer his toes, feet, and arms to God with unwavering resolve.
Then someone standing nearby said: 'Oh!' 'Our once-beloved friend, plead with God before the consul so that you might live; for even though your hands have been cut off, there are highly skilled doctors who can help with your pain.' Jacob replied: 'Far be such a wicked pretense from me; for no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.' Then the indignant executioners came forward and cut off the big toe of his right foot, and Jacob said: 'The foot of Christ was pierced and blood flowed out.' When the second toe was cut off, he said: 'This day is greater for me than all others; for today I will go, having turned to the mighty God.' They cut off the third and threw it before him, and smiling, Jacob said: 'Go, third toe, to your companions, and just as a grain of wheat brings forth much fruit, so you too will rest with your companions in the last days.' The fourth is cut off, and he says: "Why are you sad, my soul, and why do you trouble me?" I hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, the salvation of my countenance and my God. The fifth is cut off, and he says: "Now I will begin to speak to the Lord, for He has made me worthy to be a companion to His servants." Then they approached the left foot and cut off the little toe, and James said: "Little toe, take heart, for the great and the small have one resurrection; not a hair of the head will perish, so how much less will you be separated from your companions?" The second is cut off, and James says: "Destroy the old house, for a more splendid one is being prepared." The third is cut off; James says: "The anvil is strengthened by blows." The fourth is cut off, and he says: "Strengthen me, God of truth, for my soul trusts in You, and in the shadow of Your wings I will hope until iniquity passes." The fifth is cut off, and he says: "Behold me, Lord, I offer myself to You twenty times over." Then they approached and cut off his right foot, and James said, "Now I offer a gift to the heavenly King, for whose love I endure these things." They cut off his left foot as well, and blessed James said, "You are the one who works wonders; hear me, Lord, and save me." They cut off his right hand, and he said, "May your mercy, Lord, help me." At his left hand he said, "You are God, who works wonders." They cut off his right arm, and he said, "Praise the Lord, my soul; I will praise the Lord in my life, I will sing to my God as long as I exist." They cut off his left arm as well, and he said, "The sorrows of death have surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I will be vindicated against them." Then they approached and cut off the calf of his right leg, slicing all the way to the thigh. Then blessed James, burdened by unspeakable pain, cried out and said, "Lord Jesus Christ, help me, for the groans of death have surrounded me." And he said to the executioners, "The Lord will clothe me in new flesh, which your wounds won't be able to stain."
The Final Offering
Exhausted by his ordeal, James prays for his soul to be released from his broken body before he is finally beheaded.
The executioners were exhausted, as they had been sweating over his dismemberment from the first hour of the day until the ninth. Then they returned and cut away the calf of his left leg, carving all the way to the thigh. Then the blessed James cried out: "Master and Lord, hear me, half-dead as I am, you who are the Lord of the living and the dead. I have no fingers, Lord, to reach out to you, nor hands to stretch toward you; my feet are cut off and my knees destroyed, so that I cannot bend my knees to you. I am like a house about to fall, now that the pillars that held it up have been taken away. Hear me, Lord Jesus Christ, and lead my soul out of this prison." When he had said this, one of the executioners stepped forward and cut off his head. The Christians then came secretly, took his body, and buried it with honor. He suffered on the fifth day before the Kalends of December.
Read the original Latin
Jacobus martir cognomento intercisus nobilis genere, sed fide nobilior ex regione Persarum et civitate Elape oriundus fuit. Hic ex christianissimis parentibus ortus est et uxorem christianissimam habuit eratque notissimus regi Persarum et inter optimates primus. Accidit autem, ut a principe nimio amore sednuceretur et ad colendum ydola flecteretar. Haec autem mater et uxor audientes protinus sibi scripserunt dicentes: obediendo mortali deseruisti eum, cum quo vita est, placendo futurae cito putredini desernisti sempiternum odorem, veritatem in mendacium commmtasti et mortali obtemperans vivorum ac mortuorum judicem reliquisti; noveris ergo nos amodo a te futuras extraneas nec tecum de caetero aliquatenus morataras. Cum antem has litteras Jacobus legisset, amare flens ait: sl mater mea, quae me genuit, et uxor mea a me extraneae factae sunt, quanto magis a me exiraneus factus est Deus meus! Cum ergo pro errore suo se plurimum afflixisset, nuntius venit ad principem, qui diceret, Jacobum christianum esse, quem princeps advocans ait: dic mihi, si Nazaremus es. Cui Jacobus: etiam, Nazarenus sum. Et ille: ergo magus es.
Cui Jacobus: absit a me magum esse. Cum ergo ei multa supplicia minaretur, dixit Jacobus: non me conturbant minae tuae, quia tamquam ventas flans super petram furor tuus aures meas cito pertransit, Cui princeps: noli imprudenter agere, ne gravi morte pereas, Cui Jacobns: hoc non mors, sed somnus potius est dicendum, cum post modicum resurrectio tribuatur, Cui princeps: non te seducant Nazareni dicentes mortem esse somnum, quia magni imperatores timent eam. (ui Jacobus: nos mortem non timemus, quia de morte ad vitam transire speramus, Tunc princeps de consilio amicorum hanc super Jacobum tulit. sententiam, ut ad terrorem aliorum membratim Jacobus puniatur, Cum autem quidam ex compassione super eum flerent, ille ait: nolite super me flere, sed super vos ipsos plangite, quia 'ego ad vitam pergo et vobis supplicia aeterna debentur. Tunc carnifices pollicem manus ejus dextrae absciderunt et exclamans Jacobus ait: liberator Nazarene, suscipe ramum arboris misericordiae tuae, nam a cultore vineae sarmentum absceiditur vitis, ut potius germinet et uberius coronetur. Cui carnifex: si assentire vis, adhuc tibi parco et medicamentum adhibeo. : Cui Jacobus: nonne prospexisti stipitem vitis? quia, cum ampatantur sarmenta, ille nodus, qui remanet, in suo tempore, cum terra calescere incipit, per singula abscisionis loca producit germina; si ergo vitis putatur vicissitudine temporis, ut germinet, quanto magis fidelis homo, qui in vera vite Christo compactus est!
Tunc accedens carnifex secundum abscidit digitum, beatus autem Jacobus dixit: suscipe duos ramos, quos plantavit dextera tua, domine. Abscidit et tertium et dixit Jacobus: de triplici tentatione liberatus benedicam patri et filio et spiritui sancto et cum tribus ereptis de camino pueris confitebor tibi, domine, et in choro martirum psallam nomini tuo, Christe. Abscisus est et quartus et Jacobus dixit: protector filiorum Israel, qui in quarta benedictione pronuntiatus es, suscipe a servo tuo confessionem quarti digiti tanquam in Juda benedicti. Absciso quinto ait: completum est gaudium menm, Tunc carnifices dixerunt ei: parce jam nunc animae Anae, ne pereas, nec contristeris, si unam manum amiseris, quoniam multi sunt unam manum tantum habentes et multis divitiis et honoribus abundantes. Beatus Jacobus dixit; quando pastores incipiunt pecora tondere, numquid dextrum tantum vellus auferunt et sinistrum dimittunt, si ergo pecus, quod animal brutum est, totum vult vellus amittere, quanto magis et ego homo rationalis non dedignabor pro Deo occidi? Accedentes igitur impii ad sinistram manum digitum minimum inciderunt et Jacobus dixit: tu, domine, cum magnus esses, minimus et parvus pro nobis fieri voluisti et idcirco reddo tibi corpus el animam, quam creasti et proprio sanguine tuo redemisti. Absciditur septimus digitus et ait: septies in die laudem dixi domino. Absciditur octavus et dixit: octavo die circumcisus est Jesus et Hebraeus irenmciditur octavo die, ut transeat ad legales caerimonias et mens servi tni, domine, transeat ab his incircumcisis et coinquinatum habentibus praeputium , ut veniam ct conspiciam faciem tuam, domine.
Inciditur etiam nonus digitus et ait: hora nona tradidit Christus in cruce spiritum, unde et ego, domine, in dolore noni digiti tibi confiteor et gratias ago. Inciditur decimus et ait: decimus numerus est iu praeceplis el Jota prima littera est nominis Jesu Christi. Tunc quidam de adstantibus. dixerunt: o. dilectissime quondam noster, prolitere Deum tantam coram consule, ut vivere valeas; licet enim abscisae sunt manus tuae, sunt tamen peritissimi medici, qui tuis doloribus valeant subvenire. Quibus Jacobus dixil: absit a me hujusmodi nefanda simulatio, nemo enim mittens manum suam ad aratrum et respiciens relro aptus est regno Dei. Tunc indignati carnifices accesserunt et pollicem pedis dextri absciderunt et Jacobus dixit: pes Christi perforatus est et sanguis exivit, Absceiditar secundus pedis digitus el ait: magna mihi dies haec est prae omnibus diebus; hodie quippe ad Deum fortem conversus ibo. Absciderunt et tertium et ante ipsum projecerunt et subridens Jacobus dixit: vade, tertie digite, ad socios tuos et quemadmodum granum tritici multum fructum affert, ita et tu in novissimis diebus cum sociis tuis requiesces.
Absciditur quartus et ait: quare tristis es, anima mea, et quare conturbas me? spero in Deum, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi, salus vultus mei-et Deus meus. Absciditur quintus et ait: nunc incipiam dicere ad dominum, quoniam dignum me fecit socium servis suis. Tunc accedentes ad pedem sinistrum digitum parvum absciderunt ct dixit Jacobus: digite parve , conforlare, quia magnus et parvus unam habent resurrectionem, capillus capitis non peribit, quanto minus a sociis tuis, minime, separaberis? Absciditur secundus et Jacobus ait: destruite veterem domum, quia splendidior paratur. Absciditur tertius; ait Jacobus: tunsionibus firmatur )incus. Absciditur et quartus et ait: conforta me, Deus veritatis, quoniam in te confidit anima mea et in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo, donec transeat iniquitas. Absciditur et quintus et ait: ecce me tibi, domine, immolo vicies.
Tunc accedentes pedem dextrum absciderunt et dixit Jacobus: nunc offeram munus coelesti regi, pro cujus amore haec patior. Absciderunt et pedem sinistrum et beatus Jacobus dixit: tu es, qui facis mirabilia, exaudi me, domine, et salva me. Absciderunt dextram manum ct ait: misericordiae tuae, domine, adjuvent me. Ad sinistram ait: tu es Deus, qui facis mirabilia. Absciderunt dextrum brachium et ait: lauda, anima mea, dominum, laudabo dominum in vita mea, psallam Deo meo, quamdiu fuero, Abseiderunt et brachium sinistrum et ait: circumdederunt me dolores mortis; in nomine domini vindicabor in iis. Tunc accedentes abseiderunt suram dextri cruris, scindentes usque ad femur. "Tunc beatus Jacobus ineffabili dolore gravatus exclamans ait: domine Jesu Christe, adjuva me, quia circumdederunt me gemitus mortis. Et ait carnifidibus: carne nova me dominus induet, quam vestra vulnera maeulare nequibunt.
Jam carnifices defecerant, eo quod a prima hora diei usque adnonam in ejus incisione sudassent. Tunc iterum accedentes sinistri cruris suram abscidendo-usque ad femur extraxerunt. Tunc exclamans beatus Jacobus dixit: dominator domine, exaudi me semivivum, vivorum et mortuorum dominus; digitos, domine, non habeo, ut ipsos ad te porrigam, nec manus, ut eas ad te extendam, pedes mei truncati et genua demolita, ut tibi genua flectere non váleam, et sum velat casura “domus ablatis, quibus sustentatur, columnis; exaudi me, domine Jesu Christe, et educ de carcere animam. Haec cum dixisset, unus de carnificibus accessit et caput ejus amputavit. Christiani igitur occulte accesserunt et corpus ejus rapientes honorifice sepelierunt. Passus est autem V calend, Decembres.
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