St. Ap. James of Alpheus; Saints Venerable Andronicus and Athanasiustranslated

Orthodox calendar, October 9 Saint James the Apostle of Alphaeus He was the son of Alpheus and the brother of Matei, the publican and the evangelist. When our Lord Jesus Christ was living in the flesh on earth and was choosing for apostolic worthiness the men who were free from malice and righteous, to send them to preach the Gospel in the whole world, then he chose this Jacob and counted him as a worthy one in the apostolic company.

And Jacob was one of the twelve apostles, himself a seer and disciple of Christ, a preacher of the Mysteries and following in His steps and together with the other Apostles, receiving the Holy Spirit who descended on them in tongues of fire, he went to different nations and peoples to preach Christ, to teach and to bring the lost to the path of salvation.

Burning with divine zeal, like fire, he burned the thorns of unbelief, crushed the idols and scattered their stubbornness, healed many diseases and drove out unclean and cunning spirits from people and brought to our Lord Jesus Christ a multitude of people, from whom he gained his new name: the divine seed, because by sowing in the hearts of people the divine word planted and increased…