Saint James Intercisus, also called James the Mutilated or James the Persian (

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: ''

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Yakob M'phasko Sahada''; Latin: ''Sanctus Jacobus Intercisus''), (died in 420 AD) was a

Christian

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

born in Beth Huzaye (

: ܒܝܬ ܗܘܙܝܐ) in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. His

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

, ''Intercisus'', is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for "cut into pieces," which refers to the manner of his

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

: he was slowly cut into twenty-eight pieces. His death, along with the persecution of other Christians in the

Sasanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

, started the Roman-Sassanid War (421-422). His feast day is November 27.

Life

Tradition states that he was a military officer and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

Yazdegerd I Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination. Yazde ...

who had

apostatized Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of emb ...

after this ruler began to persecute Christians. Under the influence of his Christian family, however, he expressed his faith to Yazdegerd's successor,

Bahram V Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), also known as Bahram Gor (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager") was the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438. The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah ...

, leading to his execution.

Death

He was killed in Beth Lapat (

Gundishapur Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded ...

). The ruins of this city are near

Dezful Dezful ( fa, دزفول, pronounced , Dezfuli dialect: Desfil, pronounced ) also Romanized as Dezfūl and Dezfool; also known as Dīzfūl and Ab I Diz is a city and capital of Dezful County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At his execution, he survived the loss of limbs until he was

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

. His followers requested his body parts as relics, but this request was denied, so they stole the body parts, which were somehow sent to the Portuguese cathedral of

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

and put into a sarcophagus in the Relics Chapel.

Legend

James' story is recounted in ''

The Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

''. According to Katherine Rabenstein, he may be a composite character of James of Beit (who, having renounced Christianity under Yazdegerd, was shamed by his parents and changed his mind, becoming a martyr under the persecution of Bahram); Mar Peros (similarly shamed by his parents and martyred in 448); and James of Karka (a 20-year-old notary to Bahram, tortured alongside many others after casually remarking that he'd rather be cut into pieces than renounce God).

Holy Relics, Churches and Monasteries

Guillermus Ludovicus,

bishop of Salpi The Diocese of Salpi or Diocese of Salapia (Latin: ''Dioecesis Salpensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the Italian town of Salpi in Daunia near Cerignola and Manfredonia. In 1547, the diocese was suppressed and its territory assigned to ...

, gifted to the abbey of St Paul in Cormery, the place where he had been a monk, several relics, including the head of St James, on July 19th 1103. A piece of bone from the finger of St. James the Mutilated (Mor Yakob M'phasko Sahada) is kept in a golden casket in the holy cross (kurishupalli) dedicated to the saint in the Orthodox Syrian Old Church of St Peter & Paul in

Pengamuck Pengamuck is a village 32 kilometers from Thrissur in the state of Kerala, India. The word "pengamuck" literally means place of areca nuts, which are grown in the area. Kerala's biggest areca market is at Pazhanji Pazhanji is a village w ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was dedicated by

Gregorios Geevargese (Parumala Thirumeni)] and metropolitan Mor Dionysious Joseph (Pulikkottil II), a native of Pengamuck, who had received the bone at his consecration as Metropolitan by the

patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

Ignatius Yakoob II. Several churches and monasteries are dedicated to St. James: *Church of St. James Intercisus in the

Armenian Quarter The Armenian Quarter ( ar, حارة الأرمن, ''Harat al-Arman''; he, הרובע הארמני, ''Ha-Rova ha-Armeni''; hy, Հայոց թաղ, ) is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. Located i ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Adrian J. Boas, ''Jerusalem in the time of the Crusades'', (Routledge, 2001), 128. *Monastery of St. James the Persian in Sireți,

Strășeni Strășeni (, russian: Страшены, Стрэшень, translit=Strasheny, Streshen, latter Russian name used in Moldovan Russian-language media) is a city and municipality of about 20,000 inhabitants in central Moldova, the administrative ce ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

*Monastery of St. James the Persian in

Deddeh Deddeh, Deddé, ( ar, دده) is a village in the Koura District of Lebanon. It is located 295 metres above sea level and has an area of Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

* Monastery of St James the Mutilated in

Qara, Syria Qara or Kara ( ar, قارة) is a Syrian city in the An-Nabek District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. It is located between the Qalamoun Mountains and the Eastern Lebanon mountains range, north of the capital Damascus on the road to the city o ...

References

External links

San Giacomo l'Interciso (il Solitario) Martire in Persia
*The Holy Martyr James the Persia

Monastery of St. Jacob Persian

Bibliography

*Thieleman J. van Braght, ''Martyr's Mirror'', 1660 {{DEFAULTSORT:James Intercisus Persian saints 421 deaths 5th-century Christian saints 5th-century Iranian people Year of birth unknown People executed by the Sasanian Empire Christians in the Sasanian Empire Converts to Zoroastrianism from Christianity Converts to Christianity from Zoroastrianism