The Life of the Holy Apostle James, Brother of the Holy Apostle John the Evangelist

The Holy Apostle James was the son of Zebedee and the brother of the Holy Evangelist John, the Spokesman of God. And he was one of the twelve apostles, who, together with his brother, leaving his ship, his father and his net, went after Jesus at His divine call and followed Him everywhere, paying attention to the teachings that came from His Most Pure mouth and seeing the miracles that were done by Him. The Lord loved these two brother apostles so much that He gave one of them His breast to lean on, and to him He promised His cup, which He drank on the Cross. But they also loved their Lord so much and showed such zeal for Him that they wanted to call down fire from heaven on those who did not believe in Christ, to destroy them. And they would have done this, if the long-suffering Christ had not stopped them.

The Lord never left these two brothers, James and John, and the Holy Apostle Peter without saying anything to them; and especially He revealed to them more than to the others His divine mysteries, as on Tabor, when, wanting to show the glory of His divinity, He took Peter, James, and John. And after the voluntary passion and after the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord and after receiving the Holy Spirit, the Holy Apostle James went to Spain and other parts, preaching the Word of God and returned again to Jerusalem. And he was as terrifying to the Jews as thunder, because, without doubting, he taught with all boldness about Jesus Christ, that He is the true Messiah, the Savior of the world. And he overcame the Pharisees and the teachers of the law from the divine Scriptures, rebuking and reproaching their hardness of heart and unbelief. And they, unable to withstand his invincible words, lured against him with gold a certain sorcerer philosopher, namely Hermogenes, in order to have a confrontation with James and to shame his teaching.

The sorcerer, being proud and unwilling to speak to James alone, sent his disciple, whose name was Philitus, saying: “James will not be able to overcome me in wisdom, nor my disciple.” But Philitus, speaking to Saint James, could not resist the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, which was in the apostle; but he remained silent like a mute and did not open his mouth in opposition. And, knowing the truth, he humbled himself, and returning to the sorcerer, his teacher told him that the teaching of James was invincible, which he also confirmed with miracles, advising the teacher to leave his teaching and be willing to be a disciple of James. And the tyrant Hermogenes, with his spells, called the devils and commanded them to hold Philitus in place, as if bound, so that he could not move in the least, and said to him: “I will see if that James will deliver you.” And Philitus secretly sent someone to the apostle, informing him of his binding by the devil, through the spells of Hermogenes. And the apostle sent his handkerchief to him, commanding him to take it and say these words: The Lord looses those who are bound in chains, the Lord raises up those who are bowed down. Having said this, Philitus was immediately freed from the invisible bondage, and the demons, frightened by the power of the words spoken by the apostle's handkerchief, left Philitus, who, mocking Hermogenes, ran to Saint James and, learning the true faith, was baptized.

Hermogenes, filled with anger and hatred, swore by the demons who served him to bring James and Philitus bound to him. But after the devils approached the house where Saint James and Philitus were, immediately the Angel of the Lord, by the command of God, seized those devils and, binding them with invisible bonds, worked them. And the invisible devils, marveling at the power of God, cried out in the hearing of all, saying: “James, Apostle of Christ, have mercy on us, for we came by the command of Hermogenes to bind you and Philitus; but behold, now we are strongly bound and terribly labored!” And Saint James said: “Let the Angel of God who bound you untie you, and, going, bring Hermogenes here to me, without any harm.” And immediately the devils being loosed, they ran to Hermogenes and, seizing him, in the twinkling of an eye, they bound him and brought him before the apostle, begging the apostle to set them free and to prevail over Hermogenes. And the apostle asked the devils why they did not bind Philitus, as Hermogenes had commanded them. The devils answered: "We cannot even move the flies in your house."

So the apostle said to Philetus: “Our Lord has commanded us to repay good for evil; therefore, untie Hermogenes and set him free from the devils.” And so it was, and the apostle said to Hermogenes, who was untied from the bonds of the devils: “Our Lord does not wish to have servants against his will, serving him out of necessity, but out of good will. So go wherever you wish.” And Hermogenes said: “If I leave your house, the devils will immediately kill me, because

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