Holy Apostle James, Son of Alphaeus
The Second James Among the Twelve
Passages from the Gospels and tradition
Named among the Twelve
Editor's note
Three different men named James appear in the New Testament: James the son of Zebedee, James the brother of the Lord, who became the first bishop of Jerusalem, and James the son of Alphaeus, the second James named among the Twelve. He is named in all four lists of the Apostles but speaks no recorded word in the Gospels. The Church, which has always honored the silent labors of its servants no less than the famous ones, keeps his memory with the rest.
Luke 6:14-16 (KJV)
ScriptureVerbatim Scripture.
Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
The mission of the silent apostle
Editor's note
The tradition that has come down concerning James the son of Alphaeus is that he preached the Gospel in Judaea first, and then in Gaza, in Eleutheropolis, and at last in Egypt, where he died for the Faith. The accounts vary in detail: some say he was stoned, some that he was crucified, some that he was sawn asunder. They agree only on the central thing, that he kept faith to the end.
He laboured for many years without leaving a written record, building up the churches he found, ordaining elders, suffering at the hands of those who would not hear, and refusing the comfort of returning home.
He reposed a martyr, and the Church keeps his memory on the ninth of October as one of the Twelve.