(6TH CENT.)
[Roman Martyrology and Greek Menaea, but by the Gallo-Belgic
Martyrology on Jan. 29th. Authority: a life written apparently not
long after the death of S. James. There are so many saints, and
even hermit saints of this name, that some confusion would have
arisen but for the remarkable peculiarity of the life of this man.]
The story of this hermit is a painful and very sad one; it is that of a
great fall and bitter repentance. As a warning to all those who are
living lives near to God, to be not high-minded but fear, the Church has
placed it in her sacred Kalendar, but not only as a lesson to such, but
also as an encouragement to the poor wretch who has fallen, to look up,
not to despair, for great as may be his sin, greater is the mercy of
God.
Near the city of Porphyrio in Samaria lived a hermit in a cave. He was
not old, but in the bloom of manhood. Some wicked men, desirous of
disgracing the anchorite, suborned a harlot to bewitch him. She
therefore went to his cave one evening, and knocked at the door. He
opened the door, and, seeing a woman, slammed it in her face. But she
continued knocking and imploring to be admitted. Night fell, and the
howl of the wolf and the snarl of the hyaena sounded dolefully without;
then the hermit, fearing lest the woman should become prey to wild
beasts, opened the door, and asked her who she was. She replied that she
was a religious woman on her road from one convent to another, who
sought shelter for the night. Then he admitted her to the outer chamber
of his cave, where burnt his fire, and there he bade her rest, whilst he
retired into the inner chamber, and closed the door. But, during the
night, he heard her moaning and sobbing, then he looked through the
little window in the door, and saw her rolling on the ground, as if in
great pain. He asked what ailed her, and she answered that she had cramp
of the heart, and implored him to relieve her, by signing her bosom and
heart with holy oil. Then she tore open her garment, and exposed her
breast; and he, entering, took oil and anointed her bosom; but fearing
temptation, he prayed to God with great devotion, and at the same time
placed his left hand in the fire, whilst with his right he continued
doing as she demanded, till suddenly, she was aware that his left hand
was so burned that the fingers were completely charred through. Then,
horror-struck, and filled with compunction, she threw herself at his
feet, and sobbing confessed her evil design. So he bade her go and sin
no more, and the woman was converted from her evil life, and she went
and lived the rest of her days in the exercise of penitence.
Now, after this, James was of good confidence that he had completely
mastered the lust of the flesh, and he was less on his guard against the
wiles of Satan than before. And people saw his maimed hand, and they
praised his great continence, so his heart was lifted up within him, and
he was filled with spiritual pride. After many years, when he was over
sixty, there came to his cell a father bringing his daughter, a very
beautiful girl, who was possessed with an evil spirit, and he besought
the pious hermit to cast forth the demon. And when he had prayed, the
evil spirit went out of her, but left her almost inanimate. Then the
father, thinking her too much exhausted to be at once removed, or
fearing another access of her disorder, left her in the cell of the
God-fearing recluse. And when she was there some days, and he saw her
beauty, he was overcome with a violent passion of love, and he lost all
control over himself, and forgot God, and deceived the unfortunate girl,
and in madness he savagely murdered her, and threw the body into a
river.
And now, as the sun set on that day of passion and crime, and the dark
night settled down on the wilderness, the horror of remorse came upon
him, and he writhed in his cave in an agony of shame and despair, lying
with his face on the ground. Then, at last, haggard and hopeless, he
rushed forth, resolving to confess his crime and then to return into the
world, as one unworthy to aspire to a close walk with God. And when he
had come to the nearest monastery, he called the monks together, and
casting himself at their feet, sobbed forth his story of shame. The good
brothers raised him, and mingled their tears with his, and prayed God to
have mercy on the poor sinner, and to pluck him as a brand from the
burning. After that, finding no rest, he went forth, and lighted, as
evening fell, on an old hermit sitting in his cave, who offered him a
lodging, and spread for him such food as he had to offer. But James
would eat nothing. Then the hermit said, "Dear Christian brother, give
me some good advice, how I may escape evil thoughts." And when James
heard that, he uttered a piercing cry, staggered to his feet and fell on
the ground, burying his face in his hands. He told all his sin to the
hermit, and said that now he was about to return into the world, being
unworthy to wear the habit of a monk, and live a life demanding such
holiness. "When I was young, then I controlled my passions, now that I
am old, my passions have conquered me. I cannot raise my eyes," he said;
"I despair of salvation. I cannot name the Saving Name; fire will fall
from heaven to consume me, I am lost!"
Then the good old hermit cast his arms round his neck and kissed him,
and said, "Brother, despair not of God's forbearance, but believe that
there is a place for repentance. A broken and a contrite heart God will
not despise. Great is God's mercy, ever following us, therefore despair
not, brother!"
He ceased not from speaking, till the black cloud of despair was rolled
away, and the fallen monk had the courage to hope. Then he led him on
his way for many miles, earnestly dissuading him from going into the
world; and so they parted, with many tears.
So James sought out a doleful cave which had been used as an old
sepulchre, and he hid himself there, and spent in it ten years,
bewailing his crime, only opening the door twice in the week, to collect
a few olives on which to sustain life, and esteeming himself viler than
the dust. And when ten years were accomplished, he felt that God was
about to call him, therefore he went to the nearest city, and to the
Bishop there, and besought him, when he was dead, to bury him in the old
sepulchre in which he had undergone his penance, and in the soil he had
moistened with his many tears. After that he returned to his cave, and
there died, at the age of seventy-five.