Venerable Asclepius and James the Syrians (V)

The Venerable Asclepius and James, Syrian ascetics, lived in the fifth century. Information about them is given by the blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus. The Venerable Asclepius practised strict labours in his native village. The holy father had many disciples and imitators. One of them was the blessed James, who shut himself up in a small hut near the village of Nimouza and did not come out of his cell until the end of his ninety-year life. The saint answered visitors through a narrow opening made slantwise in the wall, so that no one could see him.