St James the Bishop (+c. 775)

Saint James the Bishop strove from his youth for a solitary life. He left home, made for the monastery of Studios, and was tonsured a monk. Saint James lived in strict labour, fasting and prayer. The pious monk, who knew Holy Scripture excellently, was consecrated Bishop of Catania (Sicily). In the time of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V Copronymus (741–775) Saint James was more than once required to revile the holy icons. The holy confessor endured imprisonment, hunger and torture, but did not deny Orthodoxy. The holy Bishop James died in exile.