ON ST. JAMES THE HERMIT
AT AMIDA,
in Mesopotamia.
Sixth century.
CommentaryJames the hermit, at Amida in Mesopotamia (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
This holy hermit James, although he is said to have inhabited Syria taken in the widest sense, His cult known only in the Roman Martyrology: is nevertheless most certainly distinct from the other hermits of the same name who at some time ennobled Syria with an exceptional fame of virtues, both in place, and in time, and in the kind of his anchorite life; as has already been shown in our work at the day XXVIII of January, page 868; and will presently be made plain to one who compares his eulogy even cursorily with the deeds of those men. But we have wondered, since we have found the memory of this Anchorite of Amida marked nowhere in any Calendars of the churches, whether eastern or western, whether at this day and month, or at any others whatsoever, before the reform of the Roman Martyrology, in which at the seventh of the Ides of August it is noted in these words: At Amida, of St. James the hermit, famous for miracles. But neither does Baronius here in his annotations allege, as he is wont, any Martyrologist, any records, whence this announcement was taken; but only that eulogy which is read in Procopius of Cæsarea, and which alone the same Most Eminent author used also in the Annals at the year of Christ 502, number 40: but those who afterward made mention of this Saint, such as Benedict Gonon in the Lives of the distinguished hermits of the East, page 12, Louis Boutauld in the Eastern Monastic History, book 4, chapter 11, number 3, and others, besides the same passage of Procopius, cite only the Roman Martyrology and the Annals of Baronius. The single fountain, therefore, of what is known hitherto concerning our Saint seems to be the text of Procopius, On the Persian War, book 1, chapter 7; which accordingly, although already given on another occasion at the day VIII of February, page 162 and the following, we think is to be presented here again, but from the version of our Claude Maltret. So therefore it stands:
[2] His eulogy from Procopius of Cæsarea: At that time there lived in Syria James, a man of exceptional holiness, and most practiced in divine matters. That he might more securely have leisure for the contemplation of these, he had many years before shut himself up in a narrow enclosure in the field of the Endieli, from which Amida is a day's journey distant. This the natives, serving the holy Man's purpose, had made not of contiguous but of scattered stakes; so that those coming might see him shut in and speak with him. They had also placed over it a small roof, just enough to ward off the force of rains and snows. This seat he had held a very long time, unconquered by heat and cold, sustaining life on pulse; and not even on these daily, but he had been accustomed to eat at long intervals. Him by chance some Ephthalites, roaming about there, saw. Presently a desire came upon their barbarian minds of trying their arrows on the Man. And now they were taking aim, when suddenly the hands of them all grew so stiff that they clung useless to the bow. The report of the matter running through the camp, when it reached Cabades, drove him to receive the miracle with his own eyes. As soon as he saw it he was astounded, and with him the Persians who were present: then he begged pardon from James for the barbarians' offense; who, being immediately prevailed upon, released them free from punishment. But Cabades gave him the choice of asking whatever he wished, thinking that he would ask for a great sum of money, and therefore boastfully promising that his wishes would be abundantly fulfilled. He asked this one thing: that whoever should flee to him during that war should all be granted to him. Cabades, ratifying the request, gave letters of public assurance. Thus safety was given to many who flocked thither from every quarter, stirred by the report of the deed. So he there; which that they may be better understood,
[3] Observe first, that these things are referred by Procopius to that time when Cabades, king of the Persians, had for some time now pitched camp at the city of Amida, before he gained possession of it after the eightieth day of the siege, the time in which he flourished. as the same author asserts, in the tenth Indiction, Probus and Avienus being consuls, that is, in the year of Christ 502: whence must be gathered the age in which this holy James chiefly flourished. He flourished, I say: for concerning his death Procopius makes no mention, much less concerning the year, month, and day on which he exchanged this life for the eternal one; although it is probable that a Man already for a very long time broken by so austere an institute of living did not long survive afterward. For the rest, that the reformers of the Roman Martyrology made this sixth day of the month of August his birthday, we think they did because they were ignorant of the certain day, and an uncertain one cannot be noted. They therefore chose the one which seemed more suitable. Observe secondly, that the Ephthalites, of whom there is question here, were a people bordering on the Persians to the North, as Procopius himself says in the same place, chapter 3. By their help Cabades had not long before recovered his lost kingdom, and had even then not a few of them in his army. Observe thirdly, that the authority of Procopius is here to be made very much of; both because he was living at the same time in which the things now narrated happened; and because he is very greatly commended for historical fidelity; and finally because he seems to have been of the sort of men whom they now call Politicians or Deists; whence it can be believed that he would have dissembled these things, as less convenient for his own religion (if indeed that is a religion); had not the truth of them, too well known at that time and celebrated among all, forbidden it.