Evidence ID
E05892Saint Name
James, 'brother of the Lord', also known as James the Just : S00058
David, Old Testament king of Israel : S00269Saint Name in Source
ἸάκωβοςType of Evidence
Literary - Sermons/HomiliesEvidence not before
410Evidence not after
450Activity not before
410Activity not after
450Place of Evidence - Region
Palestine with SinaiPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
JerusalemPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Jerusalem
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris StratonisMajor author/Major anonymous work
Hesychius of JerusalemCult activities - Liturgical Activity
Cult activities - Festivals
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergySource
Hesychius lived as a monk and priest in Palestine and Jerusalem in the first half of the 5th century. A member of the clergy of the Holy Sepulchre, he was a leading theologian and author, flourishing from the 410s to perhaps after 451. He was a close associate of Juvenal (bishop of Jerusalem 422-458), and participated in the theological debate against Nestorius, supporting Cyril of Alexandria. The date of his death is uncertain. Theophanes reports that he died in the same year as Melania the Younger (ed. de Boor 92, 20: AM 5926), but he is also reported to have been alive when the Council of Chalcedon took place in 451, and to have opposed it.
His surviving works include commentaries and homilies. He is known to have published an ecclesiastical history, which has not survived. The circulation of his works in the Middle Ages seems to have been geographically limited, since they tend to be found in manuscripts from Jerusalem and southern Italy, but hardly ever in Constantinopolitan ones. His homilies are important testimonies for the early stages of development of the liturgical traditions of the church of Jerusalem, and the appearance of a number of feasts with a strong Marian dimension like the 14 February feast of Hypapante (Candlemas) and 15 August.
On the manuscripts see: Aubineau 1978, 365-366.Discussion
This homily is probably associated with a peculiar Jerusalem feast held on 25 December at the church of Holy Sion. Instead of celebrating the Nativity of Christ, which was already widely practised elsewhere, Jerusalem dedicated the day to the commemoration of two of Christ’s relatives, James, the so-called Brother of the Lord, and King David, Christ’s ancestor. This feast is recorded by the Armenian Lectionary of Jerusalem (E05188) and Cosmas Indicopleustes (5.12).
Both James and David were honoured mainly as relatives of Christ, in association with Christ’s birth, even though that event was honoured in Jerusalem on the Day of Epiphany (6 January). In the extant fragment, Hesychius is clearly aware of the fact that the day is related to the Nativity, and refers extensively to Bethlehem, as if trying to justify why Jerusalem does not join in the feast. James is praised as the first bishop of Jerusalem and the man who established laws and rules for the first Christian community. His commemoration at the shrine of Holy Sion will have recalled memories of the first Christian community, with which that site was closely linked. The sections of the homily which referred to David have not survived.Bibliography
Text, French translation, and commentary:
Aubineau, M., Les homélies festales d’Hésychius de Jérusalem I: les homélies I-XV (Subsidia Hagiographica 59: Brussels, 1978).
