James the Confessor

Holy Venerable James the Confessor, bishop of Catania (or of Sicily), yearned from his youth for a life of ascetic struggle. He left the world and withdrew to the Studion monastery, where he received monasticism. He led a severe life, full of labours, fasting and prayer. A pious monk and a wonderful expert in Holy Scripture, he was raised to the episcopal throne of the Church of Catania (Sicily).

In the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V Copronymus (741-775), Saint James was repeatedly pressed to give up the veneration of the holy icons. They wore him down in prison, starved him, tortured him, but he bore the sufferings manfully. The holy bishop James reposed in exile. He is commemorated on 3 April and 6 April (new style).