James was
born in the March of Ancona. His parents raised him in the fear
and love of
God, and in due time he was sent to the University of Perugia, where he
studied civil and canon law with such remarkable success that he received a
doctor's degree in both subjects. Despite the fact that brilliant positions
were already open to him, he soon recognized the vanity of the world and felt
a singular attraction for the religious life. At first he thought of joining
the contemplative Carthusians, but almighty God, who had destined him to labor
for the salvation of thousands of souls in the active life, led him to the
Order of St. Francis.
During his novitiate James distinguished himself by
the practice of all virtues, so that he became a model of religious
perfection. In order to preserve angelic purity, which he had kept unsullied
from his youth, he led a most austere life. He never slept more than three
hours, and that on the bare floor; the remainder of the night he spent
meditating on the sufferings of Christ. He constantly wore a coat of mail
having sharp points. and scourged himself daily; Like our holy Father St/
Francis, he observed a 40-day fast 7 times a year. Bread and water were his
regular fare, although he sometimes added uncooked beans or vegetables. Some
years later, St. Bernardin of Siena prevailed upon him to mitigate these
austerities somewhat in order to conserve his strength.
Soon after his ordination, when he was 30 years
old, he was sent out as a missionary. He undertook this high calling with
untiring zeal. For more than 50 years he traveled through Italy, Dalmatia,
Croatia, Albania, Bosnia, Austria, Bohemia, Saxony, Prussia, Poland, Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, and Russia. During the years 1427 and 1428 he preached in
Vienna, Augsburg, Ratisbon, Ulm, Limburg, Brandenburg, and Leipzig. Inspired
by his apostolic example, more than 200 of the noblest young men of Germany
were impelled to enter the Franciscan Order. The crowds who came to hear him
were so great that the churches were no large enough to accommodate them, and
it became imperative for him to preach in the public squares.
At Milan he was instrumental in converting 36 women
of bad repute by a single sermon on St. Mary Magdalen. It is said that he
brought 50,000 heretics into the bosom of the Church, and led 200,000
unbelievers to baptism. In addition, God granted St. James such wisdom, that
popes and princes availed themselves of his services, seeking counsel from
him. He possessed the gifts or miracles and of prophesy in great measure, yet
his humility surpassed all those distinctions. He was offered the
archepiscopal dignity of the see of Milan, but he declined with these words,
"I have no other desire upon earth than to do penance and to preach penance as
a poor Franciscan."
Worn out by his many labors as well as advanced
age, he died at Naples, November 28, 1476, in the 85th year of his life, 60
years of which were consecrated to God in the religious state. He was entombed
in the Franciscan church at Naples, where his body can still be seen in a
crystal coffin, incorrupt, flexible, and emitting a fragrant perfume. Pope
Benedict XIII canonized St. James in 1726.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O God, who in order to save
souls and to call back sinners from the abyss of vice and the path of virtue,
didst make Thy confessor St. James a distinguished preacher of the Gospel,
mercifully grant that through his intercession we may repent of all our sins
and attain to eternal life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
from:
The Franciscan Book
of Saints, ed. by
Marion Habig, ofm., © 1959 Franciscan Herald
Press
