St. James the Apostle

Today is the feast of St. James the Apostle. The feast is a Double of the Second Class. The liturgical colour of the day is red. St. James, often referred to as St. James the Great to distinguish him from St. James the Less (May 1st), suffered martyrdom by the sword under Agrippa I. His remains were tranferred to Santiago di Compostella in northern Spain, resulting in the city becoming a major pilgrimage site in Medieval times.

The feast began with first Vespers yesterday. (Yesterday was the, penitential, Vigil of St. James). The antiphons Hoc est praeceptum meum etc were sung along with the psalms of first Vespers from the Common Apostles. The collect of the feast was proper. After the collect of the feast a commoration of the ninth Sunday after Pentecost was sung. At Compline the Dominical preces were omitted.

At Mattins the invitatory is Regem Apostolorum Dominum, venite adoremus. The antiphons In omnem terram etc are sung with the psalms from the Common of Apostles. In first nocturn the lessons are Sic nos existimet homo from the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. In the second nocturn the lessons are proper to the feast. In the third nocturn the homily is taken from St. Chrysostom's sixty-sixth sermon on St. Matthew's Gospel. The ninth lesson is of the Sunday and is a homily of St. Gregory on St. Luke'e Gospel. At Lauds the antiphons Hoc est praeceptum meum etc are sung with the Sunday psalms. Commemorations are sung of the Sunday and of St. Christopher.

At the Hours the antiphons from Lauds are used. At Prime the feastal psalms are sung (Pss. 53, 118i, 118ii). The lectio brevis is Ibant Apostoli.

Mass is sung after Terce. The introit is Mihi autem nimis. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday (in private Masses the third collect is of St. Christopher). The Creed is sung, the preface is of the Apostles and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

Vespers are of the feast with commemorations of the following feast of St. Anne and of the Sunday.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Sunday takes precedence over the feast. There was no commemoration of the feast at Vespers (of the Sunday) yesterday. Mattins is stripped down to one nocturn. At Lauds a commemoration of St. James is sung. At Prime the Dominical psalms are sung (117, 118i & 118ii). At Low Masses a commemoration of St. James is made. At Vespers there is neither commemoration of St. James nor of St. Anne.

Icon: Eighteenth century Russian icon of St. James from Wikipedia.