Who is the man and saint known as St. James the Less?

Feast Day: May 1

Also known as Jacobus Minor, James the Just, James the Less, James the Younger, James, son of Alphæus, James, the brother of the Lord

Cousin of Jesus. Brother of Saint Jude Thaddeus. Raised is a Jewish home of the time with all the training in Scripture and Law that was part of that life. Convert. One of the Twelve Apostles. One of the first to have visions of the risen Christ. First Bishop of Jerusalem. Met with Saint Paul the Apostle to work out Paul's plans for evangelization. Supported the position that Gentile converts did not have to obey all Jewish religious law, though he continued to observe it himself as part of his heritage, may have been a vegetarian. A just and apostolic man known for his prayer life and devotion to the poor. Martyr.

Having been beaten to death, a club almost immediately became his symbol. This led to his patronage of fullers and pharmacists, both of whom use clubs in their professions. He is reported to have spent so much time in prayer that his knees thickened, and looked like a camel's. Soon after the Crucifixion, James said he would fast until Christ returned; the resurrected Jesus appeared to him, and fixed a meal for James Himself.

Died martyred c.62 at Jerusalem by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, then stoned and beaten with clubs, including fuller's mallets, while praying for his attackers.

Church of St. James the Less

Our Historic Church & Cemetery

The building was added to the list of National Register of Historical Places in 1974 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. According to the National Park Service's official Statement of Significance (as of designation, February 4, 1985): "This is the first example of the pure English Parish church style in America, and one of the best examples of a 19th-century American Gothic church for its coherence and authenticity of design. Its influence on the major architects of the Gothic Revival in the United States was profound."

The building's remarkable fidelity to Gothic design was accidental. When the congregation applied to its parent group in Cambridge, England, for a set of approved plans for its church, it was inadvertently sent measured drawings, prepared by G. G. Place, of St. Michael's Church in Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, built c. 1230, which were followed in every detail under the supervision of architect John E. Carver.

Set on the edge of a hill, north of Mount Vernon Cemetery and east of Laurel Hill Cemetery, the setting for the church is no longer rural. West Hunting Park Avenue, a major artery, is just beyond the churchyard's south wall, and industrial buildings lie to the west. A parish hall was built on the opposite side of West Clearfield Street.

The Wanamaker Memorial Bell Tower and mausoleum (1908), designed by John T. Windrim, houses a set of J.C. Deagan tower chimes and a chime of bells by the McShane foundry.

The church and associated school have been closed since 2006, when, after a lengthy court battle, the local Episcopal diocese assumed control of the property. St James the Less had disaffiliated from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1999 over theological differences, and the diocese sued the parish in 2001 to seize the property. The Pennsylvania courts eventually decided that while the parish owns the property, there exists an "implied trust" in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and the congregation left.

In the summer of 2008, the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania voted to allow St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, to adopt the Church of St. James the Less as a mission of St. Mark's.

The church is currently used for the middle school students for weekly services.