Saint James Intercisus, Martyr

Saint James Intercisus was a soldier and courtier to King Yezdigerd I of Persia in the early fifth century. St. James was a Christian, during Yezdigerd’s persecution of Christians. He renounced his faith for fear of death.

His family (who did not apostacize) contacted James upon the death of the king, and chastised him for having renounced his Heavenly King before the worldly king of Persia.

James was thrown into a deep crisis of conscience, and had a true conversion to the living God. He made amends by professing his faith before the new king, Bahram and was condemned to death.

He is called ‘Intercisus’ because it means ‘hacked to pieces’. He was hung from a beam and slowly cut into 28 pieces, beginning with his fingers and then his toes, hands, and so forth until his beheading, the final cut.

Even though the crowd, made up of many Christians, urged him to renounce his faith and worship the sun because they could not bear to see him suffer, he never renounced his faith. Instead, he made every piece cut from his body an offering to God and won the crown of martyrdom.

Saint James Intercisus is the patron saint of lost vocations and torture victims.