From the Prologue of Ochrid
He is called the Brother of the Lord because he was the son of the righteous Joseph, the betrothed of the Most Holy Theotokos. When the righteous Joseph was near death, he divided his property among his sons and wished to leave a portion also to the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Most Holy Virgin Mary; but all the brothers opposed this, not considering Jesus their brother. James greatly loved Jesus and declared that he would take Him as his own share. And therefore he is called the Brother of the Lord. James from the beginning was devoted to the Lord Jesus. According to tradition, he even went to Egypt with the Most Holy Virgin and Joseph when Herod sought to slay the newborn King. As soon as he heard the teaching of Christ, Saint James began to live according to it. It is said of him that throughout his entire life he ate neither oil nor fat, but lived only on bread and water. And he was a virgin to the end of his life. He kept vigil much at night and prayed to God. The Lord numbered him among His Seventy Apostles. After His glorious Resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to him personally, as the Holy Apostle Paul testifies (I Corinthians 15). He was Bishop of Jerusalem for thirty years and zealously governed the Church of God. By the Lord's instruction he composed the first Liturgy, which was too long for later Christians, so that Saints Basil and John Chrysostom had to shorten it. He converted many Jews and Greeks to the faith of Christ. Even the unbelieving Jews marveled at his righteousness and called him James the Just. But when Anan became high priest, he together with other Jewish elders plotted to kill James as a preacher of Christ. Once, at the feast of Pascha, when many people had gathered in Jerusalem, the elders told him to climb to the roof of the Temple and speak against Christ. Saint James climbed up and began to speak to the people about Christ as the Son of God and the true Messiah, about His Resurrection and His eternal glory in the heavens. The enraged priests and elders pushed him from the roof, and he fell and was greatly injured, but was still alive. At that moment a certain man ran up and struck him on the head so forcefully that his brains came out of his head. And thus by a martyr's death this most glorious Apostle of Christ ended his life and departed to the Kingdom of his Lord. James was sixty-three years old when he suffered for his Lord.
