St. James Intercisus

James was a Persian courtier whose position and royal favour became a trial of his faith. When persecution began, he abandoned his Christian profession rather than lose the friendship of the ruler. Butler does not conceal this fall. The subsequent martyrdom begins with the repentance of someone who had already failed under pressure.

His mother and wife grieved over his decision and wrote to him after the king’s death. Their letter urged him to consider the passing nature of the favour he had preferred to God. Moved by their appeal, James withdrew from court and openly returned to the Christian faith. The new ruler summoned him and tried to secure his submission through promises and threats.

He refused to renounce Christ again and was condemned to an exceptionally cruel death. His surname Intercisus recalls the cutting apart described in the martyrdom narrative. Butler follows the account of his prayers and perseverance without making his earlier apostasy disappear from the story. The life remembers the confession of a penitent who returned to the faith he had once abandoned.