Commemoration of the Apostle St. James and Evangelist St. John

St. James was the son of the fisherman Zebedee, the senior brother of the Evangelist St. John. He was one of the closest and most reliable disciples of Jesus and the witness of the important events related to Jesus.

When Samaritans refused to receive Christ James and his brother asked Jesus to send fire down on the people as prophet Elijah did. Jesus reproached them for their groundless behavior. Because of such events Jess called them “Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder” (See Mk 3:17). James is the only apostle about whose death is told in the “Acts of the Apostles”. Herod arrested James and stabbed him.

The name of this apostle is closely related to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. According to the tradition the head of the St. James was brought to James, brother of Jesus, who buried it in the garden of his house. Later the Cathedral of St. James was built in that same place, and in the chapel opened in the northern wall the tomb of the apostle’s head is shown.

Evangelist St. John is the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters and the Revelation. He deserved the title of the “beloved disciple” of Christ. Jesus loved and trusted him so much that at the moment of crucifixion asked him to take care of the Holy Mother of God. He passed away in 100 AD, in Ephesus, at the age of 95.

Eve of the Fast of Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Fast of Christmas)

Eve of the Fast of Christmas is always celebrated on December 29, that is – 7 days before the Feast of Holy Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas) and is ended on January 5, the eve of the feast.