January 28 St. James the Hermit

We have looked at St. Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony of the desert – pious men who lived long lives of devotion. St. James was nothing like them. He might as well have been called St. James the Unsettled Hermit. Or St. James the Half Devoted Hermit. Or St. James the Very Human Hermit.

After a misspent youth that was never fully described but whispered about, St. James converted to Christianity. He lived as a hermit for 15 years. Then he needed a little break and went back to his wild ways. There are rumors of wild women and possibly a murder. Steamy stuff for the early church. A friend brought him back to the church, convincing James that God forgives even the worst of sins and loves the most human of people. James lived the rest of short life in prayer and penance, living in an abandoned sepulchre. I wonder, in the today’s social and political climate swirling around the church, how forgiving we would be of such a man. Would he be allowed to continue his vows and live a life of penance and prayer?

A side note about St. James – His life story was the loose structure for Henry James’ book “The Hermit and the Wild Woman” in which Edith Wharton is the allegedly the wild woman and Henry James is allegedly St. James. I wonder why we never got to read THAT Henry James book in high school?