Apostle James the Lesser

Saint James “the Son of Alphaeus” the Apostle, a.k.a.: James the Lesser (shorter or younger):

James the son of Alphaeus was one of the twelve apostles chosen and invested (ordained, see Mark 3:14) by Jesus. He was the brother of Matthew the Evangelist (the author of the Gospel of Matthew; a.k.a.: Levi the son of Alphaeus). James the Lesser was born in Capernaum, and his mother, Mary was the Mary who went to Jesus’ grave on Easter morning and found the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty.

Some early sources state that James the Lesser journeyed with the apostle Andrew through Judea, Gaza, and Eleutheropolis (in central Israel) and on to Syria. James the Lesser was the first Bishop of Syria, and that he and Andrew are reported to have done much to established the Church in that realm. St James finished his apostolic work in the lower (southern) Egyptian city of Ostrakine, where he was crucified by the pagans.