Sunday 22 July 2012

Who was St Jacob of Nisibis and what can we learn from this 4th Century Bishop?

At a time when persecution against the Church of the East was rampant under the Persian Empire, let us look to a great Bishop who courageously endured the opposition of persecutors to faithfully shepherd his people by ensuring their spiritual life was not neglected amidst the hard trials they faced as a Church. Let us look to St Jacob of Nisibis’ faith and works for the Church and learn to appreciate the freedom that we are born into in the western world, not take our faith for granted and also be encouraged to keep the flame of our faith and Church burning strong for the glory of our Lord and the edification of our future generations.

Our Righteous Father Jacob of Nisibis, also James of Nisibis , Jacob the Great , Jacob of Mygdonia or Mar Ya`qub , called the "Moses of Mesopotamia" for his wisdom and wonderworking abilities, was the second bishop of Nisibis, spiritual father of the renowned Syriac writer and theologian Ephraim the Syrian, celebrated ascetic and one of the 318 fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea.
Jacob was born at Nisibis (currently Nusaybin, Turkey) towards the end of the third century, the son of Prince Gefal (Armenia) by some accounts he is said to have been nearly related to his contemporary Gregory the Illiuminator, the Apostle of Armenia. According to St. Eugene (Augin), St. Jacob came from the tribe and the family of St. James the brother of our Lord.

At an early age he devoted himself to the life of solitary, practicing the severest self-discipline. He liked the solitude and the peace of the desert, and he lived in the mountains around the city of Nisibis, on the border of the Persian and Roman empires. In the summer he lived in crevices of the mountains, and in the winter he lived for a short time in a cave. His food was not what he had sown, but what grew there on its own, such as fruits from wild trees and green plants that grew in the desert. His clothing was made of hard goat's hair.
He always fed on spiritual food which came through prayer which also kept his thoughts pure. Through his asceticism, he gained a deeper connection with God. He had the gift of foresight, and by the grace of the Spirit, he received the gift of miracles.

During this period of his life he went on a journey to Persia for the purpose of confirming the faith of the Christians there, who were enduring persecutions under Shapur II. Theodoret of Cyrrhus records several miracles as taking place at this time. In addition, Gennadius reports that Jacob was a courageous confessor during the Maximinian persecution as well.

After leading a severe life in the mountains of Kurdistan with St.Eugene (Augin), the founder of Persian monasticism, he became the second bishop of Nisibis in 309 (succeeding Mar Babu 300-309). Upon the vacancy of that see, which was his native city, Jacob was compelled by the demand of the people to become their bishop. He was then forced to exchange his desert life with life in the city. Although he moved to the city, he changed neither his food, nor his asceticism, nor his simple clothing. In his new position, he worked especially to help the oppressed, those in need, orphans, widows and the poor, for he was moved by awe and holy fear of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

As bishop of Nisibis, Jacob was the spiritual father of Ephraim the Syrian, who was baptized by him and remained by his side as long as he lived.
The most famous miracle of St. Jacob was that by which he protected the city of Nisibis from the Persians, as is related by Theodoret both in his religious and ecclesiastical history, by Theophanes, and even by Philostogius himself, who was a rank Arian (heretic), and cannot be suspected of being too favourable to St. Jacob.

After Constantine the Great died in the year 337 and his sons had taken over the kingdom, the Persian king Shapur II (309-379) besieged Nisibis three times over, during his war against the Romans. St. Jacob and St. Ephraim prayed with the people in the church each time, asking God to help them. The bishops' intercession during the final siege in 350 saved the city: Theodoret offers a particularly vivid picture of his contribution to the defence of the fortress. At the urging of Ephraim and the rest of the inhabitants he ascended the walls of Nisibis to pray for them and curse the Persians.

The bishop would not pray for the destruction of any one; but he implored the divine mercy that the city might be delivered from the calamities of so long a siege. Afterwards, going to the top of a high tower, and turning his face towards the enemy, and seeing the prodigious multitude of men and beasts which covered the whole country, he said: “Lord, thou art able by the weakest means to humble the pride of thy enemies; defeat these multitudes by an army of gnats.” God heard the humble prayer of his servant, as he had done that of Moses against the Egyptians, and as he had by the like means vanquished the enemies of his people when he conducted them out of Egypt. For scarcely had the saint spoken those words, when whole clouds of gnats and flies came pouring down upon the Persians, got into the elephants’ trunks, and the horses’ ears and nostrils, which made them chafe and foam, throw their riders, and put the whole army into confusion and disorder. A famine and pestilence which followed, carried off a great part of the army; and Sapor, after lying above three months before the place, set fire to all his own engines of war, and was forced to abandon the siege and return home with the loss of twenty thousand men.

Around A.D. 350 St. Jacob founded the School of Nisibis, after the model of the school of Diodorus of Tarsus in Antioch, in which he himself was an instructor. Through the Holy Spirit he had a strong and holy influence on the hearts of his students. When the Persians conquered Nisibis in 363, the School was moved to Edessa and re-established there by St. Ephraim the Syrian, where it operated from 363–489.

The Venerable Bishop Jacob died peacefully in Nisibis, according to some in A.D. 338, and according to others in A.D. 350. He was honourably interred within the city, in pursuance, it is said, of an express charge of Constantine the Great to his son Constantius, indicative of the reverence he held for him, that after death his hallowed remains might continue to defend Nisibis against its enemies.
When Nisibis was yielded to the Persian monarch in 363, the Christian inhabitants carried the sacred relics with them, which, according to the Menologion of the Armenians at Venice, were brought to Constantinople about the year 970. (Orthodox Wiki n.d.)

It is important for the Church today to look to our past Church fathers and learn of the defiance and opposition they endured in order to keep the faith alive in the Church and share among the world. Let us take heart from their trials and endeavour to share their zeal without growing weary or feeling discouraged by the persecutions of post-modern society and wider Christian circles, but instead, let us aim to grow in our knowledge of the faith, pray earnestly for moving miracles and through the same Spirit, boldly share the gospel and teachings of the Church with those who are in need.

St Jacob of Nisibis Basilica, Nisibis


Orthodox Wiki. n.d. http://orthodoxwiki.org/Jacob_of_Nisibis (accessed July 21, 2012).

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