This Saturday, December 16, is the Feast of St. Jacob (Hagop) of Nisibis (Mdzbin). He was born and died in the city of Nisibis, located in what is now southeastern Turkey, an important early Christian center in Asia Minor and a transit point of the caravans traveling east and west. He was ordained Bishop of Nisibis in 320. He participated in the first ecumenical council in Nicaea (325), where he earned great respect from the Emperor Constantine and the other attendees.
St. Jacob sought to find Noah’s Ark as proof for skeptics. On the eve of his ascent to the summit, an angel appeared and told him that he need not climb to the summit and gave him a piece of the Ark. The piece is kept at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
Jacob is one of the most beloved saints in the Armenian Church. He is also honored by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Coptic Church, and the Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches.
“The heavenly hosts rejoiced at the greatness of your feats by which you in the flesh became like the angels on high; we have you as intercessor for us before the Father in heaven. And we with a joyful voice celebrate your holy memory, O venerable witness of Christ, holy father James; we have you as intercessory for us before the Father in heaven. You decided on severe toils to see Noah’s Ark and from the angel’s hand received a portion of the wood which served the human race as salvation; we have you as intercessor for us before the Father in heaven.”
(Canon to St. Jacob, Bishop of Nisibis, from the Liturgical Canons of the Armenian Church)