Red-Letter Day
Apostles
May 1
also known as Philip and James the Less, Sts. Philip and James
Philip and James the Less are commemorated together on May 1 with martyrs' crowns. This date traditionally coincides with the dedication of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome, where their relics were believed to rest. Philip of Bethsaida appears in several vivid episodes in John's Gospel, bringing Nathanael to Christ, and questioning how anyone could feed of the five thousand. He also famously asked Jesus to "show us the Father," to which Jesus replies, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father," clearly asserting his Divinity. In later tradition, Philip was a popular disciple to embellish, with multiple apocryphal acts. The most famous records him blinding & slaying a dragon and her brood with Holy water in one section, and in another negotiating with a dragon to help build a church! Traditionally he was martyred for healing and preaching the gospel in Hierapolis.
James the son of Alphaeus (also called James the Less) is distinguished from James the Elder and from James the Just; little is recorded of his individual ministry beyond his inclusion among the Twelve. Apocryphally he was martyred in Jerusalem after preaching Jesus' divinity faithfully to a group of Jews, who drag him before Emperor Claudius and accused him of hindering obedience to Rome. Consequently, Claudius had James stoned to death.
Traditionally, Philip preached in Asia Minor and Phrygia, and James the Less is said to have led the church in Jerusalem and been martyred by crucifixion or by being beaten to death. The traditions are late and contradictory. Some sources identify James the Less with James the Lord's brother (though these are likely distinct figures). Philip's relics were claimed by various centers, and both apostles were venerated in Rome.
Philip was from Bethsaida (John 1:44), the hometown of Andrew and Peter. He appears prominently in John's Gospel, often in paired episodes. When Jesus called Philip directly ('Follow me'), Philip immediately found Nathanael and urged him to come, saying: 'We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph' (John 1:45). Though Nathanael initially balked—'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'—Philip persisted in his introduction, and Nathanael became a disciple.
Almighty God, you gave to your apostles Philip and James the grace and strength to bear witness to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life: Grant that we, being mindful of their victory of faith, may glorify in life and death the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
At the feeding of the five thousand, when Jesus asked where bread could be purchased, Philip responded with practical arithmetic: 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little' (John 6:7)—a candid assessment of the logistical problem that sets up Jesus's miracle.
Philip's most significant moment occurs in John 14:8, at the Last Supper. Jesus has just said: 'If you know me, you will know my Father also.' Philip asks: 'Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied' (14:8). Jesus's reply—'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father' (14:9)—reveals both a gentle rebuke and a profound Christological claim. Philip's straightforward request occasions one of the most important statements in John about the relationship between Jesus and God.
James the Less appears in all four apostolic lists, consistently paired with Philip (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13), often designated 'son of Alphaeus' or 'the less' (mikros, 'the smaller'—perhaps to distinguish him from James the Elder or James the Lord's brother). Beyond his inclusion in the Twelve and his presence in the upper room before Pentecost, the New Testament records nothing of his individual ministry.
Philip is as much to say as the mouth of a lamp, or the mouth of hands. Or it is said of philos, that is as much to say as love, and of yper, that is to say sovereign, so Philip is as much to say as love of sovereign things. Then is it said, mouth of a lamp for his clear preaching, and mouth of the hands for his busy work, and love of things sovereign for his celestial love and contemplation.
Of the Life of S. Philip.
S. Philip, when he had preached in Scythia by the space of twenty years, he was taken of the paynims, which would constrain him to make sacrifice to an idol which was called Mars, their God, and anon under the idol issued out a right great dragon, which forthwith slew the bishop's son that appointed the fire for to make the sacrifice, and the two provosts also, whose servants heed S. Philip in iron bonds; and the dragon corrupted the people with his breath that they all were sick, and S. Philip said: Believe you me and break this idol and set in his place the cross of Jesu Christ and after, worship you it, and they that be here dead shall revive, and all the sick people shall be made whole. And they that were sick cried to S. Philip, and said: If you may do so much that we may be guerished and whole, we shall gladly do it. And anon S. Philip commanded the dragon that he should go in to desert without grieving or doing any harm to any person, and anon he departed without appearing after; and forthwith S. Philip healed all them that were sick, and raised the three that were dead, and were all baptized, and preached to them the space of a year the faith of Jesu Christ. And when he had ordained priests and deacons, after, he departed and came into the city of Hierapolin in Asia, where he destroyed the heresy of the Hebronites, which said and preached that Jesu Christ had not taken very flesh human, but only the semblance of the body human. In this city were his two daughters, by whom our Lord had converted much people to the christian faith.
S. Philip tofore his death made to come tofore him all the bishops, seven days tofore his death, and also all the priests, and said to them: These seven days has our Lord given to me respite for to warn you to do well. And he was of the age of eighty-seven years. And after this the paynims took and held him, and fastened him to the cross, like unto his master, and so he yielded up his soul and died. And his body was worshipfully buried there, and his two daughters died long after him and were also buried, that one on the right side, and that other on the left side of the body of their father.
Isidore writes in the book of the life and death of saints, and says that Philip preached to the Frenchmen, and to men that were in darkness, he enlightened them in the faith. After, he was taken in the city of Hierapolin of the paynims, and of them stoned and crucified, of whom the martyrology of holy church speaks not. But of another Philip, which was one of the seven deacons, S. Jerome says in the martyrology that he was buried in the city of Cæsarea, where God showed many fair miracles for him, beside whom three of his daughters be buried, and the fourth daughter lies at Ephesus. The first Philip differences from this Philip, for he was an apostle and this was a deacon. The apostle rests at Hierapolin, and the deacon at Cæsarea; he had two daughters, and this four. Though Historia Ecclesiastica says that Philip the apostle had four daughters prophetesses, but it is herein more to believe S. Jerome. Then let us pray to the holy Life of apostle S. Philip that he pray for us to our Lord S. James that we may come to his bliss. Amen.
Isaiah 30:18–21Psalm 119:33–402 Corinthians 4:1–7John 14:6–14