Sts. Philip and James

Two Apostles, One Feast

Sts. Philip and James were two of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. They are honored together on May 3 not because their lives were intertwined, but because their relics were brought to Rome and enshrined together in the church now known as the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles, dedicated in the sixth century—and the joint feast has been kept ever since.

Philip in the Gospel of John

Philip came from Bethsaida in Galilee, the town of Peter and Andrew. St. John's Gospel gives him a distinctive voice: called directly by Jesus, he immediately brought Nathanael to the Lord; at the multiplication of the loaves Jesus tested him by asking where bread could be bought for the crowd; and at the Last Supper his request, "Lord, show us the Father," drew Jesus' reply, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." According to tradition, Philip later preached in Phrygia in Asia Minor and died a martyr at Hierapolis, where an ancient shrine in his honor has been excavated.

James, Son of Alphaeus

James, the son of Alphaeus, is traditionally called "the Less" to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee. The New Testament records his name among the Twelve but little else. Since antiquity, many in the West have identified him with James the "brother of the Lord," the first bishop of Jerusalem and author of the Letter of James, who according to the historian Josephus and early Christian writers was put to death in Jerusalem around the year 62; hagiographical accounts add that he was thrown from the temple parapet and clubbed to death. That identification, however, has been debated since the early centuries, and if the two are distinct, virtually nothing certain is known of the later life of the son of Alphaeus.

Relics at the Twelve Holy Apostles

Venerated since the beginnings of the Church, long before formal canonization processes, Philip and James are commemorated together as apostles and martyrs on May 3. They are the patron saints of Uruguay, and Philip is traditionally invoked by hatters and James by pharmacists. Their relics still rest beneath the high altar of the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome, a short walk from Piazza Venezia, where pilgrims have honored them for some fifteen centuries.

Significance

Though we know only a little about these two apostles, the Gospels preserve moments that still speak to believers. Philip's eagerness to bring a friend to Jesus and his longing to see the Father point to the heart of discipleship, while the quiet record of James recalls that many who built the Church are known chiefly to God. Honored together in Rome, they invite all believers to serve Christ whether or not the world remembers their names.