Why does the Church celebrate the Feast of Saints Philip and James?

It is believed that the reason Sts. Philip and James share a feast day because their relics were brought to Rome together in early May of 560 A.D. They were placed in a Basilica dedicated to them, located near the center of Rome. This Basilica has since been rededicated to the Twelve Holy Apostles.

The account of when Jesus called St. Phillip to follow him can be found in Sacred Scripture in John 1:43,

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

In the Scriptural lists of the 12 apostles, St. Philip always comes fifth, which leads us to understand that he was among the first. Jesus had just called St. Peter and St. Andrew to follow him the day before he went to Galilee, where he called Phillip to follow him.

St. Philip the Apostle is mentioned in the Bible mostly in the Gospel of John. John 1:43 tells of when he is called by Jesus. John 1:45-51 tells of when Philip found Nathaniel and invited him to meet Jesus;

Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

St. Philip is also mentioned when Jesus feeds the five thousand (John 6:1-15), at the Last Supper (John 14:7-14), and in the upper room before the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-3).

It is a likely tradition that St. Philip was a follower of John, and present when John said of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God.” His call came shortly afterward when Jesus encountered Him while returning to Galilee from the Jordan Valley.

Although the place, date, and cause of St. Philip’s death are uncertain, one tradition holds that he was martyred and died a torturous death. In a Catechesis at a General Audience that Pope Benedict XVI gave on Philip the Apostle, he commented,

According to certain later accounts (Acts of Philip and others), our Apostle is said to have evangelized first Greece and then Frisia, where he is supposed to have died, in Hierapolis, by a torture described variously as crucifixion or stoning.

It is important to mention that 2nd century books, such as the Acts of Philip, while attributed to the Apostle are not recognized by the Church as genuinely his, nor inspired by God.

St. Philip is known to be the patron saint of hatters, pastry chefs, and bakers due to his interaction with Jesus during the feeding of the five thousand, as recounted in the Gospel of John 6:4-11.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

Philip had not yet known what the Son of Man could do. After this miracle, Philip was able to witness the power of God.

St. James and his brother Jude were called to the apostleship in the second year of Christ’s preaching, soon after the Passover of that year.

Though St. James the Less is not mentioned very often in Scripture, accounts of James can be found in the New Testament, mostly listed with the other Apostles (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, and Acts 1:13).

Both James the Greater and James the Lesser, whose feast day this is, were apostles of Jesus. James the Great was the brother of John, a son of Zebedee, and was called at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. James the Less, however, was the brother of the Apostle Jude (also known as Thaddeus), and a son of Alphaeus. He was called later than James the son of Zebedee and this may be the reason for the appellation Lesser. Others suggest it may be due to his stature or age. Whatever the truth, there is nothing lesser about the way he died as Bishop of Jerusalem, stoned to death for his faith in Christ.

Jesus of Nazareth was the only child of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just as the Tablets of the Law, the precursor of the Word, had their own precious vessel, the Ark, the Theotokos (God-bearer) was the precious ark reserved for the Word-made-Flesh and Him alone.

Scripture is clear, the mother of James, the son of Alphaeus (Mt. 10:13), stood near the Cross (Mt. 27:56) and went to the Tomb with Magdalene (Lk. 24:10). She is clearly not the same woman as the mother of Jesus, who was given into the care of the Apostle John by the Lord.

St. James the Less, therefore, was not a blood brother of Jesus, but a close relative. This is consistent with the usages of Scripture for adelphos which can be a blood brother, a close relative, such as a cousin, and even simply a member of the same tribe or people, such as a fellow Hebrew. In the same way today, in both the Church and the world, to call someone “brother” or “sister” is not limited to one’s siblings, but manifests a kinship of race, creed, or shared experience.

Tradition holds that James, sometimes known as the Just, was Bishop of Jerusalem and was martyred after declaring his faith before the Sanhedrin, or great council, of the Jews. According to Jewish historian, Josephus, he was summoned to answer accusations that he violated the Law. Josephus said he was then delivered to the people to be stoned to death.

Hegesippus (another early writer of the Church), adds that St. James took that opportunity to declare his belief in Jesus Christ. Scribes and Pharisees enraged at this testimony on behalf of Jesus, cried out: “The just man has also erred.” And going up to the battlements, they threw him headlong down to the ground, saying, “He must be stoned.” St. James, though very much bruised by his fall, had strength enough to get up on his knees, and in this posture, lifting up his eyes to heaven, begged God to pardon his murderers, seeing that they knew not what they did. The rabble below received him with showers of stones, and at last, a fuller gave him a blow on the head with his club, such as is used in the dressing of cloths, after which he presently expired. This happened on the festival of the Pasch, the 10th of April, in the year of Christ 62. He was buried near the temple, in the place in which he was martyred, where a small column was erected.

St. James the Lesser is most commonly known to be the patron saint of hatmakers (along with St. Philip), pharmacists, and Uruguay.

In the Gospel of Luke, we learn that Jesus prayed before choosing and commissioning His disciples. The details are found in all three Synoptic Gospels. We can read about it in Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19, and Luke 6:13-16. The most extensive account of the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles is in Mark’s gospel. In this gospel, Mark accounts, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”

The word “disciple” is from the Latin word discipulus and means one who is a student of another. This is also expressed by the fact that those who came to learn from the Lord about the Kingdom of God called Him Rabbi (Jn. 1:49), Master (Lk. 5:5), and Teacher (Mk. 4:38), even those who tried to trick Him (cf. Mt. 22:24).

Not all disciples, however, are “apostles”, from the Greek word apostolos, meaning messenger. While an apostle, in a general sense, is anyone who takes what is learned and spreads the message to others, in Scripture, it refers only to the “Twelve.” These Apostles were specifically commissioned by Christ to go out and spread the Good News (Mt. 28:18-20) to the ends of the earth. Their ministry continues to this day, through the bishops appointed to pastor Christ’s flock until He comes again.