STs. PHILIP AND JAMES

Sts. Philip and James

St. Philip was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. He was from Bethsaida. He was chosen by Jesus when Jesus was on his way from Judea to Galilee. When Jesus said to Philip 'Follow Me', Philip simply obeyed and followed Jesus. Philip later brought Nathaniel to Jesus. During the Last Supper, Philip only asked Jesus 'Lord, show us the Father and it is enough'. When some Greek speaking people wanted to meet Jesus, they approached only Philip for this purpose. When Jesus wanted to feed more than 5000 people who gathered to hear the sermon of Jesus, Jesus asked only Philip 'where can we buy bread to feed these people'. As per tradition Philip died a martyr at Hierapolis in Phrygia.


St. James was also one of the apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Alpheus, brother of St. Jude and also a cousin of Jesus Christ Himself. St. Paul recorded in 1-Corinthians-15:7 that Jesus gave a special apparition to James after Jesus’ Resurrection. Due to his purity in his life, Jews named him 'James, the just'. He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at the Council of Jerusalem. He also served as the Bishop of Jerusalem. He was stoned to death by the Jews to take vengeance on him, when St. Paul escaped from Jews by appealing to Caesar.