Sts. Philip and James the Less

St. Philip and St. James The Less, Apostles
by Father Prosper Gueranger 1870


Two of the favoured witnesses of our beloved Jesus' Resurrection come before us on this first day of May. Philip and James are here, bearing testimony to us, that their Master is truly risen from the dead, that they have seen Him, that they have touched Him, that they have conversed with Him (I. St. John, i. 1), during these forty days. And, that we may have no doubt as to the truth of their testimony, they hold in their hands the instruments of the martyrdom they underwent for asserting that Jesus, after having suffered death, came to life again and rose from the grave. Philip is leaning upon the cross to which he was fastened, as Jesus had been; James is holding the club wherewith he was struck dead.

Philip preached the Gospel in the two Phrygias, and his martyrdom took place at Hierapolis. James is better known than Philip. He is called, in the sacred Scripture, Brother of the Lord (Gal. i. 19, and elsewhere), on account of the close relationship that existed between his own mother and the Blessed Mother of Jesus. He claims our veneration, during Paschal Time, inasmuch as he was favoured with a special visit from our Risen Lord, as we learn from St. Paul (I. Cor. xv. 7). There can be no doubt, but what he had done something to deserve this mark of Jesus' predilection. St. Jerome and St. Epiphanius tell us, that our Saviour, when ascending into heaven, recommended to St. James' care the Church of Jerusalem, and that he was accordingly appointed the first Bishop of that City. The Christians of Jerusalem, in the 4th Century, had possession of the chair on which St. James used to sit, when he assisted at the assemblies of the faithful. St. Epiphanius also tells us, that the holy Apostle used to wear a lamina of gold upon his forehead, as the badge of his dignity. His garment was a tunic made of linen.

He was held in such high repute for virtue, that the people of Jerusalem called him "The Just;" and when the time of the siege came, instead of attributing the frightful punishment, they then endured, to the deicide they or their fathers had committed, they would have it to be a consequence of the murder of James, who, when dying, prayed for his people. The admirable Epistle he has left us bears testimony to the gentleness and uprightness of his character. He there teaches us, with an eloquence of an inspired writer, that works must go along with our Faith, if we would be Just with that Justice, which makes us like our Risen Lord.

The bodies of Saints Philip and James repose in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles, at Rome. These Relics are counted as one of the richest treasures of the Holy City, and there is reason to believe that this first of May is the real anniversary of their Translation. For a long period, the Church of Rome kept special Feasts in honour of four only of the Apostles: SS. Peter and Paul, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Andrew (Peter's Brother): the rest were united in the solemnity of the 29th of June, and a vestige of this is still to be found in the Office of that day, as we shall see later on. The reception of the bodies of SS. Philip and James, which were brought from the East, somewhere about the 6th Century, gave rise to the institution of today's Feast; and this led gradually to the insertion into the calendar of the special Feasts for the other Apostles and Evangelists.


Let us now read the brief account given of St. Philip in the Liturgy.


'Philip was born at Bethsaida, and was one of the twelve Apostles that were first called by Christ our Lord. It was from Philip that Nathanael learned that the Messias had come who was promised in the Law; and by him also he was led to our Lord. We have a clear proof of the familiarity wherewith Philip was treated by Christ, in the fact of the Gentiles addressing themselves to this Apostle, when they wished to see the Saviour. Again, when our Lord was about to feed the multitude in the desert, he spoke to Philip, and said: "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" Having received the Holy Ghost, he went into Scythia, which was the country allotted to him, wherein to preach the Gospel; and he converted almost its entire people to the Christian Faith. Having, finally, reached Hierapolis, in Phrygia, he was crucified there for the name of Christ, and then stoned to death on the Kalends of May (May 1st). The Christians buried his body in the same place; but it was afterwards taken to Rome, and, together with the body of the Apostle St. James, was placed in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles.'


In addition to the above, tradition gives us the following of the life and labors of this Saint. When, after having received the Holy Ghost, the Apostles dispersed into the world to preach the Gospel, Scythia, still wild and savage, fell to the lot of Philip, and by his preaching and the wonders he wrought, he converted almost all its inhabitants. Thence he went to Phrygia, where he found in the Capital, Hierapolis, an unusually large dragon, which the blind heathens worshipped as their God, and even cast as sacrifices living human beings before it, whom it tore in pieces and devoured. The Saint had deep compassion upon their blindness, and prayed to God upon bended knees, to destroy the monster by His power, that the people might recognize how wretched a God they had worshipped until now. What the Holy Apostle asked for he received. The dragon burst asunder in the presence of many heathens. The Saint, improving the opportunity, disclosed to the assembled multitude their error, and preached to them the true faith, which many readily embraced. The idolatrous priests and some of the magistrates, much incensed at what had taken place with their pretended god, gave no respite to Philip, but immediately seized him, and threw him into a dungeon: then, after having most cruelly scourged him, they hung him upon a cross with orders to stone him to death. During his martyrdom, however, there was so terrible an earthquake, that all the heathens ran away in affright. The Christians wished to take the Saint from the cross, but he requested to be allowed to die upon it, after the example of his divine Master. His wish was complied with, and after he had most fervently recommended himself and the newly converted Christians to the care of the Almighty, he gave up the ghost.


The Breviary then gives the two following Lessons upon St. James.


James, the brother of our Lord, was called "the Just." From his childhood, he never drank wine or strong drink; he abstained from flesh-meat; he never cut his hair, or used oil to anoint his limbs, or took a bath. He was the only one permitted to enter the Holy of Holies. His garments were of linen. So assiduous was he in prayer, that the skin of his knees was as hard as that of a camel. After Christ's Ascension, the Apostles made him Bishop of Jerusalem; and it was to him that the Prince of the Apostles sent the news of his being delivered out of prison by an Angel. A dispute having arisen in the Council of Jerusalem concerning the Mosaic Law and Circumcision, James sided with Peter, and, in a speech which he made to the Brethren, proved the Vocation of the Gentiles, and said that the absent Brethren were to be written to, and told not to impose the yoke of the Mosaic Law upon the Gentiles. It is of him that the Apostle speaks in his Epistle to the Galatians, when he says: But other of the Apostles I saw none, saving James, the brother of the Lord.

Such was James' holy life, that people used to strive with each other to touch the hem of his garment. The Apostle, raising his voice, said; "Hear, my brethren, the proofs which I give of the truth. The Crucified Jesus Christ is the Messiah whom our fathers so long hoped for, so long expected. He is the true Son of God who sits now on His right hand, until He shall return to judge the living and the dead. Whosoever believeth in Him cannot be lost." This and more the Saint fearlessly said in order to preach and defend the teaching of the Gospel. Many of those present applauded him and showed themselves ready to accept the teachings of Christ. The Pharisees, however, running hither and thither among the people, said: "Dear friends, this just man has erred; be not troubled. It is not as he says." At the same time some of them hastened upon the pinnacle of the Temple, whence the Saint had, with such undaunted courage, proclaimed his confession, and precipitated him to the ground. St. James, having raised himself upon his knees, lifted his eyes and hands to heaven, and in imitation of his divine Master, said: "Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do." The Jews, however, threw stones upon him, and one with a heavy club struck him on the head so that he sank dead upon the ground.
All of this happened to him at the age of ninety-six years, of which he had spent thirty governing the Church of Jerusalem in the most saintly manner. Whilst thus praying, he received a blow on the head with a fuller's club, and gave up his soul to his God, in the seventh year of Nero's reign. He was buried near the Temple, from which he had been thrown down. He wrote a Letter, which is one of the seven Catholic Epistles. (This was one that Martin Luther wanted to leave out of his scriptures, because James wrote about having to do good works to be saved)