Feast of
Saints Philip & James,
Apostles

Helena consulted the locals who told her that if she could find the sepulchre, she could locate the instruments of the punishment, because the Jews had a custom of burying such detestable objects in a hole near the burial place of executed criminals.

Bishop Saint Macarius suggested that the three crosses be taken to the home of a prominent lady who was extremely ill. There he prayed that God would regard their faith and laid each cross in turn gently to the sick woman. At the touch of one, the woman immediately and completely recovered. This one was declared the True Cross.

The stem and title of the Cross were venerated at Jerusalem before the end of the 4th century as described by the pilgrim Egeria and others. From there it spread to Rome, where Santa Croce Basilica was built to house the relics of the Passion and Cross, and thence to other churches in the West. The title was placed in a lead box over one arch of Santa Croce, where it was discovered again in 1492. At that time the inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin was in red letters, and the wood was whitened; these colors are since faded and the words "Jesus" and "Judaeorum" are eaten away. The board is nine inches long, but must have been 12".

The main part of the cross was enclosed by Helena in a silver shrine and committed to the care of Bishop Macarius. Saint Paulinus in a letter to Severus relates that daily chips were cut from this Cross and given to the devout, but the sacred wood never suffered diminution. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem wrote in 346 that "the saving wood of the Cross was found at Jerusalem in the time of Constantine and that it was distributed fragment by fragment from the spot." He compares this miracle to the feeding of the 5,000.

This feast was suppressed in the 1969 revision of the Roman calendar (Farmer, Husenbeth).

Philip was called by Jesus Himself (John 1:43-48) on the day after Saint Peter and Andrew and began his evangelizing efforts by bringing Nathaniel (a.k.a. Bartholomew) to Jesus. Philip also shows us a bit about how to evangelize: When Nathaniel ask, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He appeals for a personal inquiry: "Come and see."

Philip was present at the miracle of the loaves and fishes (John 6:1-15), when he engaged in a brief dialogue with the Lord (John 6:5-7), and was the Apostle approached by the Hellenistic Jews from Bethsaida to introduce them to Jesus (John 12:21ff). Just before the Passion, Jesus answered Philip's query to show them the Father (John 14:8ff), but no further mention of Philip is made in the New Testament beyond his listing among the apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room (Acts 1:13).

According to tradition, he preached in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis in Phrygia under Emperor Domitian, c. 80 AD. Philip's alleged relics were translated to Rome and placed in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles, where an ancient inscription records that it was originally dedicated to Saints Philip and James. The Golden Legend says that Philip drove away a dragon of the Temple of Mars with the Cross. Some later traditions develop the role of Philip's supposed daughters in the early Church, but many of these confuse today's saint with Philip the Deacon (cf. Acts 8; 21:8).

James, the son of Alphaeus and Mary, is named in the same lists of Apostles in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in Acts 1:13 is one of the other apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem after Christ's Ascension. James is mentioned as one of the "brothers" (parthenos) of the Lord (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) with Joseph, Simon, and Jude and is called the "brother of the Lord" (most likely meaning a first cousin) in Galatians 1:19. It was to James that Peter wanted the news of his miraculous escape transmitted (Acts 12:17), and James seems to have been regarded as the head of the primitive Church of Jerusalem. He was the one who suggested that only four Jewish practices be imposed on Gentile Christians (Acts 15:13-21), beginning this statement with the words, "It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us. . . ." Paul reported to him and sought his approval several times.

This James seems to be the James of the Epistle of James who opens the letter by calling himself "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," which may indicate it was an official Church title; James uses the tone of authority of one well known in the Church and accustomed to wielding authority.

Traditionally, biblical exegetes have considered James, the son of Alphaeus, as the same James called "the brother of the Lord," the James who speaks with the voice of authority in the early Church; many modern scholars, however, hold that there may have been two men named James, one the son of Alphaeus and one of the Twelve, and the other "the brother of the Lord" and author of the epistle. Among the reasons cited is that James speaks of the Apostles in the past tense and does not identify himself as an Apostle; the apparent distinction between this James and the Apostle James in 1 Corinthians 15:7; and the elegant Greek literary style used that the author of the epistle, which is unlikely to be that of a Galilean peasant.

The name "James the Less" is usually applied to James the son of Alphaeus, because of the reference in Mark 15:40, where he is called "James the Less" or "James the Younger." According to the converted Jew Heggesippus, a 2nd-century ecclesiastical historian, James was thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Pharisees and then stoned to death about the year 62 AD. The contemporary Jewish historian Josephus records that the bishop James was stoned to death. Ancient legendary sources recorded in the Golden Legend say that he was killed by the blow of a fuller's club after his fall from the temple. He lived just long enough to forgive his killers. This James is also known as "the Just." Eusebius contended that the catastrophes that later struck Jerusalem were a punishment for their treatment of one "who was the most righteous of men" (Appleton, Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Tabor, Walsh, White).

In art since the 15th century, Saint Philip is portrayed as an apostle holding a long cross, or a staff with a small cross on it (Appleton, Tabor), which resembles a ceremonial object rather than the instrument of his crucifixion. It is like the staves used by Saint Michael and Saint Margaret in overcoming dragon-like demons, and likely refers to the incident in the Temple of Mars. The cross may be seen in images of Philip as (1) a weapon against the dragon (paganism); (2) his instrument of martyrdom; or (3) a sign that he was a missionary preacher who stressed the victory of the Cross (Appleton).

Philip might also be shown (1) crucified on a tall cross; (2) with loaves and fishes; (3) with a loaf and book; (4) with a snake or dragon; (5) with descendit ad inferna on a book or scroll; (6) baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch; (7) casting a devil from the idol of Mars; or (8) with his brother Andrew. Like Andrew, he is often, though not invariably, of venerable appearance.

10th-century icon (Sinai)
Albrecht Dürer

Philip is the patron of hatters, pastry chefs (Roeder), and Uruguay. James is the patron of the dying due to his deathbed forgiveness of his murderers (White).

Early manuscripts of the Martyrology of Saint Jerome place the feast of Philip on May 1. The feast of James may have been joined to that of Philip after the joint dedication of the basilica in Rome to their honor. The traditional date was moved because May Day was dedicated to Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955 and the following day honors Saint Athanasius. In 1955, the Feast of Philip and James was transferred to May 11, but in 1969, it was again moved to May 3. Eastern Churches celebrate the feast on November 14 (Farmer).