SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES

Friday, May 1, 2026

 

Saints Philip and James are two of the twelve apostles, commemorated in the Episcopal Calendar on May 1st (in the Roman calendar on May 3rd—I’m not sure why the discrepancy).

 

Philip the Apostle is not to be confused with Philip the Deacon, one of the seven original deacons described in the Acts of the Apostles. Instead, he’s numbered among the twelve apostles in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Acts of the Apostles. And John’s Gospel mentions Philip in four places. 

 

First, Philip is one of two disciples of John the Baptist who spend the day listening to Jesus after John calls him “the Lamb of God.” The next day Philip tells his friend Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph.” When Nathanael asks: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip responds: “Come and see.” Then, along with Simon and Andrew, they both follow Jesus back to Galilee. 

 

Second, just before the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus asks Philip, “Where are we to buy bread to feed these people?” Philip answers, “It would take more than a year’s wages to buy each of them a mouthful,” thus setting the stage for the Lord’s miraculous sign of the multiplication of five loaves and two fish.

 

Third, after Jesus has entered Jerusalem, some Greeks approach Philip desiring to see Jesus. Philip and Andrew together report this to the Lord, who responds, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.”

 

And fourth, at the last supper, Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied,” and Jesus responds, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

 

Clearly, Philip figures prominently in John’s Gospel as the catalyst for some of the Lord’s memorable sayings. And in the Episcopal Church calendar, he’s commemorated together with James the Son of Alphaeus on May 1st.

 

The Episcopal Church calendar designates feast days for three separate figures named James. First is James, the son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, commemorated on July 25th. The second is James the Just, the kinsman of the Lord, the first bishop of the Jerusalem Church, whose feast day is October 24th. And the third is James, the Son of Alpheus, also known as James the Less, whom we commemorate together with Philip today. We really know nothing about James the Less other than that he appears in the various lists of the Twelve.

 

In English, the name James is a variant of Jacob. In Hebrew the name is Ya’akov, and in Greek Iakōbos. So, the three James’s in the New Testament share the name of the Old Testament patriarch Jacob, ancestor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

 

Now, why are Philip and James commemorated on the same day? The answer is that it’s the anniversary of the arrival of their earthly remains in Rome in the sixth century. At that time, the relics of both apostles were interred together under the high altar of the newly constructed Church of the Holy Apostles. To this day, you can see the sarcophagus in which they’re interred. 

 

So, the commemoration of these two apostles on the same day reminds us that the saints often remain present in the Church’s life not only in Scripture and Tradition, but also in their shrines and relics, and in the church communities gathered around them. 

 

So, Philip and James rest together, awaiting the Resurrection on the last day. And just as they share an earthly resting place and a day in the Church’s calendar, so we trust that they also share a place in heaven, where they pray for us who honor them today.