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 The Opening of the Holy Door for Holy Year 2000 From the Left Door, Bottom Row: Left: Jesus Appears to Thomas Right: Christ Appears to the Eleven Disciples Scott 1134 (1999) May 3 is the feast day of two of the apostles of Jesus, Saint Philip and Saint James, the Lesser. The stamp above, from the Holy Year 2000 issue celebrating the opening of the Holy Door, depicts Jesus and the Eleven on one of the panels from the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. To date, no stamps have been issued by Vatican City which specifically depict Saint Philip or Saint James, the Lesser. St. Philip was from Bethsaida (Galilee) and was one of the earliest disciples. He may have first been a follower of John the Baptist. Philip appears in the Gospel of John in two situations. First, at the feeding of the 5,000: "When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, 'Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?' He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, 'Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.'" (from John 9:1-14)Philip is also cited at the Last Supper: "Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,* and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:8-9)Otherwise, little is known about Saint Philip. He may have conducted missionary activities in Phrygia (West-central Anatolia), and may have been martyred at Hireapolis (Southwestern Anatolia) where he was buried. Saint Philip’s relics are said to have been transferred to Rome to the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles. His emblem is loaves of bread. Saint James the Lesser (or the Less) is perhaps the least known of the Twelve Apostles. The son of Alphaeus, his name appears in the list of the Apostles in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. He is sometimes confused with James, the Greater, Son of Zebedee, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and as the author of the New Testament Letter of James. He is also confused with other persons named James in scripture. He was present in the Upper Room after Christ’s Resurrection. Otherwise, virtually nothing is known about James the Lesser. His emblem is a fuller’s club, believed to be the instrument by which he may have been martyred. These two saints celebrate a joint feast day in part because their relics were interred together at the Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles, a minor basilica in Rome. Also know as the Basilica di Santi Dodici Apostoli, this 6th-century church was dedicated originally to Saints James and Philip, and later to all the Apostles. A massive altarpiece by Domenico Maria Muratori depicts their martyrdoms (James by flogging with clubs and Philip by crucifixion, upside-down). Their crypts are beneath the main altar:  Stairway to Crypts of Saint James the Less and Saint Philip Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles, Rome Photo by Fczarnowski From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license When visiting the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, one is struck by the imposing statues of the apostles that line the nave leading to the altar. Here are the statues for Saint Philip and Saint James the Lesser: 
 Left: St. Philip, by Giuseppe Mazzuoli Right: St. James the Lesser, by Angelo de' Rossi Nave of the Archbasilica of Saint John Photos by Jastrow From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license REFERENCES: |
