Home
 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. There are no stamps issued by Vatican City which specifically depict St Philip or St 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 is cited in scripture 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, where he asked, 'Lord, show us the Father.’ Jesus replied, ‘He that has seen me has seen the Father…I am in the Father, and the Father is in me’ (John 14:8-9). Otherwise, little is known about St. 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. St. Philip’s relics are said to have been transferred to Rome to the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles. His emblem is loaves of bread. St. James the Lesser was the son of Alphaeus as cited in scripture. 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. 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: |
