From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 3rd - Sts. Phillip and James, Apostles.   
   (James is also known as Giacomo, Jacobo, Jacques)   
      
   1st century; feast day formerly on May 1. Philip was born in Bethsaida,   
   Galilee, and may have been a disciple of Saint John the Baptist. He is   
   mentioned as one of the Apostles in the lists of Matthew (10:3), Mark   
   (3:18), Luke (6:14), and in Acts (1:13). Aside from the lists, he is   
   mentioned only in John in the New Testament, where he has the gift of   
   raising the questions everyone else is afraid to ask, and appears to be a   
   careful, level-headed man. 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.   
      
   Saint James is depicted in art as facially similar to Jesus, whose cousin he   
   is said to have been. He may be portrayed (1) with a club or large mallet   
   (Tabor); (2) holding his epistle, either as a book or scroll; (3) with the   
   prophet Haggai and the words credo in Spiritu Sanctu; (4) as a child with a   
   toy mill; or (5) flung from the pulpit or a pinnacle of the temple (Roeder).   
   A 13th- century sculpture at Chartres shows Saint James with the fuller's   
   club. In addition to the emblems of their martyrdom, the Apostles were each   
   given other distinctive symbols in the 14th-15th centuries (Appleton).   
   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   
      
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