Apostle Philip
November 14th
He was one of the boldest and most courageous of the original Twelve Apostles, and he paid dearly for his invincible faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nonetheless, he never wavered in his devotion to the Son of God. In the end, the Holy Apostle Philip went to his death – a brutal execution in which he expired after being crucified upside down – with a prayer on his lips and a heart full of joyful triumph.
Like two of the other original Apostles (his friends Peter and Andrew), Philip was born in the Palestinian town of Bethesda, located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. But while his fellow-apostles were simple fishermen and spent their early lives hauling and mending nets, Philip was fortunate to receive an excellent education from well-to-do parents . . . which meant that he was well-versed in the ancient prophecies of a Holy Redeemer who would one day arrive to save the world from sin.TAKEN FROMWhen that Redeemer appeared, in the person of a simple carpenter from Bethlehem, Philip quickly realized that He was, indeed, the prophet whose coming had been predicted so joyfully in the ancient books. Philip was converted on the spot, and after that momentous event, he never looked back. Full of joy at his discovery, he rushed to tell a friend, Nathaniel, about the miraculous arrival of the Savior on earth: Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45)
A true friend of Jesus and a passionate apostle, this steadfast Palestinian saint often appears in New Testament descriptions of Christ and his original twelve disciples. On one well-known occasion, for example, it was Philip who asked Jesus a supremely important question about the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity, while beseeching Jesus to “show” the Father to the gathered apostles.
Our Lord replied, “He who sees me, sees the Father.”
Later still, after the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit had descended on the Apostles at Pentecost, Philip would preach the Good News of Christianity to non-believers in many parts of Asia and Greece. During these hazardous travels he would face death many times, without complaint. Protected by the grace of the Almighty, he would always manage to escape . . . until his final hour, that is, when his destiny as one of God’s holiest martyrs would finally claim him.
One of Philip’s greatest victories over the enemies of the Light was surely the one which took place in Greece, during the early years of his preaching. It happened after a Jewish high priest became infuriated by his growing reputation for performing miracles and rushed toward him with a heavy weapon, intent on crushing his skull and ending his life.
But the Good Lord had another plan in mind. Just as the infuriated cleric reached out to strike the death blow, he shuddered . . . and his hands went to his eyes. A moment later, he was screaming, “I’m blind, I’m blind!” . . . and his skin had turned foul and black. Howling in anguish, the stunned idolater staggered wildly about – until the ground split open at his feet, and then closed again just as quickly.
Terrified, the onlookers gaped in disbelief. Their sacred high priest had just been devoured by the earth!
It was a remarkable miracle, of course. But it was only the beginning. In the years that followed, as Philip carried the Good News of the Gospel far and wide, he would often receive the benefit of such miraculous interventions from above. Again and again, as he traveled through the ancient world of the Middle East, he would heal mortally sick people with a prayer, and even bring the dying back to life.
One of the most extraordinary of these miracles took place on the open sea, as the great saint traveled toward the kingdom of Azotus – where he would astound the citizenry by healing many of the sick. Around midnight, the ship was struck by a raging tempest . . . and even the mariners were terrified at the prospect of their imminent death by drowning. Responding to their mortal fear, St. Philip prayed for a few moments, and then pointed toward the storm-whipped sky, where an immense cross of glowing fire burned like a beacon of hope. After that the winds receded, and the ship made it safely to port, as the sailors marveled at this saving intervention by the Almighty.
But the Apostle’s greatest miracle, surely, was the one that took place shortly before the end of his life. It happened in the Phrygian town of Hierapolis, where St. Philip spent several years evangelizing and healing the sick, along with his sister Mariamna, St. John the theologian and the Holy Apostle Bartholomew.
As fate would have it, the citizens of this unholy town worshipped a gigantic snake that was kept in a golden temple reserved for that purpose. Lethally poisonous and adept at striking his victims with lightning speed, the deadly reptile enjoyed a privileged life in which his human subjects fed him the choicest fare and worshipped daily at his sinister throne.
But the Holy Apostle and beloved friend of Jesus was not cowed by the sight of this coiled and fearsome viper.
Without hesitating, he approached the venomous idol and began to pray loudly, calling upon God the Father to destroy an image so offensive to His holy sight. Looming above the Apostle, the reptile curved sinuously through the air, while the deadly venom dribbled from his gleaming fangs. And then it happened: the words of the Holy Apostle took the form of a glittering spear – and the spear went whistling with enormous power directly through the throat of the grinning beast!
Stunned, the crowd of snake-worshippers sent up a howl of rage. But they were soon quieted by the high judge of the temple, who announced that St. Philip had just committed the most vicious crime imaginable . . . and that he and his fellow-evangelizer, St. Bartholomew, would pay for the transgression with their lives.
With that, the roaring pagans seized the two Christians and rushed them to a grove of trees reserved for the city’s worst criminals. Within a few minutes, both men had been nailed upside down to the nearest tree trunks and were slowly expiring.
But this chapter in the amazing story of the Apostle Philip hadn’t quite ended yet. Imagine the shock – and then the raw terror – that must have been experienced by the high judge and the mob of bloodthirsty pagans . . . when the earth suddenly opened and completely swallowed the corrupt jurist who had sentenced these saints to die, along with several of his malicious henchmen.
In a flash, the repentant townsfolk understood: These two evangelizers were indeed the representatives of the Holy Savior. Moving quickly, the abashed citizens released both men from their agonizing, blood-soaked positions on the tree trunks. Somehow, St. Bartholomew had survived the ordeal. But it was too late for the Holy Apostle Philip, whose soul had left his body moments before the earthquake struck.
All of this happened in the year 86 A.D., under the rule of the Roman Emperor Dometian. According to no less an authority than Polycratus, the Bishop of Rome, St. Philip was interred in the same Phrygian city where he had battled the serpent: “He lies buried in Hierapolis of Phrygia, just as two of his daughters, who grew very old in virginity. His third daughter, after having lived in the Holy Spirit, [was] buried at Ephesus.”
The life of the Holy Apostle Philip is unsurpassed for its fidelity to the Holy Gospel, and for the wonderful friendship that developed between an ordinary human being from a small town in Palestine and the Son of God, Jesus Christ. By meditating on the marvelous life of the Holy Apostle Philip, we can see how God’s love reaches out to embrace each one of us – forever.
Troparion in the Third Tone
O holy Apostle Philip, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.
Kontakion in the Eighth Tone
The God-proclaiming Philip, who was Thy disciple and Thy friend, who imitated Thy Passion, hath heralded Thee to the world as very God; through his pleadings, O Saviour, keep Thy Church from the harm of her lawless enemies, through the pure Theotokos, O Thou Who art greatly merciful.
