Join us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on The Eve of The Feast of the Apostles, Saint Philip and Saint James. The Rector, T.J. Freeman, will preach.

The Feast of Saints Philip and James honors two apostles of Jesus about whom the Scriptures tell us little, yet whose faith and witness endure in the life of the Church.

James, called “the Less” to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, is identified as the son of Alpheus. He may also be the “James the younger” who, with Jesus’s mother Mary, watched the crucifixion from afar.

Philip appears more vividly in the Gospel of John, where Jesus calls him soon after Andrew and Peter. Eager to share the good news, Philip brings his friend Nathanael to meet Jesus. His practical, questioning nature surfaces again when he wonders how to feed the vast crowd, only to see Jesus multiply the loaves and fishes. Philip later asks, “Lord, show us the Father,” prompting Jesus’ profound reply, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Though their later lives are largely hidden from history, both apostles are remembered for their simple faithfulness—the readiness to follow, to ask, to trust, and to proclaim the truth of Christ.