St. Philip

Philip At a Glance

•Born in Bethsaida. (City of St. Peter & St. Andrew)

•In Greek, means “lover of horses”.

•“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.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.”

•Converted the Ethiopian eunuch.

•On the multiplication of the loaves, St. Phillip responds; “Two hundred denarii would not be enough bread for each of them to get a little”

•St. Andrew and St. Phillip, two Apostles with Greek names. Served as interpreters and mediators to small group of Greeks in unity to meet Jesus.

Small T Tradition: The Death of Philip

Tradition holds that St. Philip, who at one time was based in Hierapolis, was converting the occupants of Hierapolis, who were devoted to the unwholesome cult of Echidna, which involved serpent worship. According to Tradition, St. Philip went up to the altar of the ‘god’ and commanded, in the name of Christ, the large serpent to depart. As a result many were bitten by the serpent and subsequently cured by St. Philip. St. Philip also cured the governor of Hierapolis’ wife who suffered from an eye disease. This attracted the ire of the governor. St. Philip, like St. Peter, was crucified upside down, and his last words were, “Clothe me in Thy glorious robe and the seal of Thy light that will forever shine; until I have passed by all the rulers of the world and the evil dragon that opposes us.”