May 3apostolicUniversal

Philip the Apostle

Apostle and Martyr

Sanctified Life

1st century AD — ca. 80 AD

Bethsaida, Galilee

Also Known As

Philip of BethsaidaApostle PhilipPhilip the Evangelist of Asia Minor

Patronage

Bakers,Cooks,Hatters

"Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. (John 6:7)"

Philip the Apostle was the practical man among the Twelve who calculated costs precisely, yet asked Christ the question that gave Christian theology its most consequential pivot: 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' He brought the Gospel to Hierapolis and died a martyr there.

Historical Legacy

Historical Journey

Life Locations

Historical Context

Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles called directly by Jesus according to the Gospel of John. A native of Bethsaida in Galilee, Philip was brought into Jesus's ministry when the Lord said to him, "Follow me." He in turn brought Nathaniel (also known as Bartholomew) as a new disciple. Philip is notably mentioned in the Gospel accounts as participating in the miracle of the loaves and fishes, where he questioned how they could feed so many people with so little bread. He was also present at the Last Supper and witnessed the Resurrection. Following Jesus's Ascension, Philip became an apostolic missionary. Traditional Christian sources indicate that Philip traveled extensively, preaching the Gospel in Carthage, Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor. He is particularly associated with the region of Phrygia and the city of Hierapolis, where he established a significant Christian community. According to early Christian tradition, Philip was martyred in Hierapolis during the reign of the Roman Emperor Titus, around 80 AD. The accounts of his martyrdom describe that he was tortured, crucified, and then stoned to death for refusing to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. His tomb became a place of Christian pilgrimage and veneration in the ancient world.

Canonization: saint

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Historical Depiction

Wikimedia Commons Source

Titles & Roles

• Apostle• Missionary• Martyr

Works & Prayers

document

The Question at the Last Supper

Philip's declaration at the Last Supper — 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us' (John 14:8) — is among the most theologically consequential questions in the Gospel of John. Jesus's response, affirming that to see him is to see the Father, became a cornerstone of early Christology and the doctrine of the Trinity.

Prayers

"A traditional intercessory prayer invoking Saint Philip's patronage, honoring his honest faith and his death as a martyr in the city he had made a home for the Gospel."

O glorious Saint Philip, Apostle and Martyr, you followed the Lord with two words and spent the rest of your life learning what they meant. You calculated the impossibility and watched it dissolve into abundance. You asked to see the Father and received the answer that reshapes every question. From Bethsaida to Hierapolis, across seas and deserts and the long roads of the ancient world, you carried the Word you had heard at the lakeside — and when they asked you to set it down, you would not. Intercede for us who also follow without fully understanding, who also calculate what we lack and forget what God provides. May we ask our honest questions and trust the answers that come. May we have the courage of your martyrdom and the simplicity of your calling. Amen.

Gallery

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Philip the Apostle. Detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale. Raven...

Richard Mortel • Taken on 4 July 2019, 12:12:10

CC BY 2.0

Philip the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century

Sacred Symbols

Loaves of Bread

The emblem of the feeding of the five thousand — where Philip's honest calculation of impossibility ('two hundred denarii is not enough') became the backdrop for miraculous abundance — and the origin of his patronage of bakers and cooks

Cross

The instrument of his martyrdom in Hierapolis, where he was crucified for the same faith he had received at the shore of the Sea of Galilee — the cross of the apostle who followed without knowing where he was going

Vertical Saw

A secondary martyrdom symbol found in early iconography, representing the instruments of the torture inflicted in Hierapolis and reflecting the brutality of his final witness

Life Journey

Early Life

Born in Bethsaida — the fishing town of Peter and Andrew — Philip grew up speaking Greek in a Jewish world under Roman occupation. Nothing marked him as exceptional before Jesus found him.

Turning Point

At the Last Supper Philip asked: 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus replied: 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father' — a cornerstone of Trinitarian theology.

Legacy

After Pentecost, Philip built a lasting church in Hierapolis, Phrygia. Around 80 AD he was crucified and stoned for refusing to renounce Christ; his tomb was rediscovered in 2011.

Key Moments

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1st century AD

Born in Bethsaida

Philip is born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, a fishing town also home to Peter and Andrew — a Jewish community under Roman rule where Greek culture had made deep inroads, reflected in Philip's own Hellenistic name.

ca. 27–30 AD

The Call

Jesus finds Philip and speaks the two words that define his life: 'Follow me.' Of all the Gospel accounts of apostolic calling, Philip's is among the most direct — no nets dropped, no boats left behind, just the immediate response of a man ready to be redirected.

ca. 28–29 AD

The Recruiter

Philip immediately brings Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus, demonstrating the instinct of the evangelist: to share what he has found before he fully understands it, trusting that the encounter itself will do the convincing.

ca. 29 AD

The Arithmetic of Impossibility

At the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus asks Philip where they can buy bread for the crowd. Philip calculates — two hundred denarii would not be nearly enough — and learns that Christ's economy operates outside the logic of scarcity.

ca. 30 AD

Show Us the Father

At the Last Supper Philip asks the question that crystallizes three years of wondering: 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus's reply — 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father' — is one of the most theologically dense sentences in the Gospel of John.

ca. 30–80 AD

The Long Mission

Following Pentecost, Philip travels as an apostolic missionary across the ancient world — Carthage, Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor — carrying the Gospel through territories that the Jerusalem disciples had not yet reached.

ca. 80 AD

Hierapolis

Philip establishes a significant Christian community in Hierapolis, Phrygia — a prosperous Roman city in what is now western Turkey — planting a church that would endure and grow long after his death.

ca. 80 AD

Martyrdom

Under Emperor Titus, Philip is arrested, tortured, crucified, and stoned to death for refusing to renounce Christ — dying in Hierapolis, the city he had made a center of the faith, his tomb becoming a place of pilgrimage rediscovered in modern times.

1st century AD