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With the rod of grace, O admirable Philip, you drew the human race from the depths of vanity, and yielded them to the practice of the Master's commands. Since you were His apostle, He enlightened your understanding; since you were His preacher, He revealed to you His incomprehensible Divinity, O most blessed one.
In the form of fire, the radiance of the Spirit descended on you. He made you His chosen vessel. Zealously you drove away the mist of godlessness and enlightened the world with the mystery of faith by the wisdom of your words, most honorable Apostle Philip, eyewitness of Christ.
With the lightning bolts of your preaching, you enlightened those who sat in the darkness of ignorance, glorious Philip. Through faith, you revealed them to be the children of God the Master. You loved Him through suffering and death and became an heir to His glory, O wise, faithful, and inspired disciple.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
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St. Paul's Second Letter to the
Corinthians 9:6-11
BRETHREN, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
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The Gospel according to
John 1:43-51
At that time, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and he 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." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
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In
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You. O heavenly King, 0 Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who are in all places and fill all things; Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, 0 gracious Lord. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy God visit and heal our infirmities for thy Name's sake.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
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November 14
Monday of the 9th Week
Holy Apostle Philip
The Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip, was a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee. He had a profound depth of knowledge of the Holy Scripture, and rightly discerning the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, he awaited the coming of the Messiah. Through the call of the Savior (John 1:43), Philip followed Him. The Apostle Philip is spoken about several times in the Holy Gospel: he brought to Christ the Apostle Nathaniel (i.e. Bartholomew, April 22, June 30, and August 25. See John. 1:46). The Lord asks him where to buy bread for five thousand men (John. 6: 5-7). He brought certain of the Hellenized Jews wanting to see Jesus (John. 12:21-22); and finally, at the Last Supper he asked Christ to show them the Father (John. 14:8).
After the Ascension of the Lord, the Apostle Philip preached the Word of God in Galilee, accompanying his preaching with miracles. Thus, he restored to life a dead infant in the arms of its mother. From Galilee he went to Greece, and preached among the Jews that had settled there. Some of them reported the preaching of the Apostle to Jerusalem. In response, some scribes arrived in Greece from Jerusalem, with one of the Jewish chief priests at their head, to interrogate the Apostle Philip.
The Apostle Philip exposed the lie of the chief priest, who said that the disciples of Christ had stolen away and hidden the body of Christ. Philip told instead how the Pharisees had bribed the soldiers on watch, to deliberately spread this rumor. When the Jewish chief priest and his companions began to insult the Lord and lunged at the Apostle Philip, they suddenly were struck blind. By his prayer the Apostle restored everyone's sight. Seeing this miracle, many believed in Christ. The Apostle Philip provided a bishop for them, by the name of Narcissus (one of the Seventy Apostles, January 4).
From Greece the Apostle Philip went to Parthia, and then to the city of Azotus, where he healed an eye affliction of the daughter of a local resident named Nikoklides, who had received him into his home, and then baptized his whole family.
From Azotus the Apostle Philip set out to Syrian Hieropolis (there were several cities of this name) where, stirred up by the Pharisees, the Jews burned the house of Heros, who had taken in the Apostle Philip, and they wanted to kill the apostle. The apostle performed several miracles: the healing of the hand of the city official Aristarchus, withered when he attempted to strike the apostle; and restoring a dead child to life. When they saw these marvels, they repented and many accepted holy Baptism. After making Heros the bishop at Hieropolis, the Apostle Philip went on to Syria, Asia Minor, Lydia, Emessa, and everywhere preaching the Gospel and undergoing sufferings. Both he and his sister Mariamne (February 17) were pelted with stones, locked up in prison, and thrown out of villages.
Then the Apostle Philip arrived in the city of Phrygian Hieropolis, where there were many pagan temples. There was also a pagan temple where people worshiped an enormous serpent as a god. The Apostle Philip by the power of prayer killed the serpent and healed many bitten by snakes.
Among those healed was the wife of the city prefect, Amphipatos. Having learned that his wife had accepted Christianity, the prefect Amphipatos gave orders to arrest St Philip, his sister, and the Apostle Bartholomew traveling with them. At the urging of the pagan priests of the temple of the serpent, Amphipatos ordered the holy Apostles Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified.
Suddenly, an earthquake struck, and it knocked down all those present at the place of judgment. Hanging upon the cross by the pagan temple of the serpent, the Apostle Philip prayed for those who had crucified him, asking God to save them from the ravages of the earthquake. Seeing this happen, the people believed in Christ and began to demand that the apostles be taken down from the crosses. The Apostle Bartholomew was still alive when he was taken down, and he baptized all those believing and established a bishop for them.
But the Apostle Philip, through whose prayers everyone remained alive, except for Amphipatos and the pagan priests, died on the cross.
Mariamne his sister buried his body, and went with the Apostle Bartholomew to preach in Armenia, where the Apostle Bartholomew was crucified (June 11); Mariamne herself then preached until her own death at Lykaonia.
Among the Slavic peoples, the Nativity Fast is often called Filipovka since it commences immediately after this feast.
St Gregory Palamas (1359)
The teaching of St Gregory is so fundamental to Orthodoxy that he is especially commemorated each year in Great Lent on the Sunday following the Sunday of Orthodoxy (as well as on Nov. 14); Bishop Kallistos observes in the English edition of the Philokalia, "his successful defence of the divine and uncreated character of the light of Tabor...[is] seen as a direct continuation of the preceding celebration, as nothing less than a renewed Triumph of Orthodoxy." The son of a prominent family, St Gregory was born (1296) and raised in Constantinople. At about age twenty, he abandoned a promising secular career to become a monk on Mt Athos. (His family joined him en masse: two of his brothers went with him to the Holy Mountain; at the same time his widowed mother, two of his sisters, and many of the household servants also entered monastic life.) He spent the next twenty years living as a hermit, spending five days a week in complete solitude, then joining the brethren on weekends for the Divine Liturgy and its accompanying services. Around 1335 he was called to live a much more public life in defense of the faith and spirituality of the Church. A Greek living in Italy, Barlaam the Calabrian, had launched an attack on the hesychastic spirituality of the Church. Fundamentally, Barlaam denied that man can attain to a true vision of God Himself, or true union with Him, in this life. Gregory, recognizing in this an attack on the Christian faith itself, responded. He even left the Holy Mountain and re-settled in Constantinople so as better to wage the struggle, which had become so public that a Church Council was called to settle the issue. St Gregory's views were affirmed, and Barlaam's condemned, at the Council of Constantinople of 1341.
Though Barlaam himself returned to Italy, a series of his followers continued the attack, eventually resulting in two more Councils in 1347 and 1351, both of which affirmed the hesychasts' position. Metropolitan Hierotheos (The Mind of the Orthodox Church) writes that these councils have "all the marks of an Ecumenical Council;" This, along with the fact that St Gregory's views are affirmed in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy (appointed to be read in churches every Sunday of Orthodoxy), and his commemoration every second Sunday of Great Lent, makes clear that his teaching is a basic and indispensable part of the Orthodox Faith. In 1347 St Gregory was consecrated Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, where he served until his repose. (He spent a year of this period as the prisoner of Turkish pirates). Despite (or due to?) his austere monastic background, he was revered by his flock: immediately after his repose in 1359, popular veneration of him sprang up in Thessaloniki, Constantinople and Mt Athos and, in 1368, only nine years after his death, the Church officially glorified him as a saint. St Gregory was always clear that unceasing mental prayer is not a special calling of monastics, but is possible and desirable for every Christian in every walk of life.
Pious Emperor Justinian and His Wife Theodora (565)
"The pious Emperor Justinian was a fervent Christian and a man of genius in every field. His long reign (527-65) was a decisive period in the history of the Empire from the administrative, diplomatic, military, economic, legal, cultural and ecclesiastical points of view. He was the real founder of the Christian Empire, who brought together again the old Roman Empire that had been torn to pieces by barbarian invaders. He believed that upholding the Orthodox faith and maintaining the symphony of Church and State were essential for the well-being of the Empire. He had a deep knowledge of theology and wrote several treatises on dogmas of the faith. He forbad pagan worship in the Empire, and was unremitting in pursuit of heretics and sectarians. He did all he could to reconcile the Monophysites to the Council of Chalcedon. In 553, he summoned to Constantinople the fifth Ecumentical Council (25 July), which reaffirmed the condemnation of Nestorius and also condemned Origen. "The splendor of the churches and of everything that testified to the divine glory was brought to a culmination in the Empire of Justinian. He rebuilt the Great Church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople where, it was said, the service of God was so wonderfully ordered that it was as if heaven had come down to earth. He made great gifts to the monasteries of Egypt and of Palestine and built the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. In all that he did, he had the help and support of his wife, the pious Empress Theodora. Justinian died on 14 November 565, without having been able to restore full unity to the Church, but he had set the Empire on firm foundations that would endure for centuries." (Synaxarion) It was Justinian who built the great Church of the Holy Wisdom (Agia Sophia), perhaps the most magnificent Christian church. The hymn "Only-begotten Son" was inserted in the Divine Liturgy at his command, and is thought to have been composed by him.
Note: There is some controversy about the inclusion of Justinian in the Synaxaria. His fervent labors to reconcile the Monophysites to the Church have led some writers to conclude that he himself embraced Monophysite errors; others dispute this. Lacking the wisdom to resolve the question, we only note that he is included in Ormylia Monastery's Synaxarion (quoted above), but some Synaxaria have turned his commemoration into that of the Emperor Justin (518-527).
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Prayer of Saint Symeon
Now let Your servant depart in peace, O Master, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people: the Light of revelation for the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.
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Regarding the Gosp
el of
The Best Disciples Chosen from the Worst Place.
St. Chrysostom
: Having then taken [Peter and the other disciple], Jesus next goes to the capture of the others and draws to him Philip and Nathanael. Now in the case of Nathanael this was not so amazing because the fame of Jesus had gone all over Syria. But it is truly remarkable concerning Peter, James and Philip, that they believed not only before the miracles, but that they did so being from Galilee, out of which "arises no prophet," nor "can any good thing come." The Galileans were somehow of a more boorish and dull disposition than others. But even in this Christ displayed his power. He selected his choicest disciples from a land that bore no fruit. Homilies on the Gospel of John 20.1
Philip the Thoughtful Convert.
St. Chrysostom
: "To every thoughtful person there is a benefit" ... and Christ implied more than this when he said, "He that seeks finds." This is why I no longer wonder how it was that Philip followed Christ. Andrew was persuaded when he heard from John, and Peter was persuaded when he heard from Andrew. But Philip, not having learned anything from anyone but Christ who said to him only this, "Follow me," immediately obeyed and did not go back. In fact, he even became a preacher to others. For he ran to Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote." Do you see what a thoughtful mind he had, how assiduously he meditated on the writings of Moses, expecting the advent? For the expression "we have found" belongs always to those who are in some way seeking. Homilies on the Gospel of John 20.1
A Question of Doubt or Confirmation.
St. Augustine
: [They refer to him as] "Jesus, the son of Joseph." He was called the son of the man to whom his mother had been espoused. For all Christians know well from the Gospel that he was conceived and born while she was still a virgin. But this is what Philip said to Nathanael, and he added the place, "from Nazareth." And Nathanael said to him, "From Nazareth something good can come." What is the meaning here, brothers? Not as some read, for it could be read, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" For the words of Philip follow, who says, "Come and see." But the words of Philip can suitably follow both readings, whether you read it as a confirmation, that is, "from Nazareth something good can come," to which Philip replies, "come and see"; or whether you read it as doubting, making the whole thing into a question, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Come and see." Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.15
Great Things Come Out of Nazareth
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St. Cyril of Alexandria
: Nathanael readily agrees that he expects great things to appear out of Nazareth. It is, I suppose, perfectly clear that not only did he take Nazareth as a pledge of what he sought but, bringing together knowledge from Moses and the prophets as one fond of learning, he gained a pretty quick understanding. "Come and see," [Philip] says. Sight will suffice for faith. All you need to do is talk with him, and you will be all the more ready to confess and say without hesitation that he is indeed the expected One. But we must also believe that there was a divine and ineffable grace flowing from the words of our Savior that proved alluring for the souls of his hearers. ... For since his word is mighty in power, it is also efficacious to persuade. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.1
Nathanael Well Versed in Prophecy.
St. Chrysostom
: He praises and approves the man because he had said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" And yet, shouldn't have Jesus rather found fault in him? Surely not; for the words are not those of an unbeliever or one deserving blame, but praise. How can you say that? Because Nathanael had considered the writings of the prophets more than Philip. For he had heard from the Scriptures that Christ must come from Bethlehem, and from the village in which David was. This belief at least prevailed among the Jews, and the prophet had proclaimed it of old. ... And so when he heard that Jesus was "from Nazareth," he was confounded and doubted, not finding the announcement of Philip to agree with the prediction of the prophet. Homilies on the Gospel of John 20.1
Nathanael Does Not Make Scripture Fit His Interpretation.
St. Ephrem the Syrian
: Even though the prophet had said that a leader and prince would rise forth from Bethlehem, Nathanael had heard that [Jesus] was from Nazareth, and therefore he asked whether it was possible that a good prince could come out of Nazareth, [for this was] something that had not been written. Consequently, when our Lord saw him, he [i.e., Jesus] gave a good testimony on Nathanael's behalf that he was not like the scribes who were acting deceitfully in relation to the [Scripture] readings, attempting to make their interpretations follow their own will. He says, "This is an Israelite scribe in whom no guile has been seen." For before he knew [the Lord], he was asking whether Nazareth could produce a prince, like Bethlehem [could]. Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron 4.19
Was Nathanael One of the Twelve?
St. Augustine
: "Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile" is something said neither to Andrew, nor Peter nor to Philip. It was said to Nathanael.... What do we make of it then, brothers? Ought he to have been first among the apostles? Not only is he not found to be first among the apostles, but Nathanael is neither in the middle nor last among the Twelve, Nathanael, to whom the Son of God bore such great witness, saying, "Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile." Is the reason asked? As far as the Lord makes known, we find a probable answer. For we ought to understand that Nathanael himself was educated and skilled in the law. Therefore the Lord did not wish to place him among the disciples because he chose unlearned men whereby he might confound the world. Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.16.2-17.2
The Connection Between Nathanael and Jacob.
St. Augustine
: Now Jacob had been called in Scripture a man without guile. Jacob himself, as you know, was surnamed Israel. That is why in the Gospel, when the Lord saw Nathanael, he said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile." And that Israelite, not yet knowing who was speaking to him, replied, "How do you know me?" And the Lord said to him, "While you were under the fig tree I saw you," as though to say, "While you were under the shadow of sin, I predestined you." And Nathanael, remembering he had been under the fig tree where the Lord had not been, recognized the divinity in him and answered, "You are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel." Though he was under the fig tree, he did not become a withered fig tree; he acknowledged Christ. And the Lord said to him, "Because I said, While you were under the fig tree I saw you, is that why you believe? You shall see greater things than that." What are these greater things? "Amen, I tell you." Because that man is an Israelite in whom there is no guile, look back to Jacob, in whom there is no guile, and recollect, when Jesus tells you, the stone at his head, the vision in his sleep, the stairs from earth to heaven, the beings coming down and going up; and then see what the Lord says to the Israelite without guile: "You shall see heaven opened"-listen, guileless Nathanael, to what guileless Jacob saw-"and angels going up and coming down"-to whom?-"to the Son of man." Sermon 89.5
The Fig Tree and Worldliness.
St. Ambrose
: Would that Jesus would cast a glance on me still lying under that barren fig tree, and that my fig tree might also after three years bear fruit. But how can sinners have that kind of hope? If only that gospel dresser of the vineyard, perhaps already bidden to cut down my fig tree, would at least let it alone this year also, until he digs around it and fertilizes it so that he may by some chance lift the helpless out of the dust and lift the poor out of the mire. ... The fig tree, that is, the tempting attraction of the pleasures of the world, still overshadows me, low in height, brittle for working, soft for use and barren of fruit. Concerning Virgins 1.1.3-4
He First Saw You in the Shadow of Sin.
St. Augustine
: You know from what the first sinners, Adam and Eve, made themselves aprons. When they had sinned, they made themselves aprons from fig leaves and covered their shameful parts, because it was by sinning that they caused themselves to feel shame about them. So if the first sinners made themselves aprons, the couple from whom we derive our origins, in whom we had gotten lost so that he would come to seek and to save what had gotten lost-if they made them out of fig leaves to cover their shameful parts, what else could it mean, "When you were under the fig tree I saw you," but "You would not have come to the cleanser of sin unless he had first seen you in the shadow of sin"? In order for us to see, we have been seen; in order for us to love, we have been loved. Sermon 174.4
Nathanael's Confession Compared with Peter's Later Confession.
St. Chrysostom
: Many, when they read this passage, are perplexed at finding that Peter was pronounced blessed for having, after our Lord's miracles and teaching, confessed him to be the Son of God. Nathanael, who makes the same confession before Peter, receives no such blessing. The reason is this: Peter and Nathanael both used the same words but not in the same way. Peter confessed our Lord to be the Son of God, in the sense of him being very God. Nathanael confessed him to be the Son of God only as a mere man. For after saying, "You are the Son of God," he adds, "You are the King of Israel." But the Son of God was not only the King of Israel but of the whole world. This is clear from what follows. For in the case of Peter, Christ added nothing, but, as if his faith were already perfect, told him that he would build the church on his confession. In the case of Nathanael, he treats his confession as deficient and needing to progress further upwards. Homilies on the Gospel of John 21.1
The Lord of Angels.
St. Chrysostom
: Do you see how he leads him up little by little from the earth and causes him no longer to imagine him as merely a man? For one to whom angels minister and on whom angels ascend and descend, how could he be a man? This is why he said, "You shall see greater things than these." And to prove this, he introduces the ministry of angels. What he means is something like this: Does this, O Nathanael, seem to you a great matter, and have you for this confessed me to be King of Israel? What then will you say when you see "angels ascending and descending on me"? He persuades him by these words to receive him as Lord also of the angels. For on him as on the king's own son, the royal ministers ascended and descended, once at the season of the crucifixion, again at the time of the resurrection and the ascension, and before this also, when they "came and ministered to him." They also ascended and descended when they proclaimed the good news of his birth and cried, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace," when they came to Mary and also when they came to Joseph....Our Lord made the present a proof of the future. After the powers he had already shown, Nathanael would readily believe that much more would follow. Homilies on the Gospel of John 21.1
Jacob Foresaw Christ on Earth.
St. Ambrose
: Jacob set out and slept-evidence of tranquility of spirit-and saw angels of God ascending and descending. This means he foresaw Christ on earth; the band of angels was descending to Christ and ascending to him, so as to render service to their rightful master in loving service. Jacob and the Happy Life 2.4.16
Preachers Ascend by Imitation of Christ and Descend by Preaching.
St. Augustine
: There is something greater than "I saw you under the fig tree." [Jesus said, "We shall see greater things than these,"] because it is a greater thing that our Lord has justified us, whom he has called, than that he saw us lying under the shadow of death. For what profit would it have been to us if we had remained where he saw us? Should we not be lying there? And so, what is this greater thing? When have we seen angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man?... Good preachers who preach Christ are like angels of God; that is, they ascend and descend on the Son of man.... Take for instance Paul, who ascended to the third heaven31 ... and descended so far that he even gave milk to babies. ... Take for instance the father who is well skilled in speaking, who is such an orator that the forum resounds with his eloquence and the judgment seats shake-if he has a little son, on his return home he puts aside the forensic eloquence to which he had ascended and in child's language descends to his little one.... If the Lord himself ascended and descended, it is evident that his preachers ascend by imitation and descend by preaching. Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.22-23
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The tomb of St. Philip, one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, was unearthed in a great discovery in the Denizli province of Turkey.
The discovery took place at the Hierapolis (Pamukkale) ancient excavation site of Denizli in western Turkey on Tuesday 26 July 2011. The excavation has been going on in the area for some 32 years led by the Italian Prof. Francesco D'Andria. Prof D'Andria gave the news of the great discovery on Tuesday, saying: "The discovery of the tomb of St Philip, who is a very important figure for Christianity, will make a tremendous impression in the world," shortly after the great success of his team.
Up till now, people believed that the tomb of St. Philip was in the back hill of Hierapolis known as Martyr's Hill, but Italian Archaeologist Francesco D'Andria and his team discovered a new unknown church 40 meters of Martyr's Hill and the real tomb of St. Philip the Apostle is in this church.
"St. Philip is considered a martyr. In fact, the church built in his name on the Martyr's Hill is, for this reason, also called Martyrion, despite the fact there were no traces of the grave of St. Philip. As we were cleaning out the new church we discovered a month ago, we finally found the grave. With close examination, we determined that the grave had been moved from its previous location in the St. Philip Church to this new church in the fifth century, during the Byzantine era. We are extremely happy and proud to have discovered the grave of a saint whose name appears in the Bible - this surely is an important discovery for religious tourism, archaeology and Christendom," the professor said.
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Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ, Υιέ του Θεού,
ελέησόν με τον αμαρτωλόν.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me the sinner!
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