11 ЖОВТНЯ / OCT 11

The Holy Apostle Philip of the Seventy was one of the seven deacons chosen to serve the early Church in Jerusalem. He should not be confused with Saint Philip the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles, whose feast is celebrated on November 14.

Saint Philip was born in Palestine. He was married and had children. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles chose seven men to serve as deacons in the Church of Jerusalem. Their ministry included caring for the offerings of the faithful and helping widows, orphans, and people who were poor and in need.

The first among these seven deacons was Saint Stephen, the Protomartyr.

When persecution against the Christians began in Jerusalem, Saint Stephen was arrested and stoned to death. This persecution caused many Christians to leave Jerusalem and spread to other regions.

Saint Philip went to Samaria.

There he began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His preaching was accompanied by many signs and miracles, and many people accepted the Christian faith.

Among those who listened to Philip was a famous magician named Simon. Simon was impressed by the miracles he saw and was baptized. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that he continued with Philip for some time.

Philip’s mission did not end in Samaria.

An angel of the Lord commanded him to travel along the road from Jerusalem toward Gaza. There he encountered an official from Ethiopia who was returning home after worshiping in Jerusalem.

The official was reading from the prophet Isaiah but did not understand whom the prophet was describing.

Philip approached him and explained the Scripture, showing him that the prophecy pointed to Jesus Christ. The Ethiopian official believed the Gospel and asked to be baptized.

When they came to some water, Philip baptized him.

This meeting became one of the beautiful examples in the Acts of the Apostles of how the Gospel was carried beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem and Israel to the nations.

After this, Saint Philip continued to preach Christ in many places throughout the lands surrounding Palestine.

According to the tradition of the Church, the Apostles later ordained Philip as a bishop and sent him to Tralles in Asia Minor. There he continued his apostolic ministry, preaching the Gospel and baptizing many people.

Saint Philip lived to an old age and peacefully completed his earthly life in faithful service to Christ.

His life teaches us that Christian service is not limited to one particular task. Philip first served the Church by caring for those in need. Later, he became a missionary and preacher of the Gospel. Wherever God sent him, he served faithfully.

The Church also commemorates Saint Theophanes the Confessor and Hymnographer, Bishop of Nicea.

Saint Theophanes was the younger brother of Saint Theodore the Branded. The brothers received an excellent education and studied philosophy. But their greatest desire was not simply human knowledge. They wanted to know God.

For this reason, they went to the Lavra of Saint Savva, where they entered monastic life. Theophanes was tonsured as a monk and later became a priest.

The brothers lived during the difficult period of the persecution of those who honored the holy icons.

They became courageous defenders of the veneration of icons. They taught that honoring a holy icon does not mean worshiping wood or paint. Rather, the honor given to an icon passes to the person represented in it, and ultimately to God.

The brothers were sent to Constantinople on a mission from the Patriarch of Jerusalem. There they boldly defended the faith of the Church and spoke against the iconoclast emperors who opposed the veneration of holy icons.

They suffered greatly because of their faith.

They were imprisoned, deprived of food, and tortured. The emperor Theophilus eventually ordered that insulting words be written upon their faces with red-hot needles.

Because of this cruel punishment, Theodore became known as “the Branded.”

Even in the midst of terrible suffering, the brothers did not abandon the truth. They answered the emperor with words reminding him that human judgment is temporary, while the judgment of God is eternal.

Saint Theodore was eventually sent to prison, where he died around the year 833.

Saint Theophanes was sent into exile.

But the Church eventually restored the veneration of holy icons. Theophanes was brought back from exile and was consecrated Bishop of Nicea.

He continued to serve the Church and became an important hymnographer. He wrote approximately 150 canons, including a beautiful canon defending the veneration of the holy icons.

Saint Theophanes died peacefully around the year 850.

The lives of Saint Philip and Saint Theophanes are very different, but both show us the same fundamental truth: faith must be lived with courage and faithfulness.

Philip carried the Gospel from Jerusalem to distant lands. Theophanes defended the truth of the Church when doing so brought suffering and persecution.

One served through preaching and missionary work. The other served through confession of the faith, writing, and defending the sacred traditions of the Church.

Both remind us that God gives each person a different mission.

We may not be called to preach in distant lands or suffer persecution for defending the holy icons. But we are all called to be faithful in the place where God has placed us.

Sometimes our mission is to serve the poor. Sometimes it is to teach our children. Sometimes it is to encourage someone who is suffering. Sometimes it is simply to remain faithful to Christ when it would be easier to remain silent.

May the Holy Apostle Philip pray for us, that we may faithfully serve God and recognize the opportunities He gives us to bring the Gospel to others.

May Saint Theophanes the Confessor pray for us, that we may have courage to remain faithful to the truth, patience in times of difficulty, and a heart that seeks above all to know and love God.