The holy Apostle Philip, a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee, was a deep knower of Holy Scripture and, correctly understanding the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, awaited the coming of the Messiah. At the call of the Savior (John 1:43) he followed Him. The Apostle Philip is mentioned several times in the Holy Gospel: he brought the Apostle Nathanael to Christ (John 1:46); the Lord asked him how much money would be needed to buy bread for five thousand people (John 6:7); he brought the Greeks who wished to see Christ (John 12:21–22); finally, during the Last Supper, he asked Christ about God 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 raised a child who had died in his mother’s arms. From Galilee he went to Greece and preached among the Jews who had settled there. Some of them reported to Jerusalem about the apostle’s preaching, and then scribes headed by the high priest arrived from Jerusalem to accuse the Apostle Philip. The Apostle Philip exposed the lie of the high priest, who claimed that the disciples of Christ had stolen and hidden the Lord’s body, explaining how the Pharisees bribed the soldiers of the guard, who spread this rumor. When the Jewish high priest and his companions began to blaspheme the Lord and attacked the Apostle Philip, they suddenly became blind. By the prayer of the apostle, they all regained their sight, and seeing this miracle, many believed in Christ. The Apostle Philip appointed Narcissus (counted among the Seventy Apostles) as bishop for them.
From Greece the Apostle Philip went to Parthia, and then to the city of Azotus, where he healed the diseased eyes of the daughter of a local resident named Nicoclides, who received him into his home and was then baptized with his whole family.
From Azotus the Apostle Philip went to Hierapolis in Syria, where, incited by the Pharisees, the Jews set fire to the house of Ira, who had taken the Apostle Philip in, and wanted to kill the apostle. But seeing the miracles performed by the apostle — the healing of the withered hand of the city’s governor Aristarchus, who wanted to strike the apostle, as well as the raising of a dead boy — they repented, and many accepted Holy Baptism. Having appointed Ira as bishop in Hierapolis, the apostle passed through Syria, Asia Minor, Lydia, Mysia, everywhere preaching the Gospel and enduring sufferings. He and his sister Mariamne who accompanied him were stoned, imprisoned, and driven out of villages.
Then the apostle arrived in Phrygia, in the city of Hierapolis in Phrygia, where there were many pagan temples, including a temple dedicated to snakes, in which lived a huge viper. By the power of prayer the Apostle Philip killed the viper and healed many who had been bitten by snakes. Among those healed was the wife of the city’s ruler Antipater, who accepted Christianity. Upon learning of this, the ruler Antipater ordered the arrest of Philip, his sister, and the Apostle Bartholomew who had come with them. At the instigation of the priests of the viper temple, Antipater ordered the holy apostles Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified. At that time an earthquake began, and all present at the trial were buried under earth. Hanging on the cross near the viper temple, the Apostle Philip prayed for the salvation of those who had crucified him from the consequences of the earthquake. Seeing what was happening, the people believed in Christ and began to demand that the apostles be taken down from the cross. The Apostle Bartholomew, taken down from the cross, was still alive and, having received release, baptized all the believers and appointed a bishop for them.
The Apostle Philip, through whose prayers all except Antipater and the priests remained alive, reposed on the cross.
His sister Mariamne buried his body and, together with the Apostle Bartholomew, set out to preach in Armenia, where the Apostle Bartholomew was crucified (commemoration June 11). Mariamne preached until her repose in Lycaonia (commemoration February 17). At present, the honorable head of the Apostle Philip is located in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the village of Omodos on Cyprus.