St Philip and St James-the-Less share a feast day of 1st May. The day is shared because their relics were brought to Rome together in early May 560 AD.

Saint Philip was born in Bethsaida, in Galilee, the same town as Peter and Andrew, around 4 AD. He was one of Christ’s apostles and may well have been a disciple of John the Baptist.

Like the other apostles, he struggled to understand who Jesus was. At the feeding of the 5000 as the crowds approached, Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread for so many people to eat. Philip answered, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have something to eat”. And just before the Passion, it was Philip who asked Jesus, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us”. “Enough”, said Jesus, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me”.

According to tradition he preached in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis under Emperor Domitian in 80 AD.

Saint James-the-Less is thought to have been born around 1 AD and died around 62 AD. His father was Alphaeus and his mother Mary of Clopas, a close relative of the Blessed Virgin who was among the women at the foot of the Cross, weeping. So James is regarded as a cousin of Jesus. He is called "the Less" to differentiate him from the other apostle of the same name, James the son of Zebedee, who´s feast day we remember on July 25th.

St Paul tells us that James was a witness to the Resurrection of Christ. He is also considered to be the author of the Epistle that bears his name. According to tradition, he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, attended the Council of Jerusalem in 50AD and was martyred for his faith by the Jews in 62 AD.

Philip is the patron saint of hatmakers and pastry chefs and James is patron saint of pharmacists and the dying. Together they are the patron saints of Uruguay.

The picture shows St Philip and St James at the church of their joint dedication in Palma, Mallorca