Philip of Agira

{{Short description|Early Christian priest and saint}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox saint

|honorific_prefix=Saint

|name=Philip of Agira

|image=Bust of Saint Philip of Agira, Żebbuġ, Malta.jpg

|imagesize=

|caption=Bust of Saint Philip of Agira, Żebbuġ, Malta

|titles=Apostle to the Sicilians, Hieromartyr

|birth_date=AD 40 or 5th century

|birth_place=Cappadocia or Thrace
(modern-day Turkey)

|death_date=12 May 103

|death_place=Sicily, Italy (?)

|feast_day=12 May

|venerated_in=Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

|canonized_date=

|canonized_place=

|canonized_by=

|major_shrine=

|attributes=

|patronage=Agira, Sicily
Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Malta
United States Army Special Forces

|issues=

|suppressed_date=

|prayer=

|prayer_attrib=

}}

Philip of Agira (also Argirò, Aggira, Agirone, Agirya or Argira) was an early Christian clergyman. There are two parallel stories of this saint which give to possible dates in which this saint lived. Traditionally, through the writings ascribed to Athanasius of Alexandria, it is maintained that Philip of Agira is a saint of the 1st century, born in the year 40 in Cappadocia (modern Turkey) and died as a hieromartyr on 12 May 103. The other version of his biography, attributed to a certain Eusebio, says to have been born of Theodosius, a Syrian father, and Augia, a noble Roman woman, in Thrace in the time of Emperor Arcadius, 4th century. His older brothers drowned while fishing and Philip dedicated himself to the service of God. Philip was later sent by the pope to preach in Sicily, where he performed many miracles, especially exorcisms.Daidone, Pina (1998). La vita di San Filippo d'Agira, ch.1 [https://www.agira.org/Pubblicazioni/la-vita-di-san-filippo-dagira.html Premessa alla Vita di S. Filippo; La questione delle due agiografie e agiografie riferite](in Italian). Philip was known as the "Apostle of the Sicilians", as he was the first Christian missionary to visit that island. Nothing else can be certainly stated about him.