Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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PHILIPPIANS

One of the four letters of St. Paul written from prison to his converts. It is a letter of gratitude for the kindness the Philippians in Macedonia had shown him. The most significant passage is an exhortation to humility, based on the example of Christ, who, though "His state was divine, yet He did not cling to His equality with God but emptied Himself to assume the condition of a salve, and became as men are" (2:6-7). It is a heart-to-heart communication of Paul to his people, in which the Apostle disarmingly frank in telling them how much he loves them and wants them to be happy, "happy in the Lord; I repeat what I want is your happiness" (4:4).