--- title: "Philippians: Summary & All 4 Chapters · Bless" url: https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/ description: "The Letter to the Philippians, a letter of friendship in 4 chapters. Bp. Challoner’s summary of all 4 chapters, and the full text free." --- New Testament # The Letter to the Philippians The Letter to the Philippians is the eleventh of the 27 books of the New Testament: 4 chapters and 104 verses. [Start reading: Philippians 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/) [1](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/) [2](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/) [3](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/) [4](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/) ## About Philippians About Philippians · Letter of friendship Philippians is Paul writing from prison to his first European church and his most beloved: a thank-you note for their aid that grows into the most joyful letter he ever wrote. He urges them toward unity and humility by quoting an early hymn of Christ, who emptied himself and was exalted, and he takes stock of his own life — everything counted loss compared with knowing Christ. It was written to teach a church he loved that joy is not circumstantial: rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice, from a man in chains. *Philippians in Bless* | | | |---|---| | Testament | New Testament — book 11 of 27, 57 of 73 in the Bible | | Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) | | Chapters | 4 | | Verses | 104, as Bless numbers them | | Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter | | Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 4 chapters · 7 notes | | Catechism | 49 paragraphs cite it | Chapter by chapter ## All 4 chapters, *in brief.* Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text. 1. ### [Philippians 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/) 30 verses The apostle's affection for the Philippians. 2. ### [Philippians 2](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/) 30 verses He recommends them to unity and humility, and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. 3. ### [Philippians 3](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/) 21 verses He warneth them against false teachers. He counts all other things loss, that he may gain Christ. 4. ### [Philippians 4](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/) 23 verses He exhorts them to perseverance in all good and acknowledges their charitable contributions to him. Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries In the comments ## What the saints *said.* 19 quotations from 16 saints linked to passages of Philippians in Bless. Each names the work it comes from. [St. Ignatius of Antioch](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-ignatius-of-antioch/) · on [Philippians 1:21](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/#v21) On this theme > I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Letter to the Romans, 4, c. 107 [St. Gemma Galgani](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-gemma-galgani/) · on [Philippians 1:21](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/#v21) On this theme > O Jesus, I love You so much. Your love is my life. Diary, 1900 [St. Thomas More](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-thomas-more/) · on [Philippians 1:23](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/#v23) On this theme > Give me, good Lord, a longing to be with Thee, not for the avoiding of the calamities of this wretched world, nor so much for the attaining of the joys of heaven, as even for a very love of Thee. Prayer written in the Tower, 1534 [St. Martin of Tours](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-martin-of-tours/) · on [Philippians 1:23](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/#v23) On this theme > Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I do not refuse the toil: thy will be done. Sulpicius Severus, Epistle 3, 397 [St. Teresa of Ávila](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-teresa-of-avila/) · on [Philippians 2:3](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v3) On this theme > Humility is truth. The Interior Castle, I.2, 1577 [St. Athanasius](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-athanasius/) · on [Philippians 2:7](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v7) On this theme > He took what is ours to give us what is His. On the Incarnation, 8, c. 318 ### 13 more, on the chapter pages - [Philippians 2:8](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v8) St. Francis of Assisi - [Philippians 2:12](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v12) St. Augustine of Hippo - [Philippians 2:12](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v12) St. Ignatius of Loyola · attributed - [Philippians 2:13](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/#v13) St. Augustine of Hippo - [Philippians 3:8](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/#v8) St. John of the Cross - [Philippians 3:8](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/#v8) St. Benedict of Nursia - [Philippians 3:14](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/#v14) St. Teresa of Ávila - [Philippians 4:4](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v4) St. Philip Neri - [Philippians 4:4](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v4) St. Philip Neri - [Philippians 4:4](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v4) St. John Bosco - [Philippians 4:6](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v6) St. John Chrysostom - [Philippians 4:8](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v8) St. Justin Martyr - [Philippians 4:13](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/#v13) St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Coming up ## Read at *Mass.* From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, Philippians is read at the principal Mass on 12 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings: | Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation | |---|---|---|---| | [Fri, Oct 30, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/10/30/) | Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 1:1-11](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/) | | [Sat, Oct 31, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/10/31/) | Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 1:18b-26](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/1/) | | [Tue, Nov 3, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/03/) | Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 2:5-11](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/) | | [Wed, Nov 4, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/04/) | St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop | First Reading | [Philippians 2:12-18](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/) | | [Thu, Nov 5, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/05/) | Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 3:3-8a](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/) | | [Fri, Nov 6, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/06/) | Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 3:17—4:1](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/3/) | | [Sat, Nov 7, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/11/07/) | Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Philippians 4:10-19](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/4/) | | [Sun, Mar 21, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/03/21/) | Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion | Second Reading | [Philippians 2:6-11](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/2/) | Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish. [Previous book The Letter to the Ephesians](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/) [Next book The Letter to the Colossians](https://blessbible.app/bible/colossians/)