Apostle Bartholomew of the Twelve - June 11

The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana of Galilee and was one of theTwelve Apostles of Christ. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Dayof Pentecost, it fell by lot to the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip(November 14) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In theirpreaching they wandered through various cities, and then met up again.Accompanying the holy Apostle Philip was his sister, the holy virgin StMariamnne. Traversing the cities of Syria and Myzia, they underwent much hardship andtribulations, they were stoned and they were locked up in prison. In one ofthe villages they met up with the Apostle John the Theologian, and togetherthey set off to Phrygia. In the city of Hieropolis by the power of theirprayers they destroyed an enormous viper, which the pagans worshipped as agod. The holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip with his sister confirmedtheir preaching with many miracles. At Hieropolis there lived a man by the name of Stachys, who had been blindfor 40 years. When he received healing, he then believed in Christ and wasbaptized. News of this spread throughout the city, and a multitude of thepeople thronged to the house where the apostles were staying. The sick andthose beset by demons were released from their infirmities, and many werebaptized. The city prefect gave orders to arrest the preachers and throwthem in prison, and to burn down the house of Stachys. At the trial paganpriests came forth with the complaint that the strangers were turning peopleaway from the worship of the ancestral gods. Thinking that perhaps some sort of magic power was hidden away in theclothes of the apostles, the prefect gave orders to strip them. But StMariamne became like a fiery torch before their eyes, and none dared touchher. They sentenced the saints to death. The Apostle Philip was crucifiedupside down. Suddenly there was an earthquake, and a fissure in the earthswallowed up the prefect of the city, together with the pagan priests andmany of the people. Others took fright and rushed to take down the apostlesfrom the crosses. Since the Apostle Bartholomew had not been suspended veryhigh, they soon managed to take him down. The Apostle Philip, however, haddied. After making Stachys Bishop of Hieropolis, the Apostle Bartholomew andSt Mariamne left the city and moved on. Preaching the Word of God, Mariamne arrived in Lykaonia, where shepeacefully died (February 17). The Apostle Bartholomew went to India, wherehe translated the Gospel of Matthew into their language, and he convertedmany pagans to Christ. He also visited Greater Armenia (the country betweenthe River Kura and the upper stretches of the Tigrus and Euphrates Rivers),where he worked many miracles and healed the daughter of King Polymios fromthe demons afflicting her. In gratitude, the king sent gifts to the apostle,who refused to accept them, saying that he sought only the salvation of thesouls of mankind. Then Polymios together with his wife, daughter, and many of those close tothem accepted Baptism. And people from more than ten cities of GreaterArmenia followed their example. But through the intrigues of the paganpriests, the Apostle Bartholomew was seized by the king's brother Astiagusin the city of Alban (now the city of Baku), and crucified upside down. Buteven from the cross he did not cease to proclaim the good news about Christthe Savior. Finally, on orders from Astiagus, they flayed the skin from theApostle Bartholomew and cut off his head. Believers placed his relics in aleaden coffin and buried him. In about the year 508 the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew weretransferred to Mesopotamia, to the city of Dara. When the Persians seizedthe city in 574, Christians took the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew withthem when they fled to the shores of the Black Sea. But since the enemyovertook them there, they were compelled to leave the coffin behind, and thepagans threw it into the sea. By the power of God the coffin miraculouslyarrived on the island of Lipari. In the ninth century, after the taking ofthe island by the Arabs, the holy relics were transferred to the Neapolitancity of Beneventum in Italy, and in the tenth century part of the relicswere transferred to Rome. The holy Apostle Bartholomew is mentioned in the Life of St Joseph theHymnographer (April 4). Having received from a certain man part of therelics of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph conveyed them to his ownmonastery near Constantinople, and he built a church in the name of theApostle Bartholomew, placing in it a portion of the relics. St Josephardently desired to compose hymns of praise in honor of the saint, and hefervently besought God to grant him the ability to do so. On the Feast day in memory of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph saw him atthe altar. He beckoned to Joseph and took the holy Gospel from the altartable and pressed it to his bosom with the words, "May the Lord bless you,and may your song delight the whole world." And from that time St Josephbegan to write hymns and canons to adorn not only the Feast day of theApostle Bartholomew, but also the Feast days of many other saints, composingabout 300 canons in all. Sts John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria,Epiphanius of Cyprus and certain other teachers of the Church regard the Apostle Bartholomew as being the same person as Nathanael (John 1:45-51,21:2).

Under the protection of St. Bartholomew the Apostle is the Ecumenical Patriarch, and my Xavier. Upon the recommendation of his Godsister’s husband, he got the Dangerous Book for Boys, I’m hoping he will let me read it. And, his Baseball team won their game in the season-ending tournament – so they are off to play on Wednesday. Sans Xavier who will be performing in the class production of Annie.