August 24: St Bartholomew Apostle and Martyr (1st Century)

Saint of theDay

St Bartholomew, whose name means “Son of Tolmei or Talmai”,
is commonly identified with Nathanael, the “Israelite without guile” (Jn 1:47), whom St Philip introduced to our Lord. Though nothing concrete is known with certainty about this Apostle, he is believed to have come from Cana in Galilee. To him goes the credit of being the first to recognize Jesus for who he was, declaring: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel!” (Jn 1:49).

He preached the faith in Arabia. According to certain traditions he was martyred by being flayed alive in Armenia before being beheaded. When Pantaenus, the teacher of Origen, was a missionary in India in the second century, he was informed that Bartholomew had been there before him and had presented the Gospel of St Matthew in Hebrew, which the Indian Church treasured.

St Bartholomew, whose relics have, for the past 1,000 years, been enshrined in the church of St Bartholomew-on-the-Tiber, in Rome, is the Patron of plasterers, tanners and butchers, and is invoked against convulsions.

Reflection: “In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).