Ordinary Time: August 24th
Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Other Titles: Nathaniel
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MASS READINGS
August 24, 2020 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith, by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son, and grant that through the help of his prayers your Church may become for all the nations the sacrament of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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St. Bartholomew, a doctor in the Jewish law, was a dear friend of St. Philip the Apostle. Because Bartholomew was a man "in whom there was no guile," his mind was open to the truth. He went willingly with Philip to see Christ, and recognized the Savior immediately as the Son of God. After having received the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost, Bartholomew evangelized Asia Minor, northwestern India, and Greater Armenia. In the latter country, while preaching to idolaters, he was arrested and condemned to death.
Historically today is the feast of Our Lady Health of the Sick.
St. Bartholomew
In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew is known by the name Nathaniel (the liturgy does not always seem aware of this identity). He hailed from Cana in Galilee, was one of the first disciples called by the Lord. On that initial meeting Jesus uttered the glorious compliment: "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" After the Resurrection he was favored by becoming one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Savior on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension he is said to have preached in Greater Armenia and to have been martyred there. While still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation. Concerning the fate of his relics, the Martyrology says: "His holy body was first taken to the island of Lipari (north of Sicily), then to Benevento, and finally to Rome on an island in the Tiber where it is honored by the faithful with pious devotion."
The Church of Armenia has a national tradition that St. Jude Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew visited the Armenians early in the first century and introduced Christianity among the worshippers of the god Ahura Mazda. The new faith spread throughout the land, and in 302 A.D., St. Gregory the Illuminator baptized the king of Armenia, Dertad the Great, along with many of his followers. Since Dertad was probably the first ruler to embrace Christianity for his nation, the Armenians proudly claim they were the first Christian State.
—Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patronage: bookbinders; butchers; cobblers; Forentine cheese merchants; Forentine salt merchants; leather workers; nervous diseases; neurological diseases; plasterers; shoemakers; tanners; trappers; twitching; whiteners; Gambatesa, Italy; Armenia.
Symbols and Representation: Flaying or tanner's knife and book; three vertical flaying or tanner's knives; human skin; human skin on a cross; devil under his feet; St. Matthew's Gospel; scimitar; cross;
Often Portrayed As: elderly man holding a tanner's knife and a human skin; skinless man holding his own skin.
Highlights and Things to Do:
- In Sandwich, Kent, England, there is a St Bartholomew's Bun Race. The Bartlemas Bun Race for children takes place around the chapel of St. Bartholomew's Hospital on this feast day. Each participant receives a currant bun, while the attendants are each given a St Bart's Biscuit, which has an imprint of the hospital's ancient seal.
- Most of St. Bartholomew's relics are in Rome, in the Church of St. Bartholomew-on-the-Tiber, or San Bartolomeo all'Isola (translated as: St. Bartholomew's on the Island). Find out more about his relics and the churches in honor of him.
- Read more about St. Bartholomew:
- Visit Christian Iconography for some iconography information about St. Bartholomew.
- Watch this short video about St. Bartholomew.
- Since gingerbread is one food associated with this saint, read this history of gingerbread.
- In England St. Bartholomew's day was a harvest feast for shepherds and farmers, celebrating their flocks. Athletic contests before feasting with England's favorite meat: grilled juicy mutton. This feast falls during the grilling season, so why not serve something from the barbecue?
