St Bartholomew-24th August

Saint Bartholomew seems to be the same person known as “Nathaniel,” who was led to our Lord by the apostle Saint Philip, and of whom the Divine Lips said: “Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no guile.” Bartholomew is a surname, and signifies Son of Tholmai. This holy apostle carried the light of the Gospel into Arabia, Persia, and the Indies. From India he passed into Phrygia and Lycaonia in Greater Armenia, where, after converting innumerable souls to the faith, he was barbarously flayed alive by command of King Astirages, and then beheaded, a.d. 44.

A Prayer to Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, for Grace

O Glorious Saint Bartholomew, Jesus called you a person without guile and you saw in this word a sign that he was the Son of God and King of Israel. Obtain for us the grace to be ever guileless and innocent as doves. At the same time, help us to have your gift of faith to see the Divine hand in the events of daily life. May we discern the signs of the times that lead to Jesus on earth and will eventually unite us to him forever in heaven.
Amen.

0824 St Bartholomew 1p SMC 8.5 x 11 R1R 2024018

St Bartholomew – 24^th August

“Bartholomew saw Christ and believed without doubt.”

“Bartholomew carried Christ’s name to distant lands.”

“My heart belongs to Jesus, the King of Kings.”

“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

https://youtube.com/shorts/ioDC5zkwjn0

A Prayer to St. Bartholomew the Apostle, for Courage

O Jesus, Saint Bartholomew’s greatest desire was to know the truth. When first informed about You, his initial reaction was, “How can anything good come from Nazareth?” But as soon as he met You, he wanted to become one of Your disciples. You said of him, “Here is a man in whom there is no deception.” I ask him to pray against the deceptions that are influencing me and the people I know. Help us to experience Your affirmation when we are honest, give us courage to resist lying as a means of self-protection, and inspire our minds to recognize the truth when we hear it. Saint Bartholomew, pray for us.

Amen.

NOVENA TO SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, THE APOSTLE.

O Eternal God and loving father, you have given us the glorious Apostle Bartholomew as our beloved Patron Saint and powerful advocate in heaven. We offer you our prayers, animated by a spirit of confidence that through the efficacious intercession of Saint Bartholomew, we shall merit your unfailing help and protection and shall ever remain loyal and devoted to Divine will all the days of our life.

Teach us to cherish, proclaim, and practice the Gospel message of Christ, which Saint Bartholomew so eloquently preached and finally sealed with his heroic martyrdom.

As we prepare devoutly for his solemn feast by this Novena of prayers, we trustingly raise our minds and hearts to you. Refuse not, o Lord God, our humble petition but unite it with that of Apostle Bartholomew and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, so that we may obtain the grace of true repentance for our sins, of divine assistance in our spiritual and temporal wants, and of constant fidelity to all our Christian duties. This we ask through Jesus Christ, Our Lord,

Amen.
[Mention your intentions here…]

A Prayer to St. Bartholomew, for the Church

O holy apostle, the Church prays for grace to love what thou didst believe and to preach what thou didst teach. Not that the bride of the Son of God could ever fail either in faith or in love; but she knows only too well that, though her Head is ever in the light, and her heart ever united to the Spouse in the holy Sprit who sanctifies her, nevertheless her several members, the particular churches of which she is composed, may Detach themselves from their centre of life and wander away in darkness. O thou who didst choose our west as the place of thy rest; thou whose precious relics Rome glories in possess ding, bring back to Peter the nations thou didst evangelize; fulfil the now reviving hopes of universal union; second the efforts made by the vicar of the Man-God to gather again under the shepherd’s crook those scattered flocks whose pastures have become parched by schism. May thine own Armenia be the first to complete a return which she began long ago; may she trust the mother=Church and no more follow the Sowers of discord. All being reunited, may we together enjoy the treasures of our concordant traditions, and go to God, even at the cost of being despoiled of all things, by course so grand and yet so simple taught us by thy example and by thy sublime theology.

THE COLLECT

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word: Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that Word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St. Bartholomew the Apostle is one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, often identified with Nathanael, whom Jesus praised as “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile” (John 1:47).

Here are some key points about him:

Name and Identity:
In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and Acts, he is called Bartholomew (“son of Tolmai”). In John’s Gospel, Nathanael appears, and tradition holds that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person.
Encounter with Jesus:
Brought to Jesus by Philip, Nathanael/Bartholomew initially doubted (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) but quickly recognized Jesus as the Son of God and King of Israel after Jesus revealed knowledge of him.
Missionary Work:
Early Church tradition says he preached the Gospel in India, Armenia, Mesopotamia, and possibly Arabia. He is especially honored in Armenia, where he is considered one of the nation’s patron saints.
Martyrdom:
According to tradition, he was flayed alive and then beheaded in Albanopolis (modern-day Derbent, Dagestan) or in Armenia. This is why he is often depicted in Christian art holding his own skin or a large knife.
Feast Day:
- Roman Catholic Church: August 24
- Eastern Orthodox Church: June 11
- Armenian Apostolic Church: December 1
Patronage:
He is the patron saint of butchers, leather workers, and tanners (because of his martyrdom by flaying), as well as various regions, including Armenia.
Art Depictions:
He is usually shown:
- Holding a knife (his instrument of martyrdom)
- Sometimes carrying his own skin (famously in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, where the flayed skin of Bartholomew is said to bear Michelangelo’s self-portrait).