by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
Today is the Solemnity of St. Bartholomew, Apostle of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is mentioned in the Gospels under his proper name, which was Nathaniel. Bartholomew was his surname or nick name. It means, “Son of Talmai”, who was the wife of King David.
He is listed as an apostle 4 times in the New Testament: Matthew 10:3 ; Mark 3:18 ; Luke 6:14 ), and seventh in the list of Acts (1:13) . And St. John the Evangelist was evidently on familiar terms with him, because he always calls him by his first name: Nathaniel (John 1:45-51 ; 21:2)
Bartholomew is the Apostle whom was recruited by St. Philip, the Apostle, as the Gospel of St. John records in its very first chapter:
43 On the morrow he would go forth into Galilee, and Jesus finds Philip, and says to him, Follow me. 44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth. 46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Behold [one] truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. 48 Nathanael says to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he says to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.
We know from a later moment in the life of Our Lord, that Sts. Philip and Nathaniel (Bartholemew) were the ones to bring the Greek speaking converts to Our Lord. According to the Fathers of the Church this was because these two Apostles spoke fluent Greek. And this may explain by Nathaniel went by the name Bartholemew), because the name Nathaniel, containing the name of God, -El, would be used more discretely by only his Jewish friends.
After the Resurrection of Our Lord, he preached the gospel in many lands: India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and on the shores of the Black Sea. He was martyred in Armenia, by the pagan king, for the crime of converting his brother to Christianity. As such St. Bartholomew is the patron protector of the Armenian People.
His relics are conserved now a days in the Cathedral of Benevento and in his Church here at Rome, in the Island on the Tiber River.
I had the grace to find his Church open, this morning, and took these photos for you. Here is the front facade of the Church. You can see the pilgrims gathered waiting for it to open. Thankfully, St. Bartholemew inspired me arrive at just the right moment, because I only had to wait 2 minutes!
Then, as I was the first to enter the Church, when it opened, I was able to get this unobstructed view of its magnificence:
Then, as I approached the high altar, I stopped to take this photo of the ancient Baptistry featuring a medieval carving of the Saint:
Then, I turned my camera to the High Altar, which contains a huge sarcophagus with the Saints relics, and a beautiful Golden Bust, containing some smaller pieces of his skeleton:
Then, to get a better view, I took this foto of the bust, from a side angle…
As it was his feast day, two candles were lit in his honor. I offered the Saint a hearty prayer for all of you, especially for all who are being threatened with death by the Vaxx by the godless Globalists.
Please God, through the intercession of your faithful apostle St. Bartholemew, you will grant us the grace to see the fall of the Ape Church & NWO tyranny by removing Francis the Antipope Destroyer spoken of by St. Francis of Assisi before his own death & re-install Pope Benedict your Vicar on earth before the end of this year.
Thank you for publishing those excellent photographs.
Happy feast day, St.Bart!
The Basilica is in one of the most lovely and rather dramatic locations! On our past Christmas pilgrimages to Rome, this was a place of prayer and beauty we joyfully came back to. I remember the rushing sound of the greenish river and little white foam cataracts around the little island, only a short distance yet quite separate from the city’s formal residences and bustling traffic. How amazing to remember the history of the place and the amazing life and legacy of Bartholemew himself.
In the 3rd century BC, there was a great plague in Rome. The Senate was instructed to build a temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, and sent a maritime delegation to his shrine at Epidauros in Greece to obtain a statue of the deity.
Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island) may have been chosen for the Aesculapius Temple because it was separate from the rest of the city, which could help protect whoever was there from plague and illnesses. To commemorate the ship that brought over the famed statue, marble facing and walls were added along the island’s banks to resemble the prow and stern, also an obelisk, symbolizing the mast. In the 10th century, Emperor Otto III built the basilica of San Bartolomeo all’Isola over the Aesculapius temple’s ruins. The island is still considered a place of healing because the hospital, founded in 1584 under Pope Gregory XIII on west side of the island and is still operating. It is staffed by the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God.
The saint became known in the Middle Ages as a healer of bodies and souls. In the nave of the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, among the towering marble statues of the apostles (Jude replacing Judas), stands St.Bart the martyr. His body is sculpted beautiful and intact, despite the fact that he had been flayed alive and beheaded; there he stands timelessly offering his own skin to the Lord. Would that we could have such courage and faith.