St. Bartholomew, the Apostle

Marytred 71 AD

Feast Day: August 24

Patron saint of Armenia and of those suffering from neurological diseases

St. Bartholomew was one of the Apostles of Christ. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke mention him as one of the Twelve Apostles. He is also referred to in John’s Gospel as Nathaniel.

St. Bartholomew eventually gave up his life as a martyr for the Christian Faith... He was born in the first century A.D. Little is known of his early life, and the only information about his life that is known for certain is what is recorded in the New Testament.

Bartholomew is mentioned in the list of Jesus’ twelve Apostles that are contained in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. His name frequently appears together with the Apostle St. Philip.

Bartholomew is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of those who was present as a witness when Christ ascended into Heaven.

In the Gospel of John, Bartholomew is not mentioned by this name. But Biblical scholars believe the man in John’s Gospel named Nathaniel, who was from Cana, is St. Bartholomew. Jesus referred to this man in the Gospel of John as “incapable of deceit.”

Tradition says that Bartholomew traveled to India on a missionary journey, shortly after the Ascension. Two separate ancient texts mention Bartholomew’s journey to India. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Eccelsiastical History mentions this journey and says that Bartholomew left behind a copy of St. Matthew’s Gospel in India. St. Jerome’s writings from the fourth century also mention this missionary journey.

After his missionary work in India, it is said that Bartholomew traveled to Armenia. Both St. Bartholomew and St. Jude are credited with bringing Christianity to Armenia in the days of the early Church.

Tradition also says that St. Bartholomew most likely preached in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt.

It is not known for certain where St. Bartholomew died, but Tradition states that it was most likely in Armenia or India. It is said that he was martyred after he converted a king named Polymius to Christianity.

King Polymius’ brother, Prince Astyages, was very angry at Polymius’ conversion and afraid of retaliation from the Romans because of it. So Prince Astyages ordered that St. Bartholomew be tortured and killed.

According to Tradition, St. Bartholomew was skinned alive and beheaded. He is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the knife with which he was skinned.

Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of St. Bartholomew.

One of the more popular miracles occurred when people of the small Italian island Lapari were carrying his statue in celebration of his feast day. His statue suddenly became very heavy and the people were unable to carry it for some time. While they were stopped, walls ahead of them collapsed which would have crushed them.

St. Bartholomew has also been known to have brought about many other miracles that had to do with changing the weight of objects.1