After the tenth day after the Ascension of the Son of God Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit descended on His closest disciples the apostles, they dispersed in the light to preach the true faith. Fulfilling their high destiny, almost all of these ascetics died at the hands of wicked pagans. Only the youngest of them, the Evangelist John, was granted the Lord to end his days peacefully. The holy Apostle Bartholomew also acquired the crown of martyrdom. We will talk about it in this article.
Israeli, a stranger to guile
On St. Bartholomew, who was one of the twelve apostles of Christ, there are only fragmentary references in the New Testament, which leaves open many questions regarding his personality. Nevertheless, most biblical scholars tend to identify him with Nathanael, one of the first disciples of Jesus Christ, who joined Him after Andrew, Peter and Philip.
If we accept this version, then we can conclude that it was Jesus Christ who spoke about him as a true Israelite, alien to deceit. This phrase, found in the 21st chapter of the Gospel of John, wasuttered by the Savior when the Apostle Philip brought Nathanael (Bartholomew) to Him, with whom he was probably related or on friendly terms. From the same passage it is clear that Saint Bartholomew came from Cana of Galilee.
Preachers of Christ's teachings
This is the information given in the New Testament and limited. More complete information about his apostolic service and martyrdom can only be obtained from the apocrypha - samples of religious literature not recognized by the official church. In them, the names of the closest disciples and followers of Jesus Christ, the holy apostles Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Philip, are closely linked, since by the will of the lot they fell together to go to the pagans of Asia Minor and Syria. Throughout the journey they were accompanied by Philip's own sister, the pious virgin Mariamne, just like them, devoted to the true God with all her soul and dedicated her life to preaching His holy teaching.
Miracles manifested through the prayers of the apostles
Fulfilling their great mission, they were constantly subjected to vicious attacks from the pagans around them. Many times the apostles and their companion were stoned and booed by the crowd. However, the Lord strengthened them and supported them in every possible way. For example, there is a case when in one of the villages St. Bartholomew, by the power of prayer, destroyed a giant echidna, which the locals worshiped as a kind of deity. Thanks to the miracle revealed before their eyes, many of them believed in Christ and broke with paganism.
Among other things, the apocrypha also mentions the case of the miraculous deliverance of the Apostle Bartholomew from death. It is described how the wicked ruler of the Syrian city of Hierapolis, angry that the preachers of Christ, having restored the sight of the blind by the power of prayer, converted many to their faith, ordered them to be crucified in the square. However, when they were raised up on the crosses, thunder struck, and the earth opened up and swallowed it up, and all those present rushed to save the crucified. After being taken down from the cross, the Apostle Philip soon died, and Saint Bartholomew and Blessed Mariamne continued on their way.
Martyrdom of the holy preacher
Having reached India, the holy apostle not only led an oral sermon among its people, but also translated the Gospel of Matthew into the local language. After that, having gone to Armenia, he healed the local king by the power of prayer, after which he believed in Christ and was baptized. The example of the lord was followed by thousands of inhabitants of this ancient country. By this time, the apostle was already preaching the Word of God in solitude, since his companion, the blessed Mariamne, had died peacefully.
Many thousands of people he converted to Christ, and would have achieved more, but in the city of Alban (now Baku), the local ruler, stagnant in paganism, ordered to seize St. Bartholomew and put him to death. His words were drowned out by the cries of approval issued by the crowd of courtiers. The pious righteous man was crucified upside down on the cross, but even in this position he continued to praise God. Then the villains removed him from the cross and, tearing off his skin, beheaded him.
The fate of the honest relics of the righteous man
The believers, secretly from the ruler, put his honest remains in a tin shrine and buried him. In 505 they were removed from the earth and, after repeated movements from city to city, ended up in Rome, where they have been stored for more than ten centuries. Part of the relics ended up in Byzantium, where the church of St. Bartholomew was built specially for them near Constantinople.
Its founder was an outstanding religious figure of the 9th century, who went down in the history of the Church under the name of Joseph the Songsinger. He was awarded this title due to the fact that during his life he composed many hymns, laudatory chants and prayers dedicated to the apostle. Throughout the Orthodox world, they sound not only on St. Bartholomew's Day, which is celebrated four times a year: April 22, June 11 and 30, and August 25, but also at other times.
Church in the Czech Republic
The veneration of this closest disciple and follower of Jesus Christ has a long tradition both among Orthodox Christians and among representatives of the Western Church. In honor of the great ascetic, the chapels of churches were consecrated and temples were erected, the most famous of which is the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew in the Czech city of Pilsen (photo above). Its laying, carried out in 1322, gave impetus to the construction of this entire historical and cultural center.
It also contains part of the relics of the holy apostle, placed in a silver shrine, made with donations from King JohnLuxembourg. Next to it stands the statue of the Pelsen Virgin Mary, widely revered throughout the Catholic world. Together, these shrines draw thousands of pilgrims to the cathedral every year.
Green Patriarch
Many famous religious figures, taking monastic vows and renouncing the vain world, took the name of this disciple of Christ. Among our contemporaries, the most famous of them is the primate of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew.
In addition to his pastoral ministry, he devotes much of his energy to international activities, in particular to the struggle aimed at protecting nature. In this regard, he was awarded the unofficial title of "Green Patriarch".
Bloody Night of Saint Bartholomew
The perception of the name of the holy apostle of God is clouded by an episode connected with the history of France of the 16th century and known as Bartholomew's Night. Then, on August 24, 1572, that is, on the eve of the day of his memory, about 30 thousand Huguenots, followers of Protestantism, were destroyed by the Catholics. This bloody massacre, which became part of the religious war that then engulfed Europe, by the will of fate received the name of the one who spared no effort to preach humanism and philanthropy.
