After the Holy Spirit descended on His closest disciples of the apostles on the tenth day after the Ascension of the Son of God Jesus Christ, they dispersed in the light to preach the true faith. Fulfilling their high destiny, almost all of these ascetics accepted death at the hands of the wicked pagans. Only the youngest of them, the Evangelist John, was the Lord able to peacefully end his days. Got the crown of martyrdom and the holy Apostle Bartholomew. We will talk about him in this article.
An alien to guile
There are only fragmentary references to St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in the New Testament, which leaves open many questions concerning his personality. Nevertheless, most biblical scholars are inclined 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, we can conclude that it was Jesus Christ who spoke of him as a true Israelite, a stranger to deceit. This phrase, quoted in the 21st chapter of the Gospel of John, was uttered by the Savior when the apostle Philip brought Nathanael (Bartholomew) to Him, with whom he was probably in kinship or friendship. From the same passage it appears that Saint Bartholomew came from Cana of Galilee.
Christ Preachers
This information in the New Testament is limited. More complete information about his apostolic ministry and martyrdom can be obtained only from the apocrypha - examples of religious literature that are 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 related, since by the will of the lot they had the chance to go together to the pagans of Asia Minor and Syria. Throughout the journey, they were accompanied by the sister of Philip - the pious virgin Mariamne, as well as they, devoted wholeheartedly to the true God and devoted their lives to preaching His holy teachings.
Miracles revealed by the prayers of the apostles
Fulfilling their great mission, they were constantly subjected to vicious attacks from the pagans surrounding 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 way. For example, a case is known when, in one of the villages, St. Bartholomew destroyed by force of prayer a giant echidna, whom 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, enraged by the fact that the preachers of Christ, having returned the sight of the blind to the power of prayer, converted many to their faith, ordered them to be crucified in the square. However, when they were ascended to the crosses, thunder struck, and the open ground swallowed it, and all those present rushed to save the crucified. After being removed from the cross, the apostle Philip soon died, and St. Bartholomew and Blessed Mariamne continued on their way.
The 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, going 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, already alone, preached the Word of God, as his companion - blessed Mariamne - died peacefully.
He would have converted many thousands of people to Christ, and would have accomplished more, but in the city of Alban (present-day Baku), the local ruler, stiffened in paganism, ordered the capture of St. Bartholomew and his execution. His words were drowned in cries of approval issued by a crowd of courtiers. The pious righteous man was crucified upside down on the cross, but in this position he continued to praise God. Then the villains removed him from the cross and, stripping the skin, beheaded.
The fate of the honest relics of the righteous
Believers secretly from the ruler put his honest remains in tin cancer 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 fell into Byzantium, where, near Constantinople, the church of St. Bartholomew was specially built for them.
Its founder was an outstanding religious figure of the 9th century, who went down in the history of the Church under the name Joseph Pesnopevtsa. He was awarded this title due to the fact that during his life he composed many hymns, hymns 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 also on August 25, but also the rest of the time.
Temple 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 the churches were consecrated and churches 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 stores part of the relics of the holy apostle, placed in a silver casket made with the donations of King John of Luxembourg. Next to it stands a statue of the Pelsen Virgin Mary, widely revered throughout the Catholic world. Together, these shrines annually attract thousands of pilgrims to the cathedral.
Green Patriarch
Many famous religious leaders, taking monastic tonsure and renouncing the world of vanity, 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 pastoral service, he devotes many forces 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 St. Bartholomew
The perception of the name of the holy apostle of God is overshadowed by an episode related to 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, Catholics destroyed about 30 thousand Huguenots - followers of Protestantism. This bloody massacre, which became part of the religious war that swept Europe then, by the will of fate, received the name of the one who spared no effort to preach humanism and humanity.