Who is Saint Bartholomew?

Who is Saint Bartholomew?

Lord God, take my words and speak through them, take our minds and think through them, take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you, you who are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Patron Saint
How can the same person be the patron saint of Armenia, of bookbinders, butchers, cobblers, leather workers, shoemakers and tanners, and of nervous and neurological diseases?

When I realized I’d put myself on the rota, and would need to prepare a sermon, for this evening’s Evensong — the First Evening Prayer of Saint Bartholomew — I thought I’d made something of a mistake. “We know nothing about Bartholomew, how can I preach a sermon about him”, was one early thought. But, there’s a saying amongst internet users, “Google is your friend”. And it was. Or, at least, in my particular case, Easysearch — the search engine that earns the parish money each time it’s used — Easysearch was my friend.

So how can the same person be the patron saint of Armenia, of bookbinders, butchers, cobblers, leather workers, shoemakers and tanners, and of nervous and neurological diseases? Each of these claim Saint Bartholomew as their patron — chosen because of events that were alleged to have happened in his later life.

Nathanael Bar Tolmai
There is very little known of Bartholomew’s earlier life. In the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — Bartholomew is listed among the twelve disciples who were called by Jesus. And there’s a strong possibility that he and Nathanael — who appears in the list of the twelve in John’s Gospel — are one and the same person. It’s thought that Nathanael could be his given name, while Bartholomew — or Bar Tolmai (meaning son of Tolmai) — is much like family name — making his full name, Nathanael Bar Tolmai. But, as with most things about Batholomew’s life, none of this is certain.

One of the Twelve
However, what we do know is that, as one of the Twelve, Bartholomew would’ve assisted Jesus in his mission of teaching and healing; he would’ve witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension; and he would’ve received the tongues of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Apostolic mission
When the disciples separated to continue their apostolic mission throughout the known world, Bartholomew is said to have gone first to India, but finding Thomas already taking the good news of Jesus to that continent he turned west to Armenia.

In those times Armenia was not the small country it is today. It was a large Roman province, which extended from the eastern region of Turkey through the countries now known as Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan into the western side of Iran. There, Bartholomew witnessed, taught and founded churches, which still flourish today. And that’s why he is the patron saint of Armenia.

Violent end
As in the case of most of the apostles, his life ended violently. The story of Bartholomew is, that his skin was flayed from his body with a butcher’s knife. And it’s that gruesome fate which has caused him to become the patron saint of butchers, as well as of a range of professions who deal in hide, skin and leather: bookbinders, cobblers and shoemakers, leather workers and tanners — someone had a sense of humour.

Lipari and Rome
The final part of the story gets even more outlandish. The body of Bartholomew was cast into the sea and carried by the ocean currents until it came to rest at Lipari, a small island off the coast of Sicily.

Bartholomew’s body rested in the Cathedral at Lipari for more than 900 years until the Holy Roman emperor, Otto the Second, transferred it to Rome and placed it in the Basilica of San Bartolomeo all’Isola — I probably said that wrongly.

Since this basilica was erected on the site of a medical centre, Bartholomew also began to be honoured as a patron saint of medicine — not of doctors, because that’s the province of Saint Luke, but of nervous diseases and those who seek to heal them.

A piece of Bartholomew
It seems that everyone wanted to have a piece of Bartholomew — literally. His skin and many of his bones are still at the Cathedral in Lipari; while the rest of his body rests at San Bartolomeo in Rome; except for a part of his skull which is in Frankfurt Cathedral; and one of his arms, which is kept at Canterbury Cathedral, having been presented there by Emma, the wife of King Canute.

Bartholomew’s influence
Such a worldwide influence has come from one whose aspirations during his lifetime were simple and straightforward: to serve his Master as best he could, to go where he was called and to be faithful.

Bartholomew didn’t seek to promote himself or to establish for himself a reputation or a legacy. Yet his legacy has been profound, and he’s invoked all over the world many centuries later.

Bartholomew is a perfect example of the principle set out by Jesus, when he was faced with an unedifying dispute among the Twelve, as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. If you are to be truly great, Jesus advised, aim for the opposite. The greatest of you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.

One who serves
So Bartholomew followed his Lord and became like one who served, even to the extent of serving himself up to the knives of those in ancient Armenia who rejected the Gospel.

The legend goes on to say, that when the body of Bartholomew was washed up on the shore of Lipari, the Bishop ordered many men to go out and take it to the Cathedral. So heavy was the body that the men couldn’t lift it. So the Bishop sent out the children, who easily lifted the body and brought it ashore.

Again the story of Bartholomew exemplifies the teaching of Jesus, that true strength, true goodness, true power, are to be found in exactly the opposite place to that in which the world looks.

A hard lesson
For every generation this is a hard lesson to learn. Even for the Church it’s a difficult path to follow. The desire to be popular, the quest for a good reputation in the eyes of the world, the temptation of power, is sometimes irresistible.

It takes a lot to keep our eyes fixed upon Christ and to stay true to his values. If we live them out constantly, it will cost us. It cost Bartholomew his skin, yet his name is praised today in all corners of the world; and more than that, he’s clothed with the body of glory in the fellowship of Christ and his saints.

Amen