SAINT BARTHOLOMEW
Friday, August 29, 2026 (tr. from Aug. 24)
Sts. Matthew & Mark, Barrington, R. I.
Saint Bartholomew appears in the lists of the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and again in the Acts of the Apostles. Tradition also identifies him with Nathanael, who appears in the first chapter of John’s Gospel.
There, Philip finds Nathanael and tells him: “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Philip replies, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” As Nathanael approaches, Jesus says, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” The well-known dialogue follows, in which Nathanael confesses Jesus to be the Son of God and King of Israel, and Jesus promises that Nathanael will see “heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
The identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael rests on Bartholomew’s name appearing immediately after Philip’s in the Gospel lists of the Twelve, whereas John never mentions Bartholomew. If the identification is accurate, Nathanael would have been his first name, and Bartholomew—meaning “Son of Tolmai”—would have been his last name.
Beyond that, the New Testament is silent about Bartholomew. Eusebius of Caesarea, writing in the fourth century, and Saint Jerome, in the early fifth century, record the tradition that Bartholomew traveled to India, where he left a copy of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. This possibility is not as far-fetched as it might seem, since there was substantial trade in those days between the eastern Roman Empire and the west coast of India via sea routes down the Red Sea, through the Gulf of Aden, and across the Arabian Sea.
Another tradition holds that after visiting India, Bartholomew went to Armenia with his fellow Apostle, Saint Jude. There, he converted the king of Armenia to Christianity. He then suffered martyrdom, being flayed alive and beheaded on the orders of the king’s brother. In the thirteenth century, Saint Bartholomew’s Monastery was built on the traditional site of his martyrdom in what is now southeastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. The monastery was abandoned in 1915 during the Armenian genocide and now stands in ruins. The Armenian Apostolic Church considers Jude and Bartholomew its founders and patron saints.
What are claimed to be the principal relics of Bartholomew—bones and a large piece of his skin—are kept in the San Bartolomeo Basilica in Benevento, in south-central Italy.
The Basilica of San Bartolomeo in Rome stands on the site of the former temple of Asclepius, the Roman god of medicine. For this reason, during the Middle Ages, hospitals in European cities were often named after Saint Bartholomew. One notable example is Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, founded in 1123, which is attached to the parish Church of Saint Bartholomew the Great, the only medieval church in the City of London to survive both the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz. An architectural gem, it’s not to be missed on any visit to London.
In art, Bartholomew’s symbol is a tanner’s knife, the instrument of his death. Some gruesome artistic depictions show him holding his flayed skin aloft. He’s considered the patron saint of tanners and dermatologists, and is invoked by those suffering from skin diseases.
