Quote/s of the Day – 24 August – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr
“Here is a true child of Israel. There is no guile in him.”
John 1:47
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
John 1:49
“You are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth.”
Matthew 5:14
“Like peaceful conquerors, without any human weapons but backed by by the power of God, they divided the world amongst themselves, so that they might win it for Christ! The Roman Empire was small to them. They travelled, moreover, to the distant shores of Ethiopia and India, where the Eagle of Rome had never found its way! Surely, this is the most extraordinary Miracle of history?!
The Holy Spirit accomplished that, which human armies had never been able to do, save in part, or for a limited period of time. In this achievement, He used the weakest possible human means, namely, twelve poor fishermen! The earthly Empire of Rome, passed away but the Spiritual domain of Christ still remains, with its centre at Rome, as the only true Light, the only unfailing hope and the only pledge of salvation for individuals and nations.”
Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith
O Fathers of our ancient faith, With all the heav’n, we sing your fame Whose sound went forth in all the earth To tell of Christ and bless His Name.
You took the Gospel to the poor, The Word of God alight in you, Which in our day is told again, That timeless Word, forever new.
You told of God, Who died for us And out of death triumphant rose, Who gave the Truth which made us free and changeless through the ages goes.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Whose gift is faith that never dies, A light in darkness now, until The Day-Star in our hearts arise.
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith is written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. In the Divine Office it is sung at Morning Prayer in the Common of Apostles. It is set to the anonymous tune associated with the 7th century Latin hymn, Creator Alme Siderum.
One Minute Reflection – 24 August – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr – 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, Luke 6:12-19
“And when day broke, He summoned His disciples and from these He chose twelve – whom He also named Apostles.” – Luke 6:13
REFLECTION – “The Apostles are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us, he beheld in his Revelation and of whom, the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem are composed ( Apoc. 21:21). … For indeed, when the Apostles reflect the Light of Divinity through their signs or miracles, they open the way, to the heavenly glory of Jerusalem to people who have been converted to faith in Christ. And whoever has been saved because of them, enters life, as one on a journey crosses a threshold. … It is of them, too, that the prophet says: “Who are these that fly like clouds?” (Is 60:8). These clouds pour down water, when they bedew the earth of our heart, with the rain of their instruction, making them fertile and apt to bear the seeds of good works.
Bartholomew, whose Feast Day is today, means in Aramaic nothing less than: ‘son of a water-bearer.‘ He is Son of the God, Who raises the minds of His preachers, to the contemplation of Truths from on high, in such a way, that they can spread the rain of God’s Word in our hearts, efficaciously and abundantly . This is how they drink water at its source, so that they can cause us to drink in our turn.” – St Peter Damian (1007-1072) Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 42 the second for Saint Bartholomew).
PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who bestowed on us the devout and holy joy of this day to celebrate the Feast of Thy blessed Apostle Bartholomew, grant unto Thy Church, we beseech Thee, both to love what he believed and to preach what he taught. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Morning Offering – 24 August – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr
Exsultet Orbis! Let the World Rejoice! Unknown Author
Now let the earth with joy resound, And Heaven the chant re-echo round; Nor Heaven nor earth too high can raise The great Apostles’ glorious praise.
O ye who, throned in glory dread, Shall judge the living and the dead, Lights of the world forever more! To you the suppliant prayer we pour.
Ye close the Sacred Gates on high. At your command apart they fly. O loose for us the guilty chain We strive to break and strive in vain.
Sickness and health your voice obey, At your command they go or stay. From sin’s disease our souls restore; In good confirm us more and more.
So when the world is at its end. And Christ to Judgment shall descend, May we be called, those joys to see Prepared from all eternity.
Praise to the Father, with the Son, And Holy Spirit, Three in One; As ever was in ages past And so shall be while ages last. Amen
(Roman Breviary for the Common of Apostles) An Office Hymn that was traditionally prescribed for Vespers and Lauds on the Feasts of Apostles and Evangelists outside Easter time. The Hymn is found as early as the tenth century in a hymnal of Moissac Abbey.
Saint of the Day – 24 August – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr. Saint Bartholomew, whose name appears only in the lists of the Apostles, is believed to be Nathanael, whom Philip brought to Christ. He preached in Persia and Egypt and was flayed alive in Armenia. His relics are believed to be in the Church of Saint Bartholomew in Rome.
Saint Bartholomew Apostle and Martyr Excerpt from The Liturgical Year By Prosper Guéranger OSB (1805-1875)
A witness of the Son of God, one of the princes who announced His glory to the nations, lights up this day with his apostolic flame.
Personally, who was this Apostle who borrowed such solemnity from the scene of his apostolic labours? Under the name or surname of Bartholomew (“Son of Tholmai“), the only mark of recognition given him, by the first three Gospels, do we see, as many have thought that Nathaniel, whose presentation to Jesus by Philip forms so sweet a scene in St John’s Gospel (1: 45-51)? A man of uprightness, innocence and simplicity, … for whom, the Man-God had choice graces and caresses from the very beginning.
Be this as it may, the lot which fell to our Saint among the Twelve, points to the special confidence of the Divine Heart. The heroism of the terrible Martyrdom which sealed his apostolate, reveals his fidelity. The dignity preserved by the nation he grafted onto Christ, in all the countries where it has been transplanted, witnesses to the excellence of the sap first infused into its branches. When, two centuries and a half later, St Gregory the Illuminator, so successfully cultivated the soil of Armenia, he did but quicken the seed sown by the Apostle, which the trials never wanting to that generous land, had retarded for a time but could not stifle. …
We learn from Eusebius and from St Jerome that before going to Armenia, his final destination, St Bartholomew evangelised the Indies, where Pantaenus a century later found a copy of St Matthew’s Gospel in Hebrew characters, left there by him. …
The City of Rome used to celebrate the Feast of St Bartholomew on the following day, as do also the Greeks who commemorate on 25 August – a translation of the Apostle’s relics. It is owing, in fact, to the various translations of his holy body and to the difficulty of ascertaining the date of his Martyrdom that different days have been adopted for his Feast ,by different Churches, both in the east and in the west. The 24th of this month, consecrated by the use of most of the Latin Churches, is the day assigned in the most ancient Martyrologies, including that of St Jerome. In the 13th Century, Pope Innocent III, having been consulted as to the divergence, answered that local custom was to be observed.
The Church gives just the following Lessons for the life of the Apostle of Armenia:
The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was a native of Galilee. It fell to his lot to preach the Gospel in western India;and he announced to those nations the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St Matthew. But after converting many souls to Jesus Christ in that Province and, undergoing much labour and suffering, he went into eastern Armenia.
Here he converted to the Christian Faith, the King Polymius and his Queen, as well as twelve Cities. This caused the pagan priests of that nation to be exceedingly jealous of him and they stirred up Astyages, the brother of King Polymius against the Apostle, so that he commanded him to be flayed alive and finally beheaded. In this cruel Martyrdom he gave up his soul to God.
His body was buried at Albanapolis, the town of eastern Armenia where he was Martyred but it was afterwards taken to the island of Lispari and thence to Beneventum. Finally it was translated to Rome by the Emperor Otto III and placed on the island of the Tiber, in a Church dedicated to God under his invocation.
On this day of thy Feast, O holy Apostle, the Church (in the Collect of the Mass) prays for grace to love what thou didst believe and to preach what thou didst teach. Not that the Bride of the Son of God, could ever fail, either in faith or in love but She knows, only too well that, although Her Head is ever in the light and Her heart ever united to the Spouse, in the Holy Ghost Who sanctifies Her, nevertheless ,Her members and particular Churches may detach themselves from their centre of life and wander away in darkness. O thou who didst choose the west as the place of thy rest, thou in whose precious relics Rome glories in possessing, bring back to St Peter, the nations thou didst evangelise, that we may together, enjoy the treasures of our concordant traditions and go to God, even at the cost of being despoiled of all things, by the course so grand and yet so simple, taught us by thy example and by thy sublime theology. Amen.
Bl Miroslav Bulesic St Patrick the Elder St Ptolemy of Nepi St Romanus of Nepi St Sandratus St Taziano of Claudiopolis — Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Fortunato Velasco Tobar • Blessed Isidre Torres Balsells • Blessed Rigoberto Aquilino de Anta Barrio
Martyred in World War II: 6 Beati Czeslaw Jozwiak Edward Kazmierski Edward Klinik Franciszek Kesy Jarogniew Wojciechowski Luis Almécija Lázaro
Thought for the Day – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: John 1:45–51
The name “Nathanael” means “God has given”
“The apostles’ glory is so indistinguishable and so bonded together by the cement of so many graces that in celebrating the feast of one of them the common greatness of all is called to our interior attention. For they share together the same authority of supreme judge, the same honourable rank and they hold the same power to bind and loose (Mt 19:28; 18:18). They are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us he beheld in the Book of Revelation out of which are constructed the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv 21:21.14)… And indeed, whenever the apostles beam divine light through their signs or miracles, they open up the heavenly glory of Jerusalem, to all those peoples who have been converted to the christian faith…
Of them, too, the prophet says: “Who are these who fly along like clouds?” (Is 60:8)… God raises the minds of His preachers to contemplation of truths on high… so that they can abundantly pour down the rain of God’s word into our hearts. Thus they drink water from the spring, so as to give drink to us too.
Saint Bartholomew drew from the fullness of this spring, when the Holy Spirit came upon him, as on the other apostles, in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).”
St Peter Damian (1007-1072) – Bishop, Doctor of the Church (Sermon 42, 2nd for Saint Bartholomew, PL 144, 726)
One Minute Reflection – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: John 1:45–51
Philip said to him, “Come and see.” … John 1:46
REFLECTION – “Nathanael’s reaction suggests another thought to us – in our relationship with Jesus we must not be satisfied with words alone. In his answer, Philip offers Nathanael a meaningful invitation: “Come and see!” (Jn 1: 46). Our knowledge of Jesus needs above all a first-hand experience – someone else’s testimony is, of course important, for normally the whole of our Christian life begins with the proclamation handed down to us by one or more witnesse, but afterwards, we, ourselves, have to become personally committed, in a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus.” … Pope Benedict XVI – General Audience, 4 November 2006
PRAYER – Almighty Lord and Father, strengthen in us that faith with which St Bartholomew gave himself wholeheartedly to Christ Your Son. Grant, at his intercession, that Your Church may become the Sacrament of salvation, for all the nations of the earth. We make our prayer through Jesus, our Lord and Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.
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St Eutychius of Troas
St George Limniotes
St Irchard
St Jeanne-Antide Thouret (1765-1826)
Bl Miroslav Bulesic
St Ouen of Rouen
St Patrick the Elder
St Ptolemy of Nepi
St Romanus of Nepi
St Sandratus
St Taziano of Claudiopolis
—
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Fortunato Velasco Tobar
• Blessed Isidre Torres Balsells
• Blessed Rigoberto Aquilino de Anta Barrio
Martyred in World War II: 6 Beati
Czeslaw Jozwiak
Edward Kazmierski
Edward Klinik
Franciszek Kesy
Jarogniew Wojciechowski
Luis Almécija Lázaro
Thought for the Day – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: John 1:45–51
Bartholomew or Nathanael? We are confronted again with the fact that we know almost nothing about most of the apostles. Yet the unknown ones were also foundation stones, the 12 pillars of the new Israel whose 12 tribes now encompass the whole earth. Their personalities were secondary—without thereby being demeaned—to their great office of bearing tradition from their firsthand experience, speaking in the name of Jesus, putting the Word Made Flesh into human words for the enlightenment of the world. Their holiness was not an introverted contemplation of their status before God. It was a gift that they had to share with others. The Good News, was that, all are called to the holiness of being Christ’s members, by the gracious gift of God.
The simple fact is that humanity is totally meaningless unless God is its total concern. Then humanity, made holy with God’s own holiness, becomes the most precious creation of God…(via Franciscan Media)
Quote of the Day – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle
“Here is a true child of Israel. There is no guile in him.” Bartholomew/Nathanael answered him : “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
One Minute Reflection – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: John 1:45–51
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”…John 1:51
REFLECTION – “The apostles’ glory is so indistinguishable and so bonded together by the cement of so many graces that in celebrating the feast of one of them the common greatness of all is called to our interior attention. For they share together the same authority of supreme judge, the same honourable rank and they hold the same power to bind and loose (Mt 19:28; 18:18). They are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us he beheld in the Book of Revelation out of which are constructed the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv 21:21.14)… And indeed, whenever the apostles beam divine light through their signs or miracles, they open up the heavenly glory of Jerusalem to all those peoples who have been converted to the christian faith…
Of them, too, the prophet says: “Who are these who fly along like clouds?” (Is 60:8)… God raises the minds of His preachers to contemplation of truths on high… so that they can abundantly pour down the rain of God’s word into our hearts. Thus they drink water from the spring so as to give drink to us too. Saint Bartholomew drew from the fullness of this spring when the Holy Spirit came upon him, as on the other apostles, in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).”… St Peter Damian (1007-1072) – Bishop, Doctor of the Church (Sermon 42, 2nd for Saint Bartholomew, PL 144, 726)
PRAYER – Almighty Lord and Father, strengthen in us that faith with which St Bartholomew gave himself wholeheartedly to Christ Your Son. Grant, at his intercession, that Your Church may become the Sacrament of salvation, for all the nations of the earth. We make our prayer through Jesus, our Lord and Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 24 August The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle
“…Philip told this Nathanael that he had found “him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (Jn 1: 45). As we know, Nathanael’s retort was rather strongly prejudiced: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1: 46). In its own way, this form of protestation is important for us. Indeed, it makes us see that according to Judaic expectations the Messiah could not come from such an obscure village as, precisely, Nazareth (see also Jn 7: 42).
But at the same time Nathanael’s protest highlights God’s freedom, which baffles our expectations by causing Him to be found in the very place where we least expect Him. Moreover, we actually know that Jesus was not exclusively “from Nazareth” but was born in Bethlehem (cf. Mt 2: 1; Lk 2: 4) and came ultimately from Heaven, from the Father who is in Heaven.
Nathanael’s reaction suggests another thought to us: in our relationship with Jesus we must not be satisfied with words alone. In his answer, Philip offers Nathanael a meaningful invitation: “Come and see!” (Jn 1: 46). Our knowledge of Jesus needs above all a first-hand experience: someone else’s testimony is of course important, for normally the whole of our Christian life begins with the proclamation handed down to us by one or more witnesses.
However, we ourselves must then be personally involved in a close and deep relationship with Jesus; in a similar way, when the Samaritans had heard the testimony of their fellow citizen whom Jesus had met at Jacob’s well, they wanted to talk to Him directly and after this conversation they told the woman: “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world” (Jn 4: 42).
…To conclude, we can say that despite the scarcity of information about him, St Bartholomew stands before us to tell us that attachment to Jesus can also be lived and witnessed to without performing sensational deeds. Jesus Himself, to whom each one of us is called to dedicate his or her own life and death, is and remains extraordinary.”
Note: the name “Nathanael” means “God has given”.
Pope Benedict XVI – General Audience 4 October 2006
Quote of the Day – 24 August – The Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle
“Here is a true child of Israel. There is no guile in him.” Bartholomew/Nathanael answered him : “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
One Minute Reflection – August 24 – The Feast of St Bartholomew
(God) chose to reveal His Son to me
that I might spread among the Gentiles
the good tidings concerning Him…………Galatians 1:16
REFLECTION – “No matter where you may be or where you may be working, make sure the world will be renewed upon contact with you.
Make the Lord more present to human beings and the Gospel more known and loved by them.”… Bl Pope Paul VI
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, teach me to imitate Your divine Son in my life. Grant that by my presence as well as by my deeds, I may bring Christ and His message to everyone I meet. Let me follow Your Apostles and manifest the love and zeal of St Bartholomew. May all the Apostles Pray for us. Amen
AnaStpaul 
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