THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW Feast Day: August 24
Bartholomew, alias Nathanael, was born at Cana in Galilee. Among the apostles he was known for his frankness.
In the Holy Gospel according to John, the apostle Philip told him that he find the Messiah, Jesus from Nazareth, he replied: 'Can anything good come from Nazareth?'
Nazareth was a small town with no glorious past.
Jesus appreciated the remark and said: 'Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.'
Nathanael said to him: 'How do you know me?'
Jesus answered and said to him: 'Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.'
Nathanael answered him: 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'
Jesus answered and said to him: 'Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.'
And he said to him: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'
According to ancient writers, he preached the Holy Gospel in Armenia and India, where he converted many from idolatry. He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity.
In art, Bartholomew is most commonly depicted with a beard and curly hair at the time of his martyrdom. According to legends, he was skinned alive and beheaded so is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved flensing knife with which he was skinned; thus, he is remembered and approved as saint of leather makers.
