The Feast of St. Bartholomew

Today is the feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, traditionally named with Philip as one of the six pairs of men listed in the synoptic gospels. He is not named explicitly in John's gospel, except that many scholars believe he is the same person named there as Nathaniel. Bartholomew is not really the man's name--it is a patronym, Bar-tholomew, or in Hebrew, Bar-Tolmai, or son of Tolmai. A close approximation for us today is to say that "Steve" is a "Thomason." It would have served as his sir-name.

At any rate, we have no concrete evidence of Bartholomew's ministry or whereabouts in the years that followed Jesus' resurrection. Some traditions suggest he went to what is now India and established churches there. But some early Church historians, including Eusebius, record that he went to Armenia, and was there martyred. It is said that he was skinned alive, then beheaded.

Michelangelo immortalized that tradition in his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where Bartholomew is depicted holding his skin. The face of the saint is generally believed to be a self-portrait of the artist.