August 24: ST. BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE

 

I Nocturn: From the first- Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, c. 4, 1 15

Il Nocturn

The Apostle Bartholomew wag a Galilean. When he had arrived in India, which was apportioned to him for the preaching of the Gospel or Jesus Christ, he preached to the various peoples there concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus, according to the Gospel.

When he had converted many in that province to Jesus Christ and had undergone many sufferings and hardships, he went into greater Armenia. There he converted to the Christian Faith the king Polymius, together with his wife and the inhabitants of twelve cities. This brought upon him the great envy of the priests of that nation, and they so incited Astyages, the brother of the king, against the Apostle, that he ordered Bartholomew to be flayed alive and then to be beheaded. In this martyrdom the Apostle gave his soul back to God.

His body was buried at Albanopolis, a city in greater Armenia, where he had suffered. Afterwards it was taken to the island of Lipari and thence to Benevento. Finally, it was brought to Rome by the emperor Otto Ill, and was placed in the church dedicated to God in the Saint's name on the island in the Tiber.

III Nocturn:

The reading of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke

At that time Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when day broke, he summoned his disciples. And so forth.

Homily of St. Ambrose, Bishop

All great men, all men of lofty aims, ascend a mountain. It was not to everyone that the Prophet said, "Thou who bring good tidings to Sion, go up into a high mountain; thou who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, cry out with a loud voice." Ascend this mountain, not by the footsteps of the body, but by your noble deeds, and follow Christ that you too may be able to become a mountain. "Mountains were all around him." This is the reason why you will find in the Gospel that only the disciples went up with our Lord into the mountain.

There our Lord prays not for Himself, but He intercedes for me. Although the Father has placed all things in the power of the Son, yet the Son, that He might fulfill His role as Man, deems it necessary, as our Advocate, to intercede for us with the Father. "And he remained," said the Gospel narrative, ''all that night in prayer to God." O Christian, an example is given to you, a model is proposed to you, which you ought to imitate.

Now what ought you to do for your own salvation, if Christ spent the night for you in prayer? What, I say, ought you to do, since you wish to flatter yourself with some semblance of Piety, if Christ first prayed before He sent out His disciples— yes, and prayed alone? And if I am not mistaken, nowhere is Christ found praying with His disciples—everywhere He prayed alone. Human desires do not fathom the thought of God; no one can be a participant of the interior thoughts of Christ.

He called His disciples, says the Gospel, and chose from amongst them twelve, whom He sent forth as sowers of the faith to give to men throughout the world those helps necessary for their eternal salvation. Notice at the same time the heavenly plan. He did not choose any wise, nor rich, nor noble men, but fishermen and publicans to use as His instruments. This He did lest He should seem to have led men on by wisdom, or redeemed them by riches, or drawn them to His grace by the weight of His power or nobility. He chose fishermen and publicans that truth might prevail of itself, and not by virtue of subtle disputations.

Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke— At that time Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when day broke, he summoned his disciples; and from these he chose twelve (whom he also named apostles): Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew ; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alpheus, and Simon, called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

And coming down with them he took his stand on a level stretch, with a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to listen to him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd were trying to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed all.