The feast day of St Bartholomew, the Apostle, comes on August 24th. He is one of the least known of the apostles. Indeed, we are sure neither of his name nor of his identity. It is generally thought that the disciple named Bartholomew in the first three gospels is the same as the one referred to as Nathaniel in John?s gospel. And so, the names Bartholomew and Nathaniel are interchangeable. There is a vivid contrast in the comments made by Jesus and Bartholomew at their first meeting. When Philip asked Bartholomew to come and see the prophet from Nazareth, Bartholomew's reply was, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' And yet our Lord's judgement on first seeing this new potential disciple was, 'Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.' On the previously sceptical Bartholomew, the impact of meeting Jesus of Nazareth was overwhelming: 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel'
The only other references in the New Testament to this month's saint are to his name. We only have the vaguest knowledge of what happened to him subsequently. There are suggestions that he took the gospel to Asia Minor - or even to India - and that he was martyred at what is now called Derbent on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. It was a grisly martyrdom - flayed alive and then beheaded - his emblem is a butcher's knife.
750 years earlier the saint had been remembered in the founding of the great hospital of St Bartholomew in Smithfield, London. The hospital was said to be founded by Rathere, a courtier of King Henry I (1100-1125) who had a vision of St Bartholomew which inspired him to found a priory and hospital to care for the sick and the poor. There is, for us, a steadiness and assurance about St Bartholomew - the fisherman who worked in Galilee alongside James and John, the disciple who immediately recognised the uniqueness of our Lord. The apostle who, after the Ascension, faithfully followed the command of the Risen Christ to return to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Richard Allen