23/08/2026
๐๐จ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฐ | ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ช, ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฆ๐ง๐๐
Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Bartholomew
A Patron saint of trades and professions related to leatherworking and cutting.
Bartholomew was one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus after the Baptism in the Jordan River. His name is included in the Synoptic Gospels as one of the Apostles linked to his contemporary Philip. We know little about this Apostle, whose Feast Day is celebrated on 24 August, the day Catholic tradition dates as his martyrdom. He was originally from Cana in Galilee, near Nazareth. Jesus said of him: โBehold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guileโ (Jn 1:47). In his Gospel, John speaks of Nathanael, who is Bartholomew, at least according to the exegetes.
The Acts of the Apostles also mention Bartholomew among the disciples who gathered together in Jerusalem with Mary, Mother of God: โThen they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath dayโs journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. According to tradition, he travelled extensively on mission, preaching the Good News to people in distant places: Cappadocia, Upper India, various areas of the Middle East and Armenia. However, there is no certainty about his precise itinerary.
St. Bartholomew was tortured by being flayed alive (skinned) and subsequently beheaded. He is depicted in iconography with a knife in one hand and a book in the other and sometimes with his skin over his arm, like a cloak.
St. Bartholomew, pray for us.
๐ท Photo Courtesy / San Bartolome Parish, Malabon City
