Feast of St. Bartholomew

 


One of the 12 apostles, Jesus called him "an Israelite... incapable of deceit." Not much is known for certain about him, but most agree he (along with St. Jude) brought Christianity to Armenia where he was eventually martyred by having the skin flayed from his body. The depiction of St. Bartholomew you see is from Michaelangelo's "Last Judgement" where we see him holding his flayed skin - although the face on the skin is (or so it is thought) Michaelangelo. His remains ended up in Rome in St. Batholomew All'Isola in the late 10th century. That church was built on an ancient temple dedicated to healing - hence, St. Bartholomew's connection to the art of healing and why there are so many St. Bartholomew Hospitals. He's also the patron saint of tanners for obvious reasons.