The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY APOSTLE BARTHOLOMEW
One of the Twelve great Apostles. By all appearances, Bartholomew and Nathanael are one and the same person. United with the Apostle Philip and Philip's sister, the maiden Mariamne — and for some time with Saint John the Theologian — he preached the Gospel first in Asia, then in India, and finally in Armenia, where he ended his life as a martyr. In Hierapolis these holy apostles by prayer slew a great serpent that the pagans kept in a temple and worshipped. In that same city they by prayer gave sight to Stachys, who had been blind for forty years. Then the crowd rose against them and crucified both Philip and Bartholomew (Bartholomew upside down). At that moment an earthquake occurred, in which the wicked judges and many people perished. Sensing this as the punishment of God, many ran to take the apostles down from the crosses, but Philip had already breathed his last, while Bartholomew was still alive. After this Bartholomew went to India, where he preached and translated the Gospel of Matthew into the Indian language. Then he crossed into Armenia, where he healed the king's daughter of madness. But the king's envious brother Astyages seized the Apostle of God and crucified him on a cross, then had him flayed and finally beheaded in Albanopolis of Armenia. The Christians honorably buried his body in a lead coffin. Since many miracles occurred over his relics, the pagans took the coffin and cast it into the sea. But the water carried the coffin to the Lipari Islands, where Bishop Agathon, by a revelation in a dream, met it and buried it in a church. Saint Bartholomew appeared in the church to the Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer, clothed in white vestments, and blessed him with the Gospel, that he might sing spiritual songs: "Let the waters of heavenly wisdom flow from thy tongue!" He also appeared to Emperor Anastasius (491-518) and told him that he would protect the newly built city of Daras. Later the relics of this great apostle were transferred to Benevento and then to Rome. Over them great and awesome miracles have occurred.
2. THE HOLY APOSTLE BARNABAS
One of the Seventy. Born on Cyprus of wealthy parents of the tribe of Levi, he studied together with Saul under Gamaliel. He was first called Joseph, but the apostles named him Barnabas, Son of Consolation, since he knew remarkably how to console human souls. After the conversion of Saul, he was the first to introduce him among the apostles; and then with Paul and Mark he preached the Gospel in Antioch and in other places. He suffered on the island of Cyprus at the hands of the Jews and was buried by Mark outside the western gate of the city of Salamis with the Gospel of Matthew on his chest, which he had copied with his own hand. His tomb remained unknown for several centuries, but since many received healing from diseases at that place, it was called "the place of health." In the time of Emperor Zeno and the Council of Chalcedon, the apostle appeared to Archbishop Anthimus of Cyprus, and this three times on three nights, and revealed to him his tomb. This appearance of the apostle happened just at the time when the ambitious Patriarch Peter of Antioch was seeking to bring the Church of Cyprus under the authority of the Antiochian throne. But after the finding of Barnabas, it was established that the Church of Cyprus, as an apostolic church, should be forever independent. Thus the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus came into being.
3. CELEBRATION OF THE ICON "IT IS TRULY MEET"
And the miracle that occurred before it in the time of Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoberges (983-996). This miracle consists in the following: One night a monk was reading the canon to the Theotokos and singing "More Honorable" in a cell of the Monastery of the Pantocrator, now called "It Is Truly Meet." His elder had gone to Karyes. Suddenly a man appeared in the church and began to sing: "It Is Truly Meet." That hymn had been until then unknown in the Church. The monk, hearing that hymn, was deeply moved, both by its content and by the wondrous heavenly singing. "Among us they sing thus," said the stranger to the monk. The monk wished to have that hymn written down and brought a tablet, on which the stranger inscribed the hymn with his finger as though on wax. And suddenly he vanished. That stranger was the Archangel Gabriel. The tablet was transferred to Constantinople, and the hymn has remained in the Church to this day.
Hymn of Praise
A solitary monk in the church at night
By fervent prayer drives darkness from his soul.
Then came a monk, in no way unusual,
He too stood and sang, as one skilled in singing.
Then the first monk began "More Honorable,"
Glorifying the Mother of God, the Mother "More Glorious."
The wondrous guest said to him of that hymn:
— Among us, he said, they sing this song differently;
We do not begin as thou hast begun,
But with "It Is Truly Meet," O venerable father!
And he uttered to him the whole hymn "It Is Truly Meet."
The monk took care not to miss a word.
— O my excellent brother, now I breathe more easily
From that song of thine; let me write it down!
But there is no pencil, there is no paper.
The church — a place of prayer, not of writing!
Then the midnight guest blessed the church with the Cross
And began to write upon the stone with his finger,
On the stone he wrote as on soft wax.
The monk marveled at this man.
Who art thou? — the monk asked the unusual guest.
My name is Gabriel; let that suffice thee.
And then he vanished. The monk with awe
Recognized the Archangel beneath the monastic robe.
What he wrote, no one has erased —
The church was filled with a heavenly fragrance.
“My name is Gabriel; let that suffice thee.”
Reflection
A true friend prays to God for his friend. A true friend is concerned for the salvation of his friend's soul. To turn a friend away from false paths and direct him to the path of truth — that is precious friendship. The saints of God are the best friends of men. Two young men, Barnabas and Paul, were friends while they attended the school of Gamaliel together. When Barnabas became a Christian, he persistently and tearfully prayed to God that God would also enlighten Paul's mind and turn his heart, so that he too might become a Christian. Barnabas often spoke to Paul about Christ the Lord, but Paul mocked him and considered him deluded. But the gracious Lord did not leave the prayers of Barnabas without fruit. The gracious Lord appeared to Paul and turned him from the path of falsehood to the path of truth. The converted Paul then fell at the feet of his friend and cried out: "O Barnabas, teacher of truth, now I am convinced that what thou hast told me about Christ is true!" Barnabas wept from joy and embraced his friend. A friend saved the soul of his friend by fervent prayer. Had Barnabas succeeded in making Paul the emperor of Rome, he would have done less for him than what he accomplished by prayer in bringing him to the truth.
“Had Barnabas succeeded in making Paul the emperor of Rome, he would have done less for him than what he accomplished by prayer.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous healing of the man blind and mute (Matt. 12:22), namely:
1. How the Lord healed the man, blind and mute,
2. How my soul too, blind and mute because of its distance from Christ, can be instantly healed by the Lord, if only I bring my soul to the Lord.
Homily
On the Master and the Servant
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Prov. 13:24)
The love of God for mankind surpasses the love of man for man as heaven surpasses the earth, and yet God Who loves mankind chastises men. God chastises men not to destroy them but to correct and save them. O blessed chastisement from love! Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth (Heb. 12:6). With what does God chastise? With a rod. What kind of rod? The rod of illness, the rod of adversity, the rod of loss, the rod of hunger, the rod of poor harvest, the rod of drought, the rod of flood, the rod of the death of relatives and friends, the rod of evil demons when He allows them power over a man. These are the rods of God, with which God scourges His children, to correct them, to bring them to their senses, to enlighten and save them.
Why should a parent not chastise his children, if he truly loves them? The rod is an instrument of great love and care. If the child is insensitive to spiritual corrections, it is sensitive to the rod. And the more insensitive a child is in spirit and conscience, the more sensitive it is in body. The body was not given to man to be something in itself, but to be the servant of the spirit, to help the spirit, to benefit the spirit. If bodily punishment awakens the spirit in a man, and with the spirit the conscience, then the body has perfectly fulfilled its duty toward the spirit, its master. If the master sleeps, then the servants are struck to awaken him. If the servants awaken their master in the hour of danger, they will not regret the blows they received, for they have saved their master. And the awakened and saved master will know how to repay his servants. Therefore, truly, he that spareth his rod hateth his son. He who spares the servant betrays the master.
O Most Wise Lord, open the hearts of parents to receive this holy teaching of Thine. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“He who spares the servant betrays the master.”