Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle

Drawing of Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle by Lorenzo Ferri according to the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary collection of the Maria Valtorta Heir Foundation.

Galilean from Cana. Nicknamed Bartholomew or Bartholmai (the son of Tolmai or Tolme), he is the 6th of the Disciples of Jesus whom he met at Bethsaida in the house of Peter, brought by his friend Philip.

Married to Anne. He owns a house in Bethsaida. He is a rather wealthy and cultured man.

He is characterized in relation to John as follows:

"You do, by instinct spiritually, what I accomplish painfully by mental reflection; our transformation from Israelites to Christians..."

In this sense, he is a model apostle. This will be confirmed by his encounter with Jesus, in accordance with what the Gospel of John reports about this episode.

Character and Appearance

The oldest of the Apostles, "thin and old" with deep eyes. He is a wise "good and very wise" man. A slender but severe figure, a face of a thinker.

Jesus himself portrays him:

"Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no fraud."

And further:

"Your honesty, your good faith, your generosity, your sincere love. Could I doubt my wise Bartholomew? (...) You are such a wise master; you know how to express with simplicity the highest thoughts."

This portrait is not without faults: "Bartholomew is very attached to... formulas," says Philip to excuse him. "It is his only fault," notes Jesus.
Generous, he takes out a loan to offer the Grandfather of Marjiam a decent burial. He downplays his gesture:

"My name is known and it was easy for me to find someone to advance me money. From Bethsaida, I will take care of repaying the small debt, insignificant after all..."

He has a good Soul as a father of Family who takes in the sorrow of orphans. Together with his inseparable Philip, he is one of the two traditionalists among the Apostles, as confirmed by Mary at the end of her life. Quite fond of elegance:

"(the Apostles) dressed very modestly except Judas Iscariot, Matthew, Simon, and Bartholomew - I have listed them in descending order of elegance."

Apostolic Journey

Witness to the Last Supper, the Resurrection, the Ascension and Pentecost.

Raised in the culture of his time, with all its prejudices, he must make great efforts to accept other truths such as the place of Women or the way to pray. However, he makes meritorious efforts to transform himself:

"With all my love I have not known how to renew myself, understand you, and follow you. I followed you only materially. But You wanted us to follow you spiritually and to understand you in your perfection to become capable of perpetuating you."

His prejudices, which he nonetheless overcomes, extend even to Lazarus of Bethany, educated in cosmopolitanism.

Although he is the most intransigent of the Apostles, he is the only one who, solely out of obedience to the Master, does not refuse contacts with the Romans. His pedagogy makes him the first catechist in Christian history among Aurea Galla, a young slave in worship.

His Name

לנתנא (Nathaniel) ונתנאל ברתו (Bathélemy).

Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle means "Gift of God".

Where is he mentioned in the work?

Call of the first Apostles: EMV 50 EMV 53 EMV 54 EMV 55
Beginning of the apostolate in Galilee: EMV 57
Apostolic journey in Judea: EMV 70
Selection of the last Apostles: EMV 91 EMV 92 EMV 93 EMV 94 EMV 95 EMV 96 EMV 97
The last shepherds: EMV 98 EMV 99 EMV 100 EMV 102 EMV 103 EMV 104 EMV 105 EMV 108 EMV 109
In Judea before the common life: EMV 110 EMV 111 EMV 112 EMV 115 EMV 116 EMV 117 EMV 118
Teachings on the Ten Commandments: EMV 119 EMV 120 EMV 121 EMV 122 EMV 123 EMV 124 EMV 125 EMV 126 EMV 127 EMV 128 EMV 129 EMV 130 EMV 131 EMV 132
Year-end celebrations: EMV 133 EMV 134 EMV 135 EMV 136 EMV 137 EMV 138 EMV 139 EMV 140 EMV 141 EMV 142
The Samaritan woman: EMV 143 EMV 144 EMV 145 EMV 146 EMV 147 EMV 149
The female apostolate: EMV 153 EMV 154 EMV 155 EMV 157 EMV 158
In Galilee, the selection of the Apostles: EMV 160 EMV 161 EMV 162 EMV 164 EMV 165 EMV 166
The Sermon on the Mount: EMV 169 EMV 170 EMV 171 EMV 172 EMV 173 EMV 174 EMV 175 EMV 176
Apostolate in Galilee: EMV 177 EMV 178 EMV 179 EMV 180 EMV 181 EMV 182 EMV 183 EMV 184 EMV 185 EMV 186
The second paschal journey: EMV 187 EMV 188 EMV 189 EMV 190 EMV 191 EMV 192 EMV 193 EMV 194 EMV 195 EMV 196 EMV 197 EMV 198 EMV 199 EMV 200 EMV 201 EMV 202 EMV 203
Apostolate in Judea: EMV 205 EMV 206 EMV 207 EMV 208 EMV 209 EMV 210 EMV 211 EMV 212 EMV 213 EMV 214 EMV 215
Apostolate in Philistia: EMV 216 EMV 217 EMV 218 EMV 219 EMV 220 EMV 221 EMV 222 EMV 223 EMV 224 EMV 225
The conversion of Mary Magdalene: EMV 228 EMV 230 EMV 232 EMV 233 EMV 235 EMV 237 EMV 238 EMV 239 EMV 240 EMV 241 EMV 242 EMV 243 EMV 244 EMV 247 EMV 248 EMV 249 EMV 250 EMV 251 EMV 252 EMV 253 EMV 254 EMV 255
Sending of Apostles and Disciples on Mission: EMV 256 EMV 257 EMV 260 EMV 261 EMV 262 EMV 265 EMV 268 EMV 269 EMV 271 EMV 272 EMV 273 EMV 274 EMV 275 EMV 276 EMV 277 EMV 278 EMV 279 EMV 280
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: EMV 281 EMV 284 EMV 296 EMV 297 EMV 298 EMV 299 EMV 300 EMV 301 EMV 302
Year-end celebrations in Nazareth: EMV 310
Journey of the Disciples to Antioch: EMV 326
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: EMV 332 EMV 333 EMV 334 EMV 335 EMV 336 EMV 337 EMV 338 EMV 339 EMV 340 EMV 341 EMV 342 EMV 343 EMV 344 EMV 345 EMV 346 EMV 347
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: EMV 348 EMV 349 EMV 350 EMV 351 EMV 352 EMV 353 EMV 354 EMV 355 EMV 356 EMV 357 EMV 358 EMV 359 EMV 360 EMV 361 EMV 362 EMV 363
The penultimate Passover: EMV 364 EMV 365 EMV 366 EMV 367 EMV 368 EMV 369 EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 372 EMV 374 EMV 375 EMV 376 EMV 377 EMV 378
In Judea: EMV 379 EMV 380 EMV 381 EMV 382 EMV 383 EMV 384 EMV 385
AGodx in Judea: EMV 386 EMV 387 EMV 388 EMV 389 EMV 390 EMV 391 EMV 392 EMV 393 EMV 394 EMV 395 EMV 396 EMV 397 EMV 398 EMV 399 EMV 400 EMV 401 EMV 402 EMV 403
Plain of Sharon: EMV 404 EMV 405 EMV 406 EMV 407 EMV 408 EMV 409 EMV 410 EMV 411 EMV 412
Pentecost, Decapolis and Plain of Esdraelon: EMV 413 EMV 414 EMV 415 EMV 416 EMV 417 EMV 418 EMV 419 EMV 420 EMV 421 EMV 422 EMV 423 EMV 424 EMV 425 EMV 426 EMV 427 EMV 428 EMV 429 EMV 430 EMV 431 EMV 432
Summer in Nazareth: EMV 435 EMV 437 EMV 440 EMV 441 EMV 442 EMV 443 EMV 444 EMV 445 EMV 446 EMV 447 EMV 448 EMV 449 EMV 450 EMV 451 EMV 452 EMV 453 EMV 454 EMV 455 EMV 456 EMV 457 EMV 458 EMV 459 EMV 460 EMV 461 EMV 462 EMV 463 EMV 464 EMV 465
In Syro-Phoenicia: EMV 466 EMV 467 EMV 469 EMV 470 EMV 471 EMV 472 EMV 473 EMV 474 EMV 475 EMV 477 EMV 481
The Feast of Tabernacles: EMV 490
In Moab and Judea: EMV 498 EMV 499 EMV 500 EMV 503 EMV 504 EMV 509 EMV 510 EMV 511 EMV 514 EMV 515 EMV 520
The Feast of the Dedication: EMV 527 EMV 528 EMV 529 EMV 531 EMV 532 EMV 535 EMV 536 EMV 537 EMV 538
The resurrection of Lazarus: EMV 547 EMV 548
Exile in Samaria: EMV 551 EMV 552 EMV 553 EMV 554 EMV 555 EMV 556 EMV 566 EMV 568 EMV 571 EMV 575
Return to Jerusalem: EMV 577 EMV 578 EMV 582 EMV 584 EMV 586 EMV 587
Holy Week: EMV 590 EMV 592 EMV 593 EMV 594 EMV 595 EMV 597 EMV 598
The Passion: EMV 600 EMV 602 EMV 614
Easter Sunday: EMV 621 EMV 626
From the Resurrection to the Ascension: EMV 628 EMV 629 EMV 630 EMV 631 EMV 633 EMV 635 EMV 636 EMV 637 EMV 638
Apostolic times: EMV 639 EMV 640 EMV 649

Learn more about this character

Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, Salton Maria Valtorta, (Mgr René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Éditions Salvator, 2012):

Saint Bartholomew is celebrated on August 24th in the Church Catholic and on June 11th in the Orthodox Church.

According to tradition, he went to evangelize India, then Asia Minor.

Saint Pantaenus (end of the 2nd century), having gone to India, found traces of Christianity. The Indians showed him a copy of the Gospel of Matthew, in Hebrew, which they assured him had been brought to the country by Saint Bartholomew.

An apocryphal text is attributed to him: The Gospel of Bartholomew. Saint Jerome and Bede the Venerable speak of it. It seems that this is in fact the Gospel of Matthew, brought to India by Bartholomew, then brought from there to Alexandria by Saint Pantaenus.

Bartholomew suffered martyrdom, flayed alive, in Armenia. According to the Armenian Church, he would have died in 68. His Relics were brought to Rome and deposited in the Church that bears his name. His head is venerated in Toulouse and one of his arms in Canterbury.