My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON JUNE 11th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES THE FEAST DAY OF THE HOLY APOSTLE BARTHOLOMEW

The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Great Apostles. It is generally agreed that Bartholomew and Nathaniel are one and the same person. He was a companion of the Holy Apostle Philip and his sister, the virgin Mariamna -- and for some time of Saint John the Theologian -- preaching the Gospel in Asia, then in India and finally in Armenia, where he died a martyr. In Hierapolis, the Holy Apostles by their prayers killed a great snake that had been kept in a temple and deified by the pagans. In this same town, they restored the sight of one Stachius, who had been blind for 40 years. This roused the mob against them, and Philip and Bartholomew were crucified, Bartholomew upside-down. At this, there was an earthquake, in which the evil judges and many of the people perished. Seeing this as a punishment from God, many ran to take the Apostles down from their crosses, but Philip was already dead although Bartholomew was still alive. After that, Bartholomew went to India, where he preached and translated the Gospel of Matthew into the Indian language. After that, he moved to Armenia, where he cured the king's daughter of madness. But the king's envious brother, Astyages, took the Apostle of God and crucified him, then had him flayed and beheaded in the Armenian town of Ourbanopolis. His body was buried by Christians in a leaden coffin. When many miracles had been wrought over his holy relics, pagans took the coffin and threw it into the sea. But the sea carried the coffin to the island of Lipara, where the bishop, Agathon, who had been warned by revelation in a dream, was waiting for it and buried it in the church. Saint Bartholomew appeared to Saint Joseph the Hymnographer in church one day, robed in white, and blessed him with the Gospels to sing spiritual hymns, saying: "Let streams of heavenly wisdom flow from thy tongue!" He also appeared to the Emperor Anastasios (491-418 A.D.), and told him that he would protect the newly-built town of Dara. Later, the holy relics of the Apostle were translated to Benevento, and then to Rome. Great and wondrous miracles have been wrought over them.

THE HOLY APOSTLE BARNABAS

One of the Seventy secret Apostles, he was born in Cyprus, of wealthy parents of the tribe of Levi, and studied with Gamaliel together with Saul (Paul). He was first named Joseph, but the Holy Apostles called him Barnabas, Son of Consolation, because he had a rare gift for comforting men's souls. After Saul's (Paul's) conversion, Barnabas was the first to welcome him among the Apostles. After that, with Paul and Mark, he preached the Gospel in Antioch and other places. All accounts agree that he was the first to preach in Rome and in Milan. He suffered at the hands of the Jews on the island of Cyprus and was buried by Mark at the Western gate of the city of Salamis, holding a copy of the Gospel of Matthew which he had transcribed with his own hand. His grave remained unknown for several centuries, but when many people had been healed of sickness in that place, it became known as "the place of healing". In the time of Emperor Zeno, the Holy Apostle appeared three times, on three successive nights, to Archbishop Anthemius of Cyprus, and revealed the whereabouts of his grave. This revelation by the Holy Apostle took place just at the time when Peter, the power-hungry Patriarch of Antioch, was seeking to bring the Cypriot Church under his jurisdiction. After the revealing and finding of the miraculous holy relics of the Holy Apostle Barnabas, it was established that the Cypriot Church, as an Apostolic foundation, should be independent, and thus the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus was finally confirmed.

The Feast of the holy Icon: 'It is meet...', and the miracle that was wrought in front of it in the time of Patriarch Nicolas Chrysoverges. This miracle came about thus: One night a monk was reading the Canon of the Mother of God and chanting: "More Honorable than the Cherubim..." in his cell in the Monastery of the Pantokrator (now called after the holy icon). His elder (Geronda) had gone to Karyes. Suddenly a man appeared in the church and began to chant: "It is meet...", ("Axion Esti..."), a hymn which till that time had been unknown in the Church. The monk, hearing this hymn, was greatly struck both by the words and the heavenly singing. The stranger turned to the monk and said: "we sing it like this at home." The monk desired to have it written down, and brought a marble tablet, onto which the stranger wrote the hymn with his finger as though the tablet were made of wax, and then suddenly disappeared. This stranger was the Archangel Gabriel. The tablet was taken to Constantinople, and the hymn is chanted to this day in the Church.

(For those who are not familiar with the text, it is as follows: (The Axion Esti )

'It is meet to bless thee, who didst bring forth God; Ever-blessed and Most Pure, and the Mother of our God. More Honorable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious then the Seraphim; Thou who inviolate didst bring forth God the Logos/Word, and art indeed Mother of God, Thee do we magnify."

The two young men, Barnabas and Paul, were friends and went together to Gamaliel's school. When Barnabas became a Christian, he persistently and with tears prayed to God that He would enlighten Paul's understanding and turn his heart, that he too might become a Christian. Barnabas often spoke to Paul about Christ the Lord, but Paul mocked him and thought him misguided. But the Gracious Lord did not leave Barnabas's prayer unfruitful. He appeared to Saint Paul, turned him from the false way and set him on the way of Truth. The converted Paul fell at the feet of his friend and cried: 'O Barnabas, teacher of the truth, now I am convinced of the Truth of what you said to me about Christ!' Barnabas wept for joy and embraced his friend. The friend saved his friend's soul by his fervent prayers. If Barnabas had succeeded in making Paul Emperor of Rome, he would have done less than he in fact did by bringing him to the Truth by his prayers. (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George