[Rank]
S. Bartholomaei Apostoli;;Duplex II classis;;5.5;;ex C1

[Rule]
ex C1;
9 lectiones;

[Oratio]
O Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast given unto us this day to be a day~
worshipful, and holy, and joyful, because of the Feast of thy blessed Apostle~
Bartholomew, grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church both to love that which he~
believed, and to preach that which he taught.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
The Apostle Bartholomew was a Galikean. In the division of the world among the~
Apostles it fell to his lot to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in hither~
India. He went thither and preached to those nations the coming of the Lord~
Jesus, according to the Gospel of St Matthew. When he had turned many in that~
province to Jesus Christ, and had endured many toils and woes, he came into the~
Greater Armenia.

[Lectio5]
There he brought to the Christian faith Polymius the King, and his wife, and~
likewise the inhabitants of twelve cities. This stirred up a great hatred~
against him among the priests of that nation. They so inflamed against the~
Apostle Astyages the brother of King Polymius, that he savagely ordered~
Bartholomew to be flayed alive and beheaded under the which martyrdom he gave~
up his soul to God.

[Lectio6]
His body was buried at the town of Albanopolis in the Greater Armenia, where he~
had suffered. It was afterwards taken to the Island of Lipari, and thence~
carried to Benevento. Lastly, the Emperor Otho III. brought it to Rome, where it~
was laid in the Church dedicated to God in his name on the Island in the Tiber.~
His Feast is kept at Rome upon the 25 th day of August, and is celebrated by~
great crowds of people at the Church above mentioned, during the eight days~
following.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 6:12-19
At that time Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night~
in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples. And so~
on.
_
Homily by St Ambrose, Bishop (of Milan.)
!Bk. v. Comment, on Luke 6.
All they who go up into the mountain are the great and the aspiring. It is not~
to every man that the Prophet saith O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,~
get thee up into the high mountain Thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,~
lift up thy voice with strength. (Isa. xl. 9.) Not with bodily feet, but by high~
deeds get thee up into this mountain, and follow Christ, that thou mayest be a~
mountain thyself. Therefore it is that thou findest in the Gospel that none but~
His disciples went up into the mountain with the Lord. The Lord therefore~
prayeth, not to entreat anything for Himself, but to obtain somewhat for me. For,~
albeit the Father had given the Son power over all flesh, that He might give~
eternal life to as many as He had given Him, (John xvii. 2,) the Son Himself,~
being found in fashion as a man, (Phil. ii. 8,) thinketh well to pray the Father~
(John xiv. 16) on our behalf, inasmuch as He is our Advocate with the Father, (1~
John ii. 1.)

[Lectio8]
And continued all night in prayer to God. Herein, O Christian, a pattern is set~
before thee, an example is given thee, after the which thou oughtest to aspire.~
What doth it not behove thee to do for thy salvation, when Christ spent an whole~
night in prayer for the same What doth it become thee to do, when thou willest~
some good work, when Christ prayed before He sent forth His Apostles He prayed~
first, and He prayed alone. Neither, unless I am mistaken, do we anywhere find~
that He ever joined in prayer with His disciples. He ever prayed alone. Human~
desires cannot grasp the counsel of God, nor can any man, however spiritually~
minded, share the thoughts of God.

[Lectio9]
The Evangelist continueth thus: And when it was day, He called unto Him His~
disciples and of them He chose twelve whom He sent forth to help the~
salvation of men by sowing the seed of the faith throughout the whole world.~
Consider here the counsel of heaven. He chose out for His mission men, not wise,~
nor rich, nor noble, but fishermen and publicans, lest He should seem to have~
converted any to His grace by skill, or bought them with money, or drawn them by~
the power and authority of greatness, and the simple force of the truth, not the~
charms of argument, might have the victory.

&teDeum
