Tuesday 24 August 2021

BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, FESTIVITY IN SANTS (BCN)

Today, The Grandma is celebrating Saint Bartholomew (Sant Bartomeu in Catalan), the patron of one of her favourite Barcelona's neighbourhoods, Sants. Due to the COVID19, these days are difficult to celebrate, but The Grandma wants to join to her neighbours in this celebration. 

Bona Festa Major, estimats veïns i estimades veïnes!

Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, according to the New Testament.

He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity. He has also been identified as Nathanael or Nathaniel, who appears in the Gospel of John when introduced to Jesus by Philip, who also became an apostle; John 1:43–51, although many modern commentators reject the identification of Nathanael with Bartholomew.

According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Bartholomew's martyrdom is commemorated on the first day of the Coptic calendar, which currently falls on September 11, corresponding to August 29 in the Julian calendar. Eastern Christianity honours him on June 11 and the Catholic Church honours him on August 24.

Bartholomew the Apostle is remembered in the Church of England with a Festival on 24 August.

The Armenian Apostolic Church honours Saint Bartholomew along with Saint Thaddeus as its patron saints. Bartholomew is English for Bar Talmai comes from the Aramaic בר-תולמי‎ bar-Tolmay native to Hebrew son of Talmai, or farmer, son of the furrows.

More information: Franciscan Media

Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve Apostles of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also appears as one of the witnesses of the Ascension; on each occasion, however, he is named in the company of Philip.

In art, Bartholomew is most commonly depicted with a beard and curly hair at the time of his martyrdom.

According to legends, he was skinned alive and beheaded so is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved lensing knife with which he was skinned; thus, he is remembered and approved as the saint of leather makers.

The 6th-century writer in Constantinople, Theodorus Lector, averred that in about 507, the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus gave the body of Bartholomew to the city of Daras, in Mesopotamia, which he had recently refunded.

The existence of relics at Lipari, a small island off the coast of Sicily, in the part of Italy controlled from Constantinople, was explained by Gregory of Tours by his body having miraculously washed up there: a large piece of his skin and many bones that were kept in the Cathedral of St Bartholomew the Apostle, Lipari, were translated to Benevento in 838, where they are still kept now in the Basilica San Bartolomeo.

A portion of the relics was given in 983 by Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, to Rome, where it is conserved at San Bartolomeo all'Isola, which was founded on the temple of Asclepius, an important Roman medical centre. This association with medicine in the course of time caused Bartholomew's name to become associated with medicine and hospitals. Some of Bartholomew's alleged skull was transferred to the Frankfurt Cathedral, while an arm was venerated in Canterbury Cathedral.

Due to the nature of his martyrdom, Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners, plasterers, tailors, leather workers, bookbinders, farmers, housepainters, butchers, and glove makers.

In works of art the saint has been depicted being skinned by tanners, as in Guido a Siena's reliquary shutters with the Martyrdoms of St. Francis, St. Claire, St. Bartholomew, and St. Catherine of Alexandria. Popular in Florence and other areas in Tuscany, the saint also came to be associated with salt, oil, and cheese merchants.

More information: St Barts Richmond

Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south.

The main artery of the neighbourhood is Carrer de Sants, popularly known as Carretera de Sants, which runs westwards from Plaça Espanya to the neighbouring municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. It is one of the largest commercial streets in Barcelona.

Barcelona Sants railway station, the major railway station in Barcelona, and the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial are both located in Sants.

Sants was the core of an industrial town known as Santa Maria de Sants on the plain bordering Barcelona.

In the spring of 1883, the municipalities of Sants and Barcelona decided by mutual agreement to merge the two respective municipalities.

One year later, the central government annulled the merger due to technical issues. The process was again put in motion the following year when Barcelona's city government sent a request for aggregation to the Diputació Provincial de Barcelona, but this request was not fulfilled for more than two years. 

In March 1889, the Civil Government asked the Deputation to resolve the issue. A commission presided by Rius i Taulet travelled to Madrid to help move along the case. However, once more, the Deputation took no action.

The merger with Barcelona finally took effect in 1897. By then, Sants had a population of 19,105 inhabitants, and the neighbourhood had a strong industrial character, home to some of the most important manufacturers of Catalan textiles, such as Espanya Industrial and Vapor Vell.

In 2014 rioting broke out in Sants and spread to Barcelona and other cities, when local authorities attempted to demolish the Can Vies community centre, a building which had been squatted since 1997.

The most famous feast is the Festa Major, which is celebrated yearly in honour of the patron saint, Bartholomew the Apostle.

During the week-long feast, the traffic is cut off in several parts of the neighbourhood, where multiple popular activities are organized outdoors, such as butifarrades, xocolatades (gatherings where people drink chocolate), concerts, Sardanes, and Habaneres.

The neighbours decorate the streets with allegorical themes. Another feast, the Festa Alternativa, is celebrated simultaneously with great success.

More information: Triple


 Once you begin to believe there is help "out there,"
you will know it to be true.

Saint Bartholomew

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