The holy Apostle Bartholomew (one of the twelve apostles of Christ) was from the city of Cana in Galilee. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, it fell to him and the Apostle Philip (commemoration November 14) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. Preaching the good news, they sometimes parted to different cities and sometimes met again. The holy Apostle Philip was accompanied by his sister, the virgin Mariamne. Passing through the cities of Syria and Mysia, they endured much sorrow and trouble: they were stoned, imprisoned. In one of the villages they met the Apostle John the Theologian and together went to Phrygia. In the city of Hierapolis, by the power of their prayers, they destroyed a huge viper to which the pagans paid homage as a deity. The holy apostles Bartholomew and Philip confirmed their preaching with many signs.
In Hierapolis there lived a man named Stachys who had been blind for forty years. When he received healing, he believed in Christ and was baptized. The news of this spread throughout the city, and a multitude of people came to the house where the apostles lived. The sick and possessed were freed from their ailments, and many were baptized. The ruler of the city ordered the preachers to be seized and thrown into prison, and the house of Stachys to be burned. At the trial, the pagan priests complained that the foreigners were turning the people away from worship of their native gods. Considering that the magical power lay in the apostles’ clothing, the ruler ordered it to be torn off. The virgin Mariamne appeared to them as a fiery torch, and no one dared to touch her. The saints were sentenced to crucifixion. The Apostle Philip was raised on the cross head downward. An earthquake began, and the opened earth swallowed up the city ruler, the priests, and many people. The rest were frightened and rushed to take the apostles down from the cross. Since the Apostle Bartholomew was hung not very high, he was taken down quickly. The Apostle Philip, however, died. Having appointed Stachys as bishop of Hierapolis, the Apostle Bartholomew and blessed Mariamne left this city.
Preaching the Word of God, Mariamne went to Lycaonia, where she peacefully reposed (commemoration February 17). The Apostle Bartholomew went to India, where he translated the Gospel according to Matthew from Hebrew into the local language and converted many pagans to Christ. He also visited Great Armenia (the land between the Kura River and the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), where he performed many miracles and healed the daughter of King Polymius who was possessed by a demon. In gratitude, the king sent gifts to the apostle, but he refused to accept them, saying that he sought only the salvation of human souls. Then Polymius with the queen, the healed princess, and many courtiers accepted Baptism. They were followed by the inhabitants of ten cities of Great Armenia. At the instigation of the pagan priests, the king’s brother Astyages seized the apostle in the city of Albanopolis (now the city of Baku) and crucified him head downward. But even from the cross he did not cease to proclaim to the people the good news of Christ the Savior. Then by order of Astyages the apostle’s skin was flayed and his head cut off. The believers placed his remains in a tin coffin and buried them. Around 508 the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were transferred to Mesopotamia, to the city of Dara. When the city was captured by the Persian king Chosroes in 574, the Christians took the apostle’s relics and fled to the shores of the Black Sea. But since they were overtaken by enemies, they were forced to throw the coffin with the apostle’s relics into the sea. By the power of God the coffin did not sink into the sea depths but miraculously sailed across the seas and reached Italy. The coffin with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew came ashore on the island of Lipari, while the other four coffins with the relics of Saints Papius, Lucian, Gregory, and Acacius continued their journey and came ashore in different places in Italy. The coffin with the relics of the martyr Papius stopped in Sicily, of the martyr Lucian in Messina, of the martyr Gregory in Calabria, and of the martyr Acacius in Asculum. The arrival of the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew was revealed to the bishop of the island of Lipari, Agathon, who went with his clergy to the seashore, took the coffin from the water, and solemnly transferred it to the church. Myrrh flowed from the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, healing various diseases. The holy relics remained in the church on the island of Lipari until the middle of the 9th century. When the island was captured by pagans, Christian merchants took the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and transported them to the city of Benevento, where they were received with great honor and placed in the main church of the city.