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He
was one of the original twelve men chosen by Christ and instructed and
trained for the Christian ministry.
He was a companion of our Lord during the part of
his public life and after the death,
resurrection and ascension of
our Divine Savior, he received the graces, gifts and blessings of
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and was taught by the Paraclete Himself in
the school of Divinity.
His virtues, that shone so bright during the years that
he was with the Son of God, were newly illuminated by the
Holy Spirit who prepared the Apostles
for the conversion of the
nations. They were told "Go forth into the whole world and preach
the Gospel to every creature baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and
behold I am with you all days even to
the consummation of the world. Who hears you hears Me and who
despises you despises Me. Whose sins you shall forgive they are
forgiven; whose sins you retain they are retained. He who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood shall have life in him. If anyone is sick
among you, let him call in the priests of the Church and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and if
the sick man shall be in sins, his sins shall be forgiven him."
Christ gave the Apostles the power to teach and govern, to ordain
priest, to consecrate bishops, with St. peter the guiding head. So the
Apostles prayed, said Mass, preached,
baptized, confirmed, administered Holy Eucharist, forgave
sins, anointed the sick, ordained
priest, consecrated bishops and
blessed Christian marriage. They worked miracles and
they suffered, fasted, and were men
of self-denial living heroic
lives and dying heroic deaths. The Roman Martyrology
says St. Bartholomew preached in
Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, India and Greater Armenia where he
was flayed and beheaded. |
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