Translation of the Relics of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew — August 25 / September 7 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, August 25 according to the Julian Calendar (September 7 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Translation of the Relics of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew.

The Apostle Bartholomew suffered martyrdom for Christ in the year 71 in the city of Albanopolis (present-day Baku) and was buried there. Many miracles were performed at his holy relics, and many unbelievers were converted to the true faith. During the reign of the Emperor Anastasius (491–518), the saint’s remains were translated to the city of Anastasiopolis.

When Anastasiopolis was captured by the Persian king Khosrow, the Christians carried the relics of Saint Bartholomew toward the shore of the Black Sea, but the pagans overtook them and they were forced to commit the reliquary to the waves (according to another account, the pagan priests themselves cast it into the water). Together with the remains of Bartholomew, four more coffers were lowered into the sea, containing the relics of the holy martyrs Papian, Lucian, Gregory, and Acacius. By the power of God they did not sink, but miraculously floated and reached Italy. The reliquary with the incorrupt relics of Bartholomew came ashore on the island of Lipari, while the other coffers continued their journey and came to rest in various places in Italy.

The arrival of the holy apostle’s remains was revealed in a miraculous vision to the local bishop, Agathon, who went out to the seashore with the clergy, drew the reliquary from the water, and solemnly carried it into the church. Healing myrrh flowed from the apostle’s incorrupt relics. The holy relics remained in the church of Lipari until the middle of the ninth century; when the island was seized by pagans, Christian merchants translated them to the city of Benevento, where they were received with great honour and given a place in the city’s cathedral. According to some accounts, from there the holy remains of the Apostle Bartholomew (or some portion of his holy relics) were translated to Rome in the tenth century.