Today, 24th August, is the feast of St Bartholomew, the patron of our school. Our whole school community will be attending Mass in St Bartholomew’s Church at 10.00am this morning. All parents, carers and friends are very welcome to join us.

Perhaps you’ve wondered who St Bartholomew was. Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, usually referred to in the New Testament as Nathaniel. He was introduced to Jesus through Saint Philip. You can read about his first encounter with Jesus at the end of chapter 1 of Saint John’s Gospel. At first, Saint Bartholomew was skeptical about the Messiah coming from the town of Nazareth saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” However, as soon as Jesus saw Bartholomew, he immediately said, “Here is a man in whom there is no deceit.” Our school motto, ‘Sine Dolo’ (Without Deceit) is taken from this verse. Saint Bartholomew reappears at the end of Saint John’s Gospel as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection.

Some sources record that, after the Ascension, Saint Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. It is also thought that, along with Saint Jude, he brought Christianity to Armenia in the First Century. Saint Bartholomew is said to have been martyred in Albanopolis, Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded. However, a more popular tradition holds that he was skinned alive and crucified, head downward.

Please note that we have yet to be given a clerical assistant to cover the two days created by Mrs Smillie going down to three days per week. This is placing considerable pressure on the office on Mondays and Fridays, so please bear with us if it takes longer than usual to answer the telephone and door or deal with queries and requests. Thank you.