Our Patron Saint The Apostle St. Bartholomew.
The Church in Windsor Park was named after St. Bartholomew, as it was consecrated on August 24th 1959.
The following information gleaned about this Apostle was taken from Wikipedia.
It is certain that he is named in the Acts as one of the twelve apostles.
His name, a patronymic, means "son of Tolomai" and scholars believe he is the same as Nathanael mentioned in John, who says he is from Cana and that Jesus called him an "Israelite...incapable of deceit."
According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church, his martyrdom is commemorated on the 1st day of the Coptic Calendar (1st day of the month of "Thout"), which currently falls on September 11 (corresponding to August 29 in the Gregorian Calendar). His feast is on August 24 in the Anglican Communion.
One commonly held tradition is that after the Ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, (Bombay) where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.
Along with his fellow apostle Jude Thaddeus, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
It is believed that he was martyred in Albanopolis in Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded, but a more popular tradition holds that he was flayed alive and crucified, head downward. Astyages, the brother of Polymius' ordered Bartholomew's execution because the Apostle converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity.[9]
The 13th century Saint Bartholomew Monastery was a prominent Armenian monastery and believed to have been constructed at the site of the martyrdom of Apostle Bartholomew in the Vaspurakan Province of Greater Armenia (now in southeastern Turkey).[10]
The account of Bartholomew being skinned alive is the mostly represented in works of art, and consequently Bartholomew is often shown with a large knife, holding his own skin (as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment), or both.
Bartholomew is the patron saint of tanners, and is also associated with medicine. St Bartholomew Hospital, (1123) fondly called St. Barts is the oldest standing hospital in London. For those who enjoy trivia it was here in this hospital that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Tom Watson first met in the Arthur Conan Doyle stories.
Reference : Wikipedia .
