Saint Barnabas

This distinguished piety disposed him to receive the light of the Gospel. When Our Lord came to Jerusalem to preach His entirely heavenly doctrine, our Saint had the happiness of hearing Him; and seeing, at the same time, the great miracles He performed to confirm His mission, he recognized Him as the Messiah, began to follow Him, and considered himself extremely fortunate to be among the number of His disciples. He also pro cured the same hono Jean, surnommé Marc Priest and companion of the martyrs who ensured their burial. r for John, surnamed Mark, his cousin, and for the mother of this young man named Mary, who was his aunt.

Saint Barnabas profited admirably in the school of the Son of God; and having been designated by Him as one of His seventy-two principal disciples, he gave a distinguished testimony of his detachment from all earthly things. For, having become master, after the death of his parents, of the great estates they possessed on the island of Cyprus, he sold them all and distributed the money to the poor, reserving for himself nothing but a house he had at the gates of Jerusalem, the sale of which he deferred to another time, perhaps because it was a Levite possession, which he could not dispose of without the approval of the high priest. After the resurrection of the Son of God, he saw Him, like the other disciples, in the splendor of His glory; and, having witnessed His ascension into heaven, he also received, in the company of his brethren, on the day of Pentecost, the grace and fullness of the Holy Spirit. It was then that, closing his eyes to all human considerations, he sold the house he had in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and brought the money to the feet of the Apostles. It was perhaps at this time that his name was changed from Joseph to that of Barnabas, which means, according to Saint Luke, Son of Consolation, and, according to Saint Jerome, son of a prophet; he was so named, says Saint John Chrysostom, because of the admirable talent he had for consoling the afflicted.

Scarcely had he been filled with the Holy Spirit than he applied himself with the Apostles and the other disciples to enlightening the Jews, and to making them know that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. And, as Saint Paul, one of the most learned and zealous of the synagogue, was his friend, he worked above all with Saint Stephen to win him over, using for this the passages of the Law and the Prophets that they had studied together, and demonstrating to him that they had been fulfilled in the Savior. He could not bring about the conversion of this great man, which was reserved for an extraordinary stroke of grace; but he prepared him for it, and gave him insights into Christianity that were to serve him later. When, having left Damascus, where the Jews wanted to put him to death, Saint Paul had come to Jerusalem, it was Saint Barnabas who presented him to the Apostles, assuring them that his conversion was genuine. His recommendation was so powerful that the head of the Apostles received Saul into his house and kept him several days with him. Meanwhile, some disciples, named Lucius of Cyrene , Manahe Antioche Ancient city where Saint Publia and her community resided. n, and Simon, surnamed the Black, came to Antioch and, not content with preaching to the Jews, also shared with the Greeks the precious seed of the Gospel. Many listened to their word as a word of God, and a new Church was formed in this city, full of piety and fervor, in imitation of the one that was in Jerusalem.

The Apostles, informed of such a happy success, sent Saint Barnabas to Antioch to put the finishing touches to this work. He came there with great joy; and when he recognized the progress that the Gospel had made there, he felt an extraordinary satisfaction, and exhorted, with incredible zeal, these new faithful to persevere constantly in their good resolutions; he increased their number, so that this Church, growing much, he needed a cooperator to assist him; Saint Paul being at that time in Tarsus, Barnabas went to find him there and invited him to share his labors in Antioch. Saint Paul, full of ardent zeal, followed him there: they spent a year together, during which God gave great blessings to their apostolic zeal. It was at this time and in this city that the faithful began to bear the name of Christians, in order to show everyone that they were not ashamed to acknowledge Jesus Christ as head and master.

To judge by the praises that the sacred writer gives him, Barnabas must have been the model as well as the preacher of the new doctrine he announced. He had its two virtues par excellence, gentleness and humility. Learn from me, said Jesus Christ, that I am gentle and humble of heart. Such were the two great characters of the new law, the spirit of sacrifice and of love: the spirit of sacrifice, which was to overcome selfishness; love, which was to strike down the pride of the great and the philosophers, children of pagan civilization, who threatened to destroy society. Saint Barnabas, says Scripture, was a man full of faith, that is to say, he submitted his reason to the truths that the Church teaches, he fulfilled with zeal the laws of evangelical morality, and he awaited, with a firm hope, with a conviction that flooded him with joy, the crown that the God-Man has promised to those who sacrifice their own will and their weak intelligence to the fulfillment of his law. Moreover, he was good par excellence, that is to say, he fled from disputes, which engender heresies and schisms, he loved to help the poor, and he welcomed with charity the sinner who came to ask God for forgiveness for his faults. With that, he had taken a large part of that miraculous effusion of grace, of strength, of evangelical doctrine, with which the soul of the disciples of the Cenacle had been filled. Superior to the desires of the flesh, to vain seductions, to the threats of the world, which can only kill the body, he had only one fear, that of displeasing God, because he had only one hope, that of participating in the crown and the happiness of the elect.

But perhaps so many virtues were not yet enough to make an apostle, to make the light of a new doctrine shine in the eyes of the Jews, whose doctors were beginning to misunderstand the true meaning of the prophecies. There was still a need for those striking miracles that wring from the unbeliever this touching word: "The finger of God is here, as is his word, as is his revelation." Prepared to gather the merits of the apostolate, a courageous soldier who asked only for weapons to go and fight error and die, he obtained from God this power of works, marvelous to the multitude, perhaps less astonishing to the Christian than the humility of the wonder-worker who struggles against the pride it can engender. He exercised it for a long time in Antioch; but the time was approaching when he was going to face many other perils, and give his life a thousand times for the name of the Lord Jesus.

The famine predicted by the prophet Agabus was spreading its ravages everywhere in the East. Palestine especially was afflicted by it, and the Christians of that country, abandoned perhaps to all the horrors of the scourge, as a result of the hatred of the Jews and the pagans, were near to dying of hunger. Then, in the name of this religion which had persuaded him to distribute his fortune generously to the poor, Barnabas collected, among his children of Antioch, a considerable sum to assist the Christians of Judea. Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas were charged with going to deliver it themselves to the pastors of this Church, and to bring to the faithful of Jerusalem the kiss of peace from their brothers in Syria, who were coming so charitably to their aid. Our Apostles therefore made this journey; upon returning, they brought with them John, surnamed Mark, of whom we have already spoken.

Shortly thereafter, the Holy Spirit ordered some disciples, preachers of the Gospel in Antioch, whom we have named above, all gifted with the gift of prophecy, and who invoked God in fasting and prayer, to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work to which He had destined them. To separate here means to set apart to exercise divine functions, to tear away from any other occupation. Following this order, the Church first implored heavenly blessings, then Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul received th e laying o saint Paul Apostle cited by Saint Jerome to illustrate divine decrees. n of hands. It is probable that they were already bishops: by this ceremony, they were made Apostles of the Gentiles. Thus, Saint Barnabas was sent with Saint Paul to the nations with full power to preach the faith, to ordain priests, to consecrate bishops, to establish churches, and to give laws. Accompanied by the young Mark, they went first to Seleucia of Syria, a city situated on the seashore; then they set sail for the island of Cyprus, which was the country of Saint Barnabas, where they preached mainly in Salamis and Paphos, the most famous of all the cities of the island; then they passed to Perga, a city of Pamphylia, where John, surnamed Mark, who had always followed them, left them to return to Jerusalem, not having the courage to continue the ministry of preaching that he had begun with such zeal. From there, continuing their journey, they came to Antioch of Pisidia and to Iconium of Lycaonia, where they were nearly stoned, and where they converted Saint Thecla; they also went to Lystra, where the idolaters took Barnabas for Jupiter and Paul for Mercury, and to Derbe, a city of the same province; but, having been driven out, they retraced their steps as far as Perga, from where they descended to Attalia, and finally returned to Antioch of Syria, where they remained for quite some time. Barnabas then went with Saint Paul to Jerusalem, to be present at the first Council that the Apostles celebrated there regarding Circumcision and other legal ceremonies, that is to say, to examine whether they should be observed in the Church. After the Council, Paul and Barnabas were sent back to Antioch by the Apostles, with Judas and Silas, two other disciples, to carry the decree that had just been made, namely: "That the faithful would in no way be obliged to keep the observances and ceremonies of the law of Moses, but only to abstain from fornication and from eating strangled animals and blood."

It was then that Saint Paul proposed to Saint Barnabas to visit the Churches they had founded in Asia. Barnabas consented, but on the condition that John-Mark, his cousin, who wished to make up for his desertion, would accompany them. Saint Paul was of a different opinion, and believed that they should no longer associate with a man who had been so cowardly. Unable to agree on this point, the two Apostles separated, without any alteration in the tenderness they had for one another: the Holy Spirit permitted it, so that, preaching each on his own side, they might announce the Gospel in more countries. As for John-Mark, he became an indefatigable preacher, and earned the praise of Saint Paul, who even asked him to come and join him to share in his apostolic labors.

After this separation of Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas, the latter is no longer mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles; thus, it is from tradition and ancient ecclesiastical authors that we must draw the rest of his actions. Our holy Apostle, after leaving Saint Paul, visited the Churches of Cyprus, strengthened them in the faith, provided them with good priests and holy bishops, taught them the ceremonies established by the Apostles, and increased them notably through the conversion of a great number of idolaters; then, he came to Italy, where, having preached in Liguria, he founded the Church o f Mil Milan Italian city where the saint has an altar and an annual feast. an and was its first bishop. This Church honored him in this capacity and counts among its most illustrious prerogatives having had this faithful disciple as its author and Apostle, as can be seen in the second volume of the Italia Sacra by Ferdinando Ughelli.

It is said that he spent seven years forming this flock of Jesus Christ. He did not, however, remain always in Milan during this time; as his zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls had no bounds, he also preached the Gospel in the surrounding cities and provinces. The cities, among others those of Bergamo and Brescia, glory in having received the faith through his preaching; and one still sees, in Brescia, an altar where it is believed he offered the unbloody sacrifice of the Eucharist. After these seven years, he ordained Saint Anathalon as bishop of Milan in his place; and, embarking by sea, he returned to Cyprus to see once more the faithful he had acquired there for Jesus Christ. He traversed this island several times, and there was almost no town or village, throughout its extent, where he did not carry the name of the Son of God. Finally, he stopped at Salamis, which wa Salamine Capital of Cyprus and site of the saint's martyrdom. s its capital. As he knew that the Jews were those who resisted the most to

SAINT BARNABAS, APOSTLE. Regarding the Gospel, he was present every week at their synagogues to show them, through the very Scriptures they read, that Jesus Christ was the Savior promised in the Law and predicted by the Prophets. Many yielded to the strength of his demonstrations, which were supported by the innocence of his life, the holiness of his actions, and the brilliance of his miracles; but others, who closed the ears of their hearts to the light of faith, being especially stirred up and embittered by some seditious men who had come from Syria, conspired together to put him to death. This conspiracy was not unknown to him, and it would have been easy for him to avoid it; but he desired nothing more than to endure death for his Master and to go and enjoy His presence. He therefore gathered his disciples, shared with them the hope he had of soon being a martyr for Jesus Christ, celebrated Mass in their presence, and gave communion to the faithful who attended. Then, having secretly told Mark that this very day would be the last of his life, and that he was going to sign with his blood what he had preached for so long by word of mouth; feeling strengthened by the presence of the Savior, whom he had just received, he entered the synagogue generously to preach as was his custom. But he had barely opened his mouth to speak of Jesus Christ when the Jews, foaming with rage, threw themselves upon him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him as a blasphemer. They then wanted to burn his body, for fear that it would receive the honor that Christians rendered to the relics of Martyrs; but the fire lost its activity toward him and could not burn him. Thus Mark, according to the order he had received from the Saint, took care to bury him quite near Salamis. His martyrdom occurred, according to the testimony of the Roman Breviary, around the 7th year of Nero, which is the sixty-first of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Saint Barnabas is often depicted with stones in a fold of his robe, because he is considered to have been stoned. He is also given the axe or the spear as an attribute, as an instrument of his martyrdom. Father Cahier, in his Characteristics, says that he is sometimes, though wrongly, depicted wearing a dalmatic.

This holy body was buried only five stadia from the city, and the place where it lay bore the name of the place of Health, because of the great miracles and frequent healings obtained through the invocation of the holy Apostle; it nevertheless remained unknown for a long time, because of the violent persecutions that arose in the following centuries, and was only discovered under the empire of Zeno, around the year 488. The history of this invention is described in great detail in Surius; Peter Gnapheus, called the Fuller, a very pernicious heretic, having unjustly seized the patriarchal see of Antioch, summoned the archbishop of Salamis, as one of his suffragans, to come and acknowledge him. This prelate, named Anthemius, who was a man of holy life and very orthodox, had great difficulty in resolving to do so, especially since he did not feel learned or subtle enough to enter into discussion with the heretic. In this great perplexity, he had recourse to prayer; and God, who hears the tears and groans of his servants, sent him Saint Barnabas; the holy Apostle told him to fear nothing; that he himself would be his support and protector; and, as a sign of the interest he wished to take in his defense, he added that he only had to go five stadia from the city, on the western side, to a place called the place of Health, and that, by having them dig under an oak tree, he would find his entire body, and on his chest the Gospel of Saint Matthew, which he had written with his own hand. Indeed, the holy prelate having gone to this place, found these two inestimable treasures there; which meant that, in the synod to which he was summoned, his see of Salamis, which was metropolitan of the whole island of Cyprus, was judged free and independent of that of Antioch, and that he had no obligation to pay deference to Peter the Fuller.

Emperor Zeno, being informed of such a happy discovery, absolutely wanted to have in Constantinople this book of the Gospel that had been found; and, in gratitude, he had a magnificent church built in honor of Saint Barnabas, at the very place where his body had rested for so long. This sacred remains was then transported there, in the time of Charlemagne. Relics of Saint Barnabas were transferred to Toulo use, in Toulouse Episcopal see of Erembert. the church of Saint-Saturnin, where his head is still shown for the consolation and relief of the faithful.

Currently, the city of Toulouse still possesses this precious relic; here is the copy of the report of authenticity:

« Today, June 21, 1807, at four-thirty in the afternoon, we, Clément de Barbazan, vicar general, have verified a sealed box, bearing the inscription: *Relic of Saint Barnabas, apostle of the Gentiles*, in which we found the almost entire head of the holy Apostle, wrapped in two faded crimson red taffetas; plus, a package of silk fabric of the same color, bearing the label: *Relic of Saint Barnabas*, and containing some small portions of the skull and several very well-preserved teeth of the same Saint; plus, two authentic documents, on which we have affixed our *ne varietur* ».

(Crépel, vicar of Saint-Sernin.)

There are also relics of the holy Apostle in Milan, and at Mont-Saint-Quentin.

The Order of Clerics Regular known as *Barnabites*, from a church of Saint Barnabas which is in Milan, and of which they took possession in 1545, was founded in 1537 by three Milanese gentlemen. Popes Clement VIII and Paul III approved and confirmed it, the one in 1532, and the other in 1535. This Order, whose main purpose is to form good preachers to instruct the people in the missions, was singularly esteemed by Saint Charles Borromeo. It has produced several great men. (See Hélyot, *Hist. des Ord. relig.*, vol. IV, p. 111, and especially Father Mansi, of the Order of Servites. *Nat. in Raynaldi Contin. Annal. Baronii, ad ann. 1533, p. 208, vol. XIII Contin.*, or vol. XXXII of the entire work.)

Cf. *Histoire de la Vie des Saints, d'après Godrescard, Croiset, etc.*, by the abbés Juste and Callian; *Tillemont; Acta Sanctorum; Histoire des soixante-douze disciples*, by the abbé Malatre.