feast day: June 11
patron saint of: Cyprus, Antioch, against hailstorms, invoked as peacemaker
about:
- born: Cyprus
- died: stoned to death at around 61 A.D. (Salamis, Cyprus)
- styled an Apostle in Holy Scripture, and, like St. Paul, ranked by the Church with the Twelve, though not one of them
- attributes: Pilgrim's staff; olive branch; holding the Gospel of St Matthew
- Barnabas (Greek: Βαρνάβας), born Joseph, was an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36 Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Named an apostle in (Acts 14:14), he and Paul the Apostle undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the Judaizers. They traveled together making more converts (c 45-47), and participated in the Council of Jerusalem (c 50). Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized among the "God-fearing" Gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia.
- Barnabas' story appears in the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul mentions him in some of his epistles. Tertullian named him as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, but this and other attributions are conjecture. Clement of Alexandria and some scholars have ascribed the Epistle of Barnabas to him, but his authorship is disputed.
- Although the date, place, and circumstances of his death are historically unverifiable, Christian tradition holds that Barnabas was martyred at Salamis, Cyprus, in 61 AD. He is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Orthodox Church.
- Barnabas is usually identified as the cousin of Mark the Evangelist on the basis of Colossians 4. Some traditions hold that Aristobulus of Britannia, one of the Seventy Disciples, was the brother of Barnabas.
- His Hellenic Jewish parents called him Joseph (although the Byzantine text-type calls him Ιὠσης, Iōsēs, 'Joses', a Greek variant of 'Joseph'), but when he sold all his goods and gave the money to the apostles in Jerusalem, they gave him a new name: Barnabas. This name appears to be from the Aramaic בר נביא, bar naḇyā, meaning 'the son (of the) prophet'. However, the Greek text of the Acts 4:36 explains the name as υἱός παρακλήσεως, hyios paraklēseōs, meaning "son of consolation" or "son of encouragement". A similar link between ”prophecy” and ”encouragement” is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:3).
links/ sources:
- "Barnabas" (Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabas
- "St. Barnabas" (Catholic Online):
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=211
- "St. Barnabas" (Catholic Encyclopedia):
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02300a.htm
- "St. Barnabas" (EWTN):
https://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/B/stbarnabas.asp
- "St. Barnabas" (American Catholic):
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1411