And yet anon the full sunflower blew, / And became a starre for Bartholomew
August 24: Bartlemas | Watermelon Festival | Gazpacho Recipe | Bun Run | Mead Blessing
St. Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles; some Bible scholars identify him with Nathanael (John 1:46-50). He was martyred in 69 AD after converting the King of Armenia, Polymius, to Christianity.
Historic rural celebrations of Bartlemas (St. Bartholomew’s mass) hold a plethora of beautiful, meaningful traditions that have enlivened my vision of who St. Bartholomew was, how gracefully he bore his mission, and how the traditions accumulated over time have borne witness to this on a global scale.
Watermelon Festival
A tradition hailing from Rome, a watermelon festival was held annually on Bartlemas at a basilica dedicated to St. Bartholomew and containing his relics: the San Bartolomeo all’Isola, on an island in the middle of the Tiber River. The watermelon crop was plentiful at this time (here on our farm in the Pacific Northwest, we’re just now beginning to harvest watermelon, too) - so a lively festival was held, with vendors sporting beautifully decorated displays of watermelon, games, and more. As is so often the case, a connection was made between a holy day, the rhythms of nature & the agrarian year, and folk customs.
Stories of the Italian Bartlemas watermelon festival, and the gorgeous 19th century etching above, inspired me to paint a Bartlemas elk. His antlers are clad in garlands & ribbons, freshly cut watermelon, and a waving festival flag. I like to think that he's the local watermelon vendor out to share his crop with other woodland critters!
Watermelon Gazpacho Recipe
Last year for Bartlemas, we had a picnic with a refreshing gazpacho, as well as fresh bread, butter, cheese, & honey (all associated with St. Bartholomew), and gingerbread as prizes for the kids racing circuits around the sunflower patch.
This delightful summertime gazpacho (a cold soup) is made of watermelon and fresh vegetables abundant this time of year. Watermelon season is at its height, so it's a fitting way to weave together the growing season with the liturgical calendar.
It's a really simple recipe, and the bonus is that there's no need to turn an oven on - so it's perfect for hot August days!
If you want to add some more flavor, you can add an extra garlic clove or more cumin; I keep things on the less-spicy end to suit my kiddos.
St. Bartholomew’s Bun Run
Another beautiful tradition - one that still takes place to this very day! - is the St. Bartholomew's Day Bun Run in England. In Sandwich - a town in the district of Kent - a hospital was founded in 1190, with St. Bartholomew’s chapel being added in 1217. On Bartlemas, after a service in the chapel, children race around the exterior and receive a currant bun when they finish (mimicking pilgrims receiving food along the journey). Adults receive a St. Bart’s biscuit, stamped with the town arms. This tradition seems to have replaced an earlier one, when visiting children would receive “St. Bartholomew’s Dole” – bread, cheese, and beer. This, in turn, had represented the Wayfarers’ Dole – food offerings given to pilgrims on their way to Canterbury.
Isn't that fun? I've found that I really love making paper dolls so that kids (or those of us who are children at heart!) can learn more about these holidays by playing with them…so I created this Bartlemas bun run paper scene, with little rabbits that can receive currant buns when they run around the sunflowers:
Mead Blessing
Again reflecting the rhythms of the agrarian year and nature's cycles, it's traditional to harvest honey on Bartlemas. St. Bartholomew came to be associated with honey, beekeepers, and mead - there is still a church (at Gulval, in Cornwall) in which they bless mead on Bartlemas!
I thought this was the perfect tradition for one of my little Vignettes - a wee bird is blessing a mazer-bowl full of mead on Bartlemas, surrounded by honeycomb and bearing a bright sunflower. Legend says that St. Bartholomew spread the gospel in Armenia, so the bird I chose for this is the Eurasian golden oriole.
Will you be celebrating Bartlemas this year? Though today’s his feast day, remember that these days are meant to be reminders, not limitations - so if you want to partake in Bartlemas festivities another day, go for it! I find the older approach to the calendar to be a gentler, more helpful mindset - significant feasts were thought of as little miniature seasons unto themselves, so calendars listed “Bartlemy Tide” as going from August 24 until August 27.
Considering how agrarian communities were at the time, it makes sense - weather, the timing of crops, etc. could be taken into account and seamlessly blended with liturgical rhythms…and the older calendar approach kept all that in mind.
To my lovely paid subscribers - keep an eye out for another note coming with a few downloads available for you!
Blessings,
Kristin
St Bart is the patron saint of my church! This celebration feels like one last hurrah for summer. I love it. I think I’ll plan a little feast tomorrow based on your post. 🌻🍉
How beautiful! I especially love that etching of the watermelon festival 🍉 and your bun run paper dolls are so charming! 🐇