Barnabas was one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, he was a Cypriot Jew and his Hellenic Jewish parents called him Joseph. However, as per the Book of Acts, the apostles called him Barnabas and he was identified as the cousin of Mark the Evangelist.
Barnabas appears mainly in the Acts and was named an apostle (Acts 14:14). He and Paul undertook many missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the Judaizers. They travelled together, making more converts and participated in the Council of Jerusalem. Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized the "God-fearing" Gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia.
Barnabas, a native of Cyprus and a Levite, is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem, who sold the land that he owned and gave the proceeds to the community. Paul mentions him in some of his epistles and Tertullian named him as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Barnabas, along with Paul, had preached the gospel in Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia.
Following a dispute between them, Paul and Barnabas parted ways at one point. Paul took Silas as his companion and journeyed through Syria and Cilicia, while Barnabas took John Mark to visit Cyprus.
Although it is believed that he was martyred by being stoned, the apocryphal Acts of Barnabas states that he was bound with a rope by the neck and dragged to the site where he was burned to death.
According to the History of the Cyprus Church, in 478 Barnabas appeared in a dream to the Archbishop Anthemios of Cyprus and revealed to him the place of his sepulchre beneath a carob-tree. The following day Anthemios found the tomb and inside it the remains of Barnabas with a manuscript of Matthew's Gospel on his breast.
Anthemios then placed the venerable remains of Barnabas in a church which he founded near the tomb. Saint Barnabas is venerated as the Patron Saint of Cyprus.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Paula Frasinetti
2. Saint Tochmura
3. Saint Parisius
4. Saint Herebald
5. Saint Blitharius
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