The new bishop began visiting the churches of his diocese, and on this particular feast day, happened to be in a rather 'progressive' parish. Concelebrating Mass with the pastor and associates, he grew more and more infuriated as the liturgical abuses piled up. Nonetheless, he bit his tongue, not wanting to scandalize the parishioners. But when the liturgical dancers came out to 'interpret' the Gospel description of the Baptist's martyrdom, it proved to much. As Salome sashayed across the sanctuary, he leaned over to the pastor and whispered,
"If she asks for your head on a platter, she'll get it."
You can read the rest of Humanum genus at Papal Encyclicals Online.1. The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, "through the envy of the devil," separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God.
2. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described after the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because striving for contrary objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed the efficient cause of each in these words: "Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one."[De civ. Dei, 14, 28 (PL 41, 436)] At every period of time each has been in conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons and of warfare, although not always with equal ardor and assault. At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God Himself. They are planning the destruction of holy Church publicly and openly, and this with the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations of Christendom, if it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Lamenting these evils, We are constrained by the charity which urges Our heart to cry out often to God: "For lo, Thy enemies have made a noise; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They have taken a malicious counsel against Thy people, and they have consulted against Thy saints. They have said, 'come, and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation'."[Ps. 82:24]
3. At so urgent a crisis, when so fierce and so pressing an onslaught is made upon the Christian name, it is Our office to point out the danger, to mark who are the adversaries, and to the best of Our power to make head against their plans and devices, that those may not perish whose salvation is committed to Us, and that the kingdom of Jesus Christ entrusted to Our charge may not stand and remain whole, but may be enlarged by an ever-increasing growth throughout the world.
"St. Joseph Calasanctius was born in Aragon in 1556. Having become a priest, it was revealed to him that he should teach the children of the poor. He founded the Order of the Poor Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God. He was ever a devout pilgrim at the shrines of the martyrs, and daily visited the seven Churches of Rome, where he lived for fifty years. He died August 25, 1648" (NRM). As the founder of a religious order, he is honoured with a statue in St. Peter's Basilica.
"St. Zephyrinus, a pope of the third century, after a lengthy reign in the course of which he earned the title of martyr by his suffering, died a holy death. He is said to have forbidden the use of wooden chalices in the celebration of the Mass, and to have prescribed that all the faithful should receive communion on Easter day. He defended the Church against heresies and especially of those who denied the Trinity." From the supplement to the New Roman Missal by Father F. X. Lasance, et al.
Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles, is often identified with Nathaniel, to whom the quote above refers. The Gospels always associate him with the Apostle St. Philip, who led him to Christ.
Perhaps his most important journey was his last, to the ancient land of Armenia. With St. Thaddeus, he was the first evangelist of that country, which later, under the influence of Gregory the Illuminator, was to become the first Christian nation, perhaps a decade or more before the Edict of Milan made Christianity legal throughout the Roman Empire. Most of the medieval legends revolve around Bartholomew's time in Armenia.And the servants of the Greeks said to him: 'Tell us what he is like, that we may be able to find him'. And the demon answered and said: 'He has black hair, a shaggy head, a fair skin, two large eyes, beautiful nostrils, his ears hidden by the hair of his head, with a yellow beard, a few grey hairs, of middle height, and neither tall nor stunted, but middling, clothed with a white undercloak bordered with purple, and upon his shoulders a very white cloak; and his clothes have been worn twenty-six years, but neither are they dirty, nor have they waxed old. Seven times a day he bends the knee to the Lord, and seven times a night does he pray to God. His voice is like the sonnet of a strong trumpet; there go along with him angels of God, who allow him neither to be weary, nor to hunger, nor to thirst; his face, and his soul, and his heart are always glad and rejoicing; he foresees everything, he knows and speaks every tongue of every nation'.Later, having cured a demoniac and then the daughter of the king, and having expounded the teachings of the faith, he cast the demons out of the temple, and baptized the king.
There is some confusion about the method of execution. Some accounts indicate he was crucified or beheaded; the most enduring story, though, is that he was flayed alive. Artist, of course, love this subject. He is usually represented with a tanner's knife, often as an old man holding his own skin, as can be seen in the pictures in this post. With her traditional sense of dark humour, Holy Mother Church honours Bartholomew as the patron saint of tanners, leather workers, and shoemakers. He is, of course, one of the patron saints of Armenia, and is invoked against demonic possession and neurological diseases.
August 18 is the feast of 
"Equally near to the great archdeacon stands an illustrious virgin, so bright herself as not to be eclipsed by him. A relative of both the Emperor Diocletian and the holy Pope Caius, Susanna, it is said, one day beheld the imperial crown at her feet. But she obtained a far greater nobility; for, by preferring the wreath of virginity, she won at the same time the palm of martyrdom."
As mentioned above, Santa Susanna is one of the oldest churches in Rome, built over the house of Susanna and her family, and originally named for her uncle, Pope Saint Caius. The church was re-named by Saint Gregory the Great in 590, on account of the 'the great devotion that had grown up around the tomb of Susanna' (whose relics had earlier been moved here from the catacombs). The Paulist priests who serve the church note that in that same year, the Pope made Rusticus Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna, and from that time they can trace 77 cardinal priests who have held the title. Of these, five have become Popes, and three are saints. The current Title-holder is Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop emeritus of Boston.
Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the titular feast of the Archbasilica of the Holy Saviour -- more commonly referred to as Saint John Lateran. As the Cathedral Church of Rome, it proudly bears the inscription 'Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput', the Mother and Head of all the Churches of the City [Rome] and of the World.At the time when the sword pierced the bowels of the Mother, I, buried here, taught as Pastor the Word of God; when suddenly the soldiers rushed in and dragged me from the chair. The faithful offered their necks to the sword, but as soon as the Pastor saw the ones who wished to rob him of the palm (of martyrdom) he was the first to offer himself and his own head, not tolerating that the (pagan) frenzy should harm the others. Christ, who gives recompense, made manifest the Pastor's merit, preserving unharmed the flock.
Finally, today is the anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI, whose mortal remains lie in the Vatican Grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescant in pace.
