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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. |
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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. |
St. Thomas the Apostle is the Patron Saint of our Church.
The Aramaic Tau'ma from which "Thomas" comes, is itself derived from the Aramaic word for twin, T'oma. In Greek, "Thomas" is Didymus which means Twin. Thus the naming convention Didymus Thomas repeated three times in the Gospel of John is in fact a tautology (an unnecessary, and usually unintentional, repetition of meaning, using different words that effectively say the same thing twice) that omits the Twin's actual name).
Little is recorded of Thomas the Apostle, nevertheless thanks to the fourth Gospel his personality is clearer to us than that of some others of the Twelve. His name occurs in all the lists of the Synoptists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6, cf. Acts 1:13), but in John's Gospel he plays a distinctive part. First, when Jesus announced His intention of returning to Judea to visit Lazarus, "Thomas who is called Didymus [the twin], said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him"" (John 11:16). Again it was St. Thomas who during the discourse before the Last Supper raised an objection: "Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5).
More commonly, St. Thomas is remembered for his skepticism when the other Apostles announced Christ's Resurrection to him: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" ( John 20:25). But eight days later he made his act of faith, drawing down the rebuke of Jesus: "Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed" (John 20:29).
St John the Evangelist seems to have taken a personal interest in St Thomas. He gives four of Thomas' sayings (John 11 : 16 ; 14 : 5 ; 20: 24-29) and includes St Thomas among the seven who met the Risen Christ by the Lake oŁ Galilee at His third appearance to the Apostles after the Resurrection. In the Synoptic gospels St Thomas' name is coupled with that of St Matthew.
There are two apocryphal books about Thomas. "The Gospel of St Thomas" which is about Jesus' childhood, and the "Acts of St Thomas, " from the third century in Persia which provides the legend connecting him with India.
An old tradition says St. Thomas baptized the wise men - the three kings of Tarsus, Saba and Nubia who subsequently gave their lives in martyrdom.
His symbols are the carpenter’s square, palms, a crown, and a spear (and/or arrows).
The builder's square is St Thomas's primary symbol, and commemorate the sale of Thomas to the merchant Abbanes who came to Palestine seeking a proficient carpenter for Gundaphorus, King of the Indians. Jesus is said to have appeared in order to effect the sale of the unwilling apostle with these words, " I, Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter, acknowledge that I have sold my slave, Thomas."
After a long journey St Thomas reached India . In India St Thomas was commissioned by the King Gundafor to build a royal palace and entrusted with much wealth for that purpose while the king went away. However, after two years the King returned to find no palace erected because Thomas had given all the treasure to the sick and poor, needy and distressed, and had begun to build up God's Church in India.
Gundafor imprisoned him, but the Apostle escaped miraculously and Gundafor was eventually converted. Going about the country to preach, Thomas came to the city of King Misdai (Syriac Mazdai ), where he converted Tertia the wife of Misdai and Vazan his son. For this he was arrested, condemned to death , led out of city to a hill, and pierced through with spears (or in some traditions and/or shot with arrows) by four soldiers and thus their inclusion in his symbols. He was buried in the tomb of the ancient kings. In 232 the Indian king "Mazdai" ("Misdeus" in Greek) returned Thomas' remains were returned and brought back from India to the city of Edessa, Mesopotamia. After a short stay on the Greek island of Chios, on September 6, 1258, the relics were transported to Ortona, Italy where they remain to this day.
There is an ancient Church in South India claiming to have been founded by St Thomas and using the primitive Liturgy of Malabar. This Syrian Church has maintained its orthodoxy and independence through the long centuries. In addition, at Mount St Thomas, Madras, is the shrine of the Apostle's martyrdom.
The crown and palms are a symbol of his triumph which earned the prefix " Saint " to his name. His reward was the fulfillment of Our Lord's promise to all His apostles that they should sit on twelve thrones as judges (Matthew 19: 28).
His Feast Day is December 21, which is the date we commemorate him, but in some traditions it has been moved to July 3.Please email comments or questions by clicking here.
Updated 2008-12-15