St. Thomas Day July 3

St. Thomas the Apostle Also Thomas Didymus; the Twin; Apostle of India;
Doubting Thomas Stabbed with a spear c.72 in India; San Thome Cathedral
stands over the place where he was buried in Mylapore, India
Commemorated July 3 Patronage: Saint Thomas is venerated as the Apostle
of India and Pakistan. against doubt, architects, blind people (due to
his occasional spiritual blindness), builders, carpenters, construction
workers, Ceylon East Indies, geometricians, India, masons, Pakistan,
people in doubt, Sri Lanka, stone masons, stonecutters, surveyors,
theologians
In art, Saint Thomas is generally shown as a young or middle-aged man
with a carpenter's rule. He may also be shown with a lance or,
occasionally a sword or dagger; touching Christ's wounded side; catching
the girdle dropped by the Virgin at her Assumption; or casting out the
devil from an Indian king's daughter. White says that Thomas is
portrayed as an elderly man, holding a lance or pierced by one; or
kneeling before Jesus; or with a T- square. Thomas Didymus, Apostle (RM)
1st century; declared apostle of India by Pope Paul VI in 1972; feast
day formerly on December 21. Thomas was probably born in Galilee to a
humble family, but there is no indication that he was a fisherman. He
was a Jew, but there is no account of how he became an apostle to
Christ. His name is Syriac and means "the twin"; he was also called
Didymus, which is the Greek equivalent. In France he is referred to as
Jumeau, which also means "twin." Thomas is remembered for his doubt that
Christ had actually risen from the dead, and he said to the apostles,
"Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into
the nailmarks, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe" (Luke
20:25).
Eight days later, Christ appeared to him and said, "Put your finger
here, and see my hands; and bring your hand and put it into my side. And
be not faithless, but believing." Thomas fell at His feet, saying, "My
Lord and my God!" and Jesus replied, "Because you have seen me, Thomas,
you believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believe"
(Luke 20:27-29). This incident gave rise to the expression "a doubting
Thomas."
Lest we condemn poor Thomas for his lack of belief, consider that he was
a man who relentlessly sought the Truth. Like an inquisitive child, he
constantly asked questions. Earlier, when Jesus told his disciples, "I
go to prepare a place for you. And I will come again and will take you
to myself, that where I am you may also be. And you know the way where
I'm going." At this Thomas, puzzled, but bold enough to ask his Lord to
explain, said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we
know the way?" Jesus replied, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father, except through me. If you had known me, you
would have known my Father also. Henceforth, you know him and have seen
him" (John 14:3-7). When the worried disciples wanted to keep Jesus from
going to raise Lazarus from the dead because "the Jews want to stone you
and you leave yourself open to them!" Thomas responded, "Let us go also,
that we may die with him!" (John 11:16).
Accounts of Thomas's missionary activities are unreliable, but the most
widely accepted account holds that he preached in India. The Acta Thomae
say that when the apostles divided up the world for their missionary
labors, India fell to Thomas. He said he was not healthy enough and that
a Hebrew could not teach Indians; even a vision of Christ could not
change his mind. Christ then appeared to the merchant Abban and sold
Thomas to him as a slave for his master, a king who ruled over part of
India. When Thomas discovered this he said, "As you will, Lord, so be
it." At the court in India, Thomas, having admitted that he was a
carpenter and builder, was ordered to build a palace. While the king was
absent, however, Thomas did no building, and he used the 20 pieces of
silver given to him by the king for charitable purposes. When the king
returned, he imprisoned him, intending to flay him alive. At that point,
the king's brother died, and when the brother was shown the place in
heaven that Thomas's good works had prepared for the king, he was
allowed to return to earth and offer to buy the spot from the king for
himself. The king refused, released Thomas, and was converted by him.
There exists a population of Christians along the Malabar Coast who were
supposedly originally converted by Thomas, and their tradition holds
that he built seven churches, was martyred by spearing on the "Big Hill"
near Madras, and was buried in Mylapore. One account holds that Thomas
was killed for successfully persuading a woman, Mygdonia, to cease
marriage relations with her husband, Charisius. It is certainly possible
that Thomas reached India as a missionary. Indian Christians, especially
in Kerala, often call themselves 'Christians of Saint Thomas,' and an
ancient 6th-century cross that speaks of him in an inscription lies in
the church of Mylapore. In 1522, the Portuguese found the alleged tomb,
and some relics now lie in the Cathedral of Saint Thomas at Mylapore.
The larger part of his relics appear to have been in Edessa in the 4th
century, and the Acta Thomae say that they were taken from India to
Mesopotamia. They were translated to several places and were finally
taken to Ortona in the Abruzzi, where they are still honored.
According to Eusebius, Thomas evangelized Parthia.
The theme of the long, 3rd or 4th century Acta Thomae is the missionary
efforts of Saint Thomas. This is one of the most readable and
intrinsically interesting of early Christian apocryphal writings; but it
is no more than a popular romance, written in the interest of false
gnostic teachings (e.g., the virtual necessity of celibacy for
Christians).
Nevertheless, the doubting Thomas managed to quiet the doubts of many
others during his missionary journeys. He answered the questions of
others with the childlike, loving heart trained by Christ.
The Indians celebrate Thomas's dies natale on July 1 (Attwater,
Benedictines, Bentley, Brown, Delaney, Encyclopedia (December), White).
There are several other apocryphal works concerning or attributed to
Saint Thomas:
  The Gospel of Thomas
 Consummation of Thomas the Apostle
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St.Thomas in Chennai
According to tradition catholics believe that Christianity was first
introduced into India by St. Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus
Christ.
After the Death and Resurrection of Christ, Thomas became acquainted
with Habban, a merchant from India. Habban used to visit Egypt,
Mesopotamia, Syria and other countries in the Middle East on his master,
King Gondophare's business.
It was in the company of this merchant that Thomas made the trip from
Palestine, via the Island of Socotra, and, in 52 A.D., landed at
Cranganore on the Malabar Coast of present-day Kerala. After building
seven churches on this coast, under the benign patronage of the Hindu
Kings of the time, Thomas crossed the Coromandel Coast of India's
eastern seaboard.
Vincent Smith, the historian, has stated that there was nothing
incredible in the traditional belief that St. Thomas did come to South
India.
Chennai and its suburbs are closely associated with St. Thomas. At
Little Mount (Chinnamalai in Tamil) he is believed to have lived for
some years in a cave which can still be seen.
At St. Thomas Mount he was pierced to death with a lance in 72 A.D. At
San Thome in Mylapore, a magnificent Cathedral stands over the place
where he was buried. This Church, which is dedicated to him and is
popularly known as San Thome Cathedral, overlooks the Bay of Bengal,
being situated on the sea-front of the historic city of Madras. ~Thomas
Coss~ Meriden, Connecticut 06450 USA http://www.tomcoss.net
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