Saint Thomas the Apostle

Saint Thomas, a First Century Jew, is thought to have come from Galilee, of humble origins. His name is Syrian and literally means "twin". This is why you often see him referred to as Didymus, Greek for twin. We do not know how he first came to Our Lord's attention; it is not thought that he was a fisherman like Peter and his kinfolk, but rather a carpenter like St. Joseph. His symbol is the carpenter's square and he is the patron of builders. Tradition is our guide here and while we must be wary of claims going by the name of "tradition" we have come to rely on various accounts that are similar or the same for this Apostle as we do for other early Christian Saints and Martyrs, especially when some of the accounts have written sources of their own.

The Apostle is best known for doubting the Resurrection of Christ: when Christ appeared to His Apostles, Thomas was not present and refused to believe the testimony of the others. He wanted to see and touch our Lord himself. While he plays a somewhat prominent role in Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6, cf. and Acts 1:13, it is the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 24-29, that provides a vivid, unfading scene for all history to make note of [he is also mentioned in chapter 11---ready to die with Christ and 14---we know not where Thou goest ...]:

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: 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.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you.
27 Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see My hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into My side; and be not faithless, but believing.
28 Thomas answered, and said to Him: My Lord, and my God.
29 Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.

Saint Thomas was humbled by this reprimand and seized the grace his Savior was pouring out upon him in mercy and love; he was fortified for his coming Martyrdom although he had as yet to put aside all doubting; he was in much need of Christ's patience and forbearance.

The most reliable accounts, supported by written documents, such as the Acta Thomae dating back to the Third Century, of Thomas after Pentecost is his missionary work to India. He is known as the "Apostle of India". There are many churches, cathedrals and even a basilica erected in his honor in that country; one of them, in the Chennai district, specifically, the Mylapore suburb of Madras, houses a few of is relics. Most of his relics were transported to Edessa in the Fourth Century; the Acta describes the translation of the larger portion to Mesopotamia from India. Even the Indian Anglicans have built churches in his honor. Traditional-minded Indian Catholics, a persecuted group, are very strong Catholics and intensely devoted to Saint Thomas as they are to Our Lady of Fatima. The churches that bear his name are magnificently furnished and much visited.

This is how St. Thomas came to call India home and to evangelize that pagan land, taken from the Acta Thomae [Butler account]:

When the Apostles at Jerusalem divided the countries of the world for their labors, India fell to the lot of Thomas, reluctant to go, pleaded a lack of strength and that a Hebrew could not teach Indians, and even a vision of our Lord could not alter his resolution. But he went anyway after hesitating and making excuses. According to the Acta, a king played a role; we are not certain who he was, but there is historical evidence "that about the year A.D. 46 a king was reigning over that part of Asia south of Himalayas now represented by Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the Punjab, and Sind, who bore the name Gondophernes or Guduphara." [NEW ADVENT]

There is a large population of native Christians who call themselves 'the Christians of St. Thomas'. They have an ancient oral tradition that he landed at Cranganoreon, the west coast and established seven churches in Malabar; his landing on the west coast is disputed today; the rest is not: he then passed eastward to the Coromandel Coast, where he was Martyred, by spearing, on the 'Big Hill', eight miles from Madras; and was buried at Mylapore, now a suburb of that city. There are several medieval references to the tomb of St. Thomas in India, some of which name Mylapore; and in 1522 the Portuguese discovered the tomb there, with certain small relics now preserved in the cathedral of St. Thomas at Mylapore. But the bulk of his relics were certainly at Edessa in the fourth century, as the Acta Thomae relate. They were later translated from Edessa to the island of Khios in the Aegean, and from thence to Ortona in the Abruzzi, where they are still venerated.

Our Holy Father has said that St. Thomas did not evangelize all of India, which may be true; some take this to mean that Indian Catholics do not owe their faith to his labor; this is not true as you have just read.

According to the NEW ADVENT site, a great resource, the tradition that St. Thomas preached in India "was widely spread in both East and West and is to be found in such writers as Ephraem Syrus, Ambrose, Paulinus, Jerome, and, later Gregory of Tours and others." While we are not certain how vast his preaching travel was, we know for sure that there is in the Madras region of India "still to be found a granite bas-relief cross with a Pahlavi (ancient Persian) inscription dating from the seventh century, and the tradition that it was here that St. Thomas laid down his life is locally very strong. Certain it is also that on the Malabar or west coast of southern India a body of Christians still exists using a form of Syriac for its liturgical language. Whether this Church dates from the time of St. Thomas the Apostle (there was a Syro-Chaldean bishop John 'from India and Persia' who assisted at the Council of Nicea in 325) or whether the GospelPersian was first preached there in 345 owing to the persecution under Shapur (or Sapor), or whether the Syrian missionaries who accompanied a certain Thomas Cana penetrated to the Malabar coast about the year 745 seems difficult to determine. We know only that in the sixth century Cosmas Indicopleustes speaks of the existence of Christians at Male (? Malabar) under a bishop who had been consecrated in Persia. King Alfred the Great is stated in the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' to have sent an expedition to establish relations with these Christians of the Far East." [NEW ADVENT]

Saint Thomas was declared the "Apostle of India" by Pope Paul VI in 1972.

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