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Saint Thomas
Apostle
Canonized Pre-Congregation
Saint Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas, or Didymus, was one of the Twelve
Apostles of Jesus. He is perhaps best known for disbelieving Jesus' Resurrection when first told
of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus. He was perhaps the only Apostle
who went outside the Roman Empire for preaching Holy Gospel and the one who spanned the
largest area, which includes Persia, India (present day Kerala), and China.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Thomas in the Gospel of John
• 2 Name and identity
○ 2.1 Twin and its renditions
○ 2.2 Other names
○ 2.3 Veneration as a saint
• 3 Later history
○ 3.1 Thomas and the Assumption of Mary
○ 3.2 Thomas and Syria
• 4 Historical references to St. Thomas
• 5 Thomas and India
○ 5.1 Visit to Gondophares
5.1.1 Return of the relics
5.1.2 Pope Leo XIII's Statement regarding Visit of St.Thomas to India
5.1.3 Pope Benedict XVI's Statement regarding Visit of St.Thomas to India
• 6 St. Thomas Christians
○ 6.1 Eminent historian cautions India's Christians
○ 6.2 Thomas other accounts
• 7 Writings Attributed to Thomas
• 8 See also
• 9 Notes
• 10 External links
St. Thomas depicted in stone, St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church, Hyde Park, Chicago.
[edit] Veneration as a saint
Thomas is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and
the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
In the Roman Catholic Church, his actual feast day is December 21. It was moved in order to
accommodate the commemoration of St. Peter Canisius, who died on December 21. The Roman
Catholic and Anglican calendars honour him on July 3, the day on which his relics are believed
to have been translated from Mylapore, a place along the coast of the Marina Beach, Chennai in
India to the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia.
For the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Coptic Orthodox
Church he is remembered each year on Saint Thomas Sunday, which falls on the Sunday after
Easter. In addition, the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches celebrate his feast day
on October 6 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, October 6
currently falls on October 19 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). He is also commemorated in
common with all of the other apostles on June 30 (July 13), in a feast called the Synaxis of the
Holy Apostles. He is also associated with the "Arabian" (or "Arapet") Icon of the Theotokos
(Mother of God), which is commemorated on September 6 (September 19).
[edit] Later history
Just as Saints Peter and Paul are said to have brought the fledgling Christianity to Greece and
Rome, Saint Mark brought it to Egypt, Saint John to Syria and Asia Minor, Thomas is often said
to have taken it eastwards as far as India. Saint Thomas is said to have been the first Catholicos
of the East.He was a Martyr and was killed by group of sages in Chennai and the Place is called
Saint Thomas Mount.
[edit] Thomas and the Assumption of Mary
Background
Christianity
Malankara Church
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
Saint Thomas Christians
Holy Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas
Malankara Metropolitans
Knanaya
Events
Synod of Diamper
Coonan Cross Oath
Goa Inquisition
People
St Thomas
Jordan Catalani
St Francis Xavier
St.Gregorios of Parumala
St.Dionysius of Malankara
Saint Gonsalo Garcia
St. Alphonsamma
Mother Teresa
Reginald Heber
Blessed Kuriakose Chavara
Henry Martyn
Bishop Cotton
William Carey
Anthony Norris Groves
Hugh Findlay
Charles Freer Andrews
Churches
Russian Orthodox icon of St. Thomas the Apostle, with scroll, 18th century (Iconostasis of
Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).
"Let none read the gospel according to Thomas, for it is the work, not of one of the twelve
apostles, but of one of Mani's three wicked disciples."
—Cyril of Jerusalem, Cathechesis V (4th century)
In the first two centuries of the Christian era, a number of writings were circulated, which
claimed the authority of Thomas, some of them said, perhaps too loosely, to be espousing a
Gnostic doctrine, as Cyril was suggesting. It is unclear now why Thomas was seen as an
authority for doctrine, although this belief is documented in Gnostic groups as early as the Pistis
Sophia (ca AD 250 - 300) which states that the "three witnesses" committing to writing "all of
his words" are Thomas, along with Philip and Matthew. In that Gnostic work, Mary Magdalene
(one of the disciples) says:
"Now at this time, my Lord, hear, so that I speak openly, for thou hast said to us 'He who
has ears to hear, let him hear:' Concerning the word which thou didst say to Philip: 'Thou
and Thomas and Matthew are the three to whom it has been given… to write every word
of the Kingdom of the Light, and to bear witness to them'; hear now that I give the
interpretation of these words. It is this which thy light-power once prophesied through
Moses: 'Through two and three witnesses everything will be established. The three
witnesses are Philip and Thomas and Matthew" ( —Pistis Sophia 1:43)
An early, non-Gnostic tradition may lie behind this statement, which also emphasizes the
primacy of the Gospel of Matthew in its Aramaic form, over the other canonical three.
Besides the Acts of Thomas there was a widely circulated Infancy Gospel of Thomas probably
written in the later 2nd century, and probably also in Syria, which relates the miraculous events
and prodigies of Jesus' boyhood. This is the document which tells for the first time the familiar
legend of the twelve sparrows which Jesus, at the age of five, fashioned from clay on the Sabbath
day, which took wing and flew away. The earliest manuscript of this work is a sixth century one
in Syriac. This gospel was first referred to by Irenaeus; Ron Cameron notes: "In his citation,
Irenaeus first quotes a non-canonical story that circulated about the childhood of Jesus and then
goes directly on to quote a passage from the infancy narrative of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:49).
Since the Infancy Gospel of Thomas records both of these stories, in relative close proximity to
one another, it is possible that the apocryphal writing cited by Irenaeus is, in fact, what is now
known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Because of the complexities of the manuscript
tradition, however, there is no certainty as to when the stories of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas
began to be written down."
The best known in modern times of these documents is the "sayings" document that is being
called the Gospel of Thomas, a noncanonical work which some scholars believe may actually
predate the writing of the Biblical gospels themselves.[38] The opening line claims it is the work
of "Didymos Judas Thomas" - who has been identified with Thomas. This work was discovered
in a Coptic translation in 1945 at the Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi, near the site of the
monastery of Chenoboskion. Once the Coptic text was published, scholars recognized that an
earlier Greek translation had been published from fragments of papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus in
the 1890s.
[edit] See also
• List of Catholicos of the East
• Saint Thomas of Mylapur
• Saint Thomas Christians
• São Tomé
• Doubting Thomas
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Faith and Character of Apostle Thomas by Dr. Mathew Vellanickal and many other articles in
St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia
2. ^ Turner, John D. The Book of Thomas(NHC II,7 138,7-138,12). Retrieved September 10, 2006.
3. ^ The Passing of Mary
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i (' NSC Network (2007)' St. Thomas, India mission- Early reference and testimonies
5. ^ Dr. Wright (Ed.), Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, London, 1871 (Syriac Text in Vol.1, English
translation in Vol. II); Rev. Paul Bedjan, Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum, Vol. III, Leipsic-Paris,
1892.A. E. Medlycott, India and the Apostle Thomas, London 1905, Appendix, pp. 221 -225.
6. ^ Acts of Thomas
7. ^ Cardinal Mai, Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio, Rome, 1838. W. Cureton, Ancient Syriac
Documents, London, 1864: Latin Translation by A. Assemani; Vindobonae, 1856; Didascalia in
Coptic, Ethiopic, and Arabic. Also see Medlycott, p. 33 ff.
8. ^ (Cureton, pp. 32, 33, 34). 20th Century Discussions : Medlycott, pp 33-37 alias Menachery,
STCEI, II, 20-21, Farquhar, p. 26 ff.
9. ^ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, 3.1; Patrologia Graeca, Migne Edn., 20.215; Patrologia
Latina, Migne, 21.478.
10.^ Farquhar, p. 30. 20th Century Discussions : Perumalil, pp. 50,51.E. R. Hambye, “Saint Thomas
and India”, The Clergy Monthly 16 (1952). Comes, S. J., “Did St. Thomas Really come to
India?”, in Menachery (Ed).) STCEI, II. Farquhar, pp. 30,31,
11.^ Patrologia Graeca (Migne), 19-24., 20.215.
12.^ J.C.Panjikaran, Christianity in Malabar w.s.r.t. The St. Thomas Christians of the Syro-Malabar
Rite, Orientalia Christiana, VI, 2 (23), Roma I, April 1926, p.99 esp. for reference to Pantaenus’
Indian visit.
13.^ Bickell, S. Ephraemi Syri, Caramina Nisibena, Lipsiae, 1866; Monsignor Lamy, S. Ephraemi
Syri Hymni et Sermones, (Quarto 4 vols.); Breviary acc. to the Rite of the Church of Antioch of
the Syrians, Mosul, 1886-96. Also See Medlycott, pp. 21-32. Alias Menachery (Ed.) STCEI, II, p.
18 ff.
14.^ 20th Century Discussions : Medlycott, pp.21-32 alias Menachery (Ed.), STCEI, II, p. 18 ff.
15.^ Homil. XXXII,xi, Contra Arianos et de seipso. Migne, P.G. 36-228.
16.^ 20th Century Discussions : Medlycott, pp, 42,43; Perumalil pp. 43,44.
17.^ Migne, P-L 140 1143. (Also see 17. 1131, 17.1133, for his Indian knowledge.)
18.^ 20th Century Discussions : Medlycott, pp. 43, 44. Perumalil, pp. 44.45,Perumalil and
Menachery (STCEI I, II), Migne Edns.; Wm. A. Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers:etc. History of
Christianity-Source Materials by M. K. George, CLS, Madras, 1982 and the Handbook of Source
Materials by Wm. G. Young.D. Ferroli, The jesuits in Malabar, Vol. I. Bangalore, 1939, esp. notes
and documents p. 71 ff.; W.S. Hunt, The Anglican Church in Travancore and Cochin, Kottayam,
1920, esp. p. 27, p.33 pp. 46-50; G.T. Mackenzie, i.c.s., “History of Christianity in Travancore”,
in The Travancore State Manual, Vol-II, Edited by Nagam Aiya, Trivandrum 1906 pp. 135-233;
Menachery, STCEI, I, II.
19.'^ Historia Ecclesiastica, III.1.
20.^ MEDLYCOTT, India and the Apostle St. Thomas (London, 1905).
21.^ MEDLYCOTT, India and the Apostle St. Thomas (London, 1905).
22.^ MEDLYCOTT, India and the Apostle St. Thomas (London, 1905).
23.^ MEDLYCOTT, India and the Apostle St. Thomas (London, 1905).
24.^ a b Mario Bussagli, "L'Art du Gandhara", p255
25.^ Mar Aprem, The Chaldean Syrian Church of the East, (Date and place of publication not
available.)
26.^ T.K. Joseph, Six St. Thomases of South India, Chengannur, 1955
27.^ Henry Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II, London, 1903
28.^ Leo XIII, Humanae Salutis Auctor, Rome, 1886
29.^ Times of India
30.^ a b Catholic News
31.^ Pope pops St thomas Bubble
32.^ Eugene Tisserant, Eastern Christianity in India, Calcutta, 1957
33.^ Michael Baigent, et al, The Messianic Legacy, London, 1987
34.^ Stephen Neill, History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to 1707 A.D., Cambridge, 1985
35.^ (American Eccles. Rev., 1899, pp.1-18)
36.^ (i, 8; cf. Berchet "Fonte italiane per la storia della scoperta del Nuovo Mondo", II, 236, and I,
44).
37.^ Christian Tomb Stones in China Dated 84 AD
38.^ "The Tao of Thomas", by Joseph Lumpkin