The following paragraph is taken from the "Catholic Almanac"
Thomas (Didymus): Notable for his initial incredulity regarding the Resurrection and his subsequent forthright confession of the divinity of Christ risen from the dead; according to legend, preached the Gospel in places from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf and eventaully reached India where he was martyred near Madras; Thomas Christians trace their origin to him; in art, is depicted knelling before the risen Christ, or with a carpenter's rule and square; feast, July 3 (Roman Rite), Oct. 6 (Byzantine Rite).
There are many hundreds of interesting sources about St Thomas the Apostle on the Internet. One site that contains a beautiful homily by the Pope-doctor, St Gregory the Great, and ten other links is:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt07.htm
The following is taken from Chapter Eight from "The Twelve" by Otto Hophan, O.F.M. Cap. Information on this book is found in the doctoral resources/link on the Doctors of the Catholic Church website at:
http://doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com
St Thomas the Apostle is often wronged. Whenever his name is heard, one tends to think of a skeptic, a doubter. "He is a doubting Thomas" has become a byword. We have become accustomed, through the centuries, to judge this apostle on the basis of his one sin of disbelief, just as Judas is so often seen only in connection with his betrayal. Peter's denial was as evil as Thomas' doubt, and yet no intelligent person immediately connects the name of Peter exclusively with his sin. Just as there is much more to know about Peter than his denial, so there is much more to know about Thomas than his one doubt. We know that Peter was more than a sinner. And Thomas was more than a sinner. He was an apostle, chosen by the Lord, one of His followers.
For centuries St. Thomas has been represented as the patron and forerunner of all skeptics and doubters and grumblers and fault-finders. Actually, this is a gross and serious injustice to a man whose life was so bitter, and who had to suffer his distress for our sake. For this skepticism and lack of faith in Thomas was not so much an attitude or arrogrance as an exemplification of that ordinary foolishness which God in His mysterious wisdom uses to provoke His creatures to reflect upon the majesty of divine wisdom. St. Thomas' doubt was conceived in sorrow, born in painful hesitation, and grew into a blessing. Before this apostle can be properly judged, one must remember not only that he doubted, but also why his sadness made him hesitate to believe. The generous crown of God's mercy must also be kept in mind.
Thomas, the Doubter
As already indicated, whenever one hears the name of the apostle Thomas mentioned, he probably begins to grow suspicious of him. Twice St. John called Thomas by a surname, "Didymus"-literally, "the twofold one," or freely translated into English, "the twin." One might even try to interpret the meaning of this expression as an indication of a personality at least mildly schizophrenic. But such an opinion would be groundless, and completely incorrect, as any thorough and thoughtful examination of the texts will show. Actually, St John was only explaining Thomas' Aramaic name to the Greek reader of his Gospel: Thomas, that is (in Greek), Didymus, the Twin.
Certain idle legends have spread the gossip that the twin brother of Thomas was Eleazar, or that his twin sister was Lysia. In the spurious "Acts of Thomas" even Christ Himself was put forth as the twin brother of Thomas. Christ and Thomas were supposedly so much alike that they were often mistaken for one another.
Such a ridiculous fable may well have taken root in a tradition of the Church at Edessa. According to this tradition, the proper name of the apostle Thomas was Jude-Jude being an other name for Thomas, that is, Didymus, or the Twin. And this led to a confusion with the apostle Jude, who was known by many titles: Thaddeus, a brother, or cousin, of the Lord. Quite abruptly, then, these legends assumed that this Jude was Thomas, a brother, even a twin brother, of the Lord.
Sacred Scripture has not passed down any information concerning the origin, parents, or early life of Thomas. He was the first one of the Twelve to enter the Gospels practically unnoticed, the leader of the silent, almost mute, apostles. The first seven apostles had been mentioned before their calling, but Thomas' name appears for the first time in the lists of the apostles like a ray of the sun on the edge of a forest, which no one had noticed before.
Legend has it that Thomas was an architect. Since the thirteenth century, artists have associated the carpenter's square with this apostle, who has been made the patron of builders. Scripture, nonetheless, suggest that he was a fisherman, not a full-fledged owner of a business, as were Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, but a helper. This supposition coincides with other statements that Thomas came from a poor family of the tribe of Juda or Issachar.
Perhaps Thomas' restrained and insecure nature resulted from the poverty of his daily life. In the fourth Gospel this apostle appears as an outspokenly melancholic person. St. John, the painter of many true and beautiful portraits, recorded a few very significant words about Thomas in three passages. Despite their brevity these words reveal the whole nature of this man. The Synoptics mentioned only the name of Thomas: Mark and Luke in the eighth place on their lists, and Matthew in the seventh. In the Canon of the Mass and in the Litany of the Saints, and also in the Acts of the Apostles, he is portrayed as an especially important witness of the Resurrection; he is placed before Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew, not after them, as he was in the Gospels.
Although his apostolic companions stood on his right and on his left, Thomas nevertheless remained almost alone and lost in the rank and file of the apostles. When he compared himself with the others-as melancholic persons like to do-he emerged only as their inferior. Had the other apostles assumed any privilege or prerogative he might have rightly claimed as his own?
Peter was the first in authority; John was the first in love. Andrew and James could sun themselves in the distinctions of their respected brothers. Philip had his happy friend Bartholomew, and Bartholomew could rely on Philip. Matthew was a rich and skilled man. James the Less, Jude Thaddeus, and Simon were closely related to the Lord, and certainly they came after Thomas-yet it was only the fine tact of Jesus that made Him appoint these last places to His own relatives. And finally, Judas Iscariot, an unpleasant and sinister character, again and again enjoyed the trust of all, in that he was permitted to carry the money-purse.
St. Thomas alone was without a title. He was the lonesome apostle, the last of all. If one mediates on the passage of the Gospel which conern the apostle Thomas, he will see that these suppositions-they are no more than this-are not without basis, though taken from a wide range of possibilities.
The first appearance of Thomas in the Gospels occurred immediately before the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Jesus had just fled from Jerusalem to escape stoneing and seizure by the Jews. He had gone to Perea. The grieving sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha of Bethany, had sent a special messenger to Him to inform Him that their brother lay very ill. To this news our Lord gave the dark and mysterious answer. "'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that through it the Son of God may be glorified.'" Again it is not always for us to have a clear understanding of the ways of God. Lazarus was a very close friend of Jesus; but instead of going to him immediately, our Lord "remained two more days in the same place. Then afterwards he said to his disciples. "Let us go again into Judea.'".
The disciples were startled and confused. "'Rabbi, just now the Jews were seeking to stone thee; and dost thou go there again?'" And after Jesus spoke to them about the "sleep" of Lazarus, they stuck to their refusal to understand, the real meaning of that word. They tried to find a plausible reason not to return where they might be notices by the hostile Jews. "'Lord if he sleeps, he will be safe.'" Despite their fear and anxiety and insistence on retaining their safe position, our Lord did not hesitate to fulfill His dangeous mission of mercy. He left no doubt about the "sleep" of Lazarus. "So then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.'" Then Thomas, the sad and faithful fellow-disciple, spoke out with the bravery of a martyr, "' Let us also go, that we may die with Him.' " Thomas, the apostle full of love and melancholy and courage!
Thomas was already expecting the worst. He was not led on by a consoling illusion, nor did he let himself be deceived, as the others, by palms or hosannas. He saw the dark storm, the darkest storm, forming on the horizon. When the Lord, despite all the urging and reminding of the disciples, wanted to "go again into Judea," Thomas was not going to let Him go alone. Let us all go and die with Him!
It was certainly not this way with Peter after our Lord's first prediction of His Passion. Peter feared for his Master, and for himself, too; "'Far be it from thee, O Lord; this will never happen to thee"" Thomas' remark was much more serious and realistic, much more mature, like a grain of corn ready to die for a new life, which dips to the ground to return to the place from where it came. In Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper" St. Thomas-the second on the left of Christ-was portrayed fervently assuring the Lord of his faithfulness.
A similarly melancholic thought, spoken by Thomas at the Last Supper, was recorded by the evangelist John. The disciples were very dejected, thinking about being separated from their Master. Christ went out of His way to comfort them. His first words of solace concerned their reunion in the mercy of the Father.
"Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many mansions. Were it not so, I should have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, and I will take you to myself; that where I am, there you also may be."
In order to remind them of His earlier words, and at the same time to entice them to forget the oppressing silence and begin to talk with Him, He immediately added, "'And where I go you know, and the way you know.'"
Of all those present at the Last Supper no one questioned the words of the Master. Only Thomas, shaking helplessly, admitted, "'Lord, we do not know where thou are going, and how can we know the way?'" Quite correctly he said "we." For certainly the others had not thoroughly understood the Lord's methods and objectives. Even St. Paul could exclaim, "How unsearchable his ways!" The others, however, did not have the courage to let their inner feelings of insecurity be known before all. Not even the bold Peter spoke up!
Thomas, who suffered more painfully than the others in that he could think more deeply than the others, did not hold back his questions. With sincerity and frankness he opened up his melancholic soul to the Lord. Christ, full of compassion for and understanding of the inner torture of one He had called, gave him an answer, which belongs among the most royal of the whole Gospel. He permitted this gloomy speculator a glance into His divine knowledge. The Lord even let him see into the hidden and unknown depths of the Trinity when He answered Thomas:
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. If you had known me, you would also have known my Father. And henceforth you do know him and you have seen him."
For this illuminating glance into the future, eternal life in the Father and the Son, and into the way, Christ, Himself, that leads to his life, we must thank Thomas. It was the tormenting doubt of this apostle and his frank and courageous questions that occasioned our Lord's lesson.
The apostle Thomas suffered a third time, even more painfully than before, in the torment of his doubt right in the middle of all the joy and alleluias of the first Easter week.
Thomas had experienced and foreseen the long hours of Good Friday with inexorable clarity, more clearly perhaps than any other apostle except Judas. Both apostles, the melancholy Thomas and the traitorous Judas, knew from the depths of their radically different hearts the fate of the Lord that was so near at hand. But Thomas-and perhaps Judas, too- had a hope hidden in the depths of his heart that the Redeemer could master and change this difficult destiny. Nevertheless, when the suffering of Christ had run its courses-capture, judgment, crucifixion, death--Thomas was struck by the heavy blow of reality. This was too much for him. He could not withstand the weight of this burden.
Good Friday had made the other apostles waver in their faith. Disbelief was all around them. They could have had a secret hope that Christ would come back to them, but this seemed impossible; they could not convince themselves that there would be a resurrection. The Gospels show that the apostles gave no indication that they had the slightest hope for the Resurrection of Christ. In the end they did not yield to their dreams, but simply to the bare facts. Christ was crucified. The Messias was gone.
After Christ had arisen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. "She went and took word to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. And they, hearing that he was alive and had been seen by her, did not believe it." " ...They were mouring and weeping... and did not believe it." The disciples on the road to Emmaus also were disturbed and sad. When the Lord Himself, on the first evening of Easter, appeared to the gatherered apostles, "they were startled and panic-sticken, and thought that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, 'Why are you disturbed, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?'"
In that hour of His first meeting with all, the Lord offered them the most obvious proof of His identity, which Thomas was soon afterward to demand to see: "'See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Feel me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.'" The sun of that first Easter passed over these men as a night of thunder and wind passes over mountains. The sun was already growing dim below the horizon, but just as it golden ray linger on show-capped mountains and on the clouds, a scene almost too beautiful to be real, so "they still disbelieved and marvelled for joy..." until "he had eaten in their presence..."
It was the fate of Thomas, and Thomas alone, the one of all the apostles who needed and waited most eagerly for Easter, not be present when the risen Saviour appeared. This first bliss and ecstasy was not meant by God to be his. For Thomas, God had reserved a special meeting, and the apostles's joy and rapture was to be all the greater for it. Here was the same special blessing of the lost sheep and the prodigal son.
"Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, call the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came." Why not? Was it mere chance? "St. John was considerately silent and did not mention why this embarrassed and embittered apostle had left his companions. Too cruelly was his hope shattered and torn from him. He was robbed of his trust. What was Thomas out looking for? When the other apostles in brotherliness and happiness brought to him, lost in his dangerous solitude, the alleluia of their joy and ecstasy-"'We have seen the Lord!'"-Thomas remained bitter. He was not about to take a chance and believe this merely on hearsay. He was determined not to be deceived again. Then, more than ever before, he was a skeptic and pessimist.
Moreover, Thomas thought, if the Lord had really risen, why did the Master of all the Twelve appear to all the others, and not to him? Was his not as worthy as the others? Admittedly, he was the last of the Twelve, but nevertheless, was he not one of the Twelve? did our Lord have no concern for Thomas? Did He not have him close at heart, whether the apostle believed or not?
And so Thomas fell to the last place, behind all the others. He was entangled in doubt, provoked by resentment, filled with bitterness. "'Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails'"-but for three years he had seen; seeing was not enough, was not reliable, was not certain; seeing could deceive-"'and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.'"
Thomas cast a dark shadow over the apostles' Easter joy. What would have happened if a fate similar to the fate of Judas had threatened him? The others tried to remove the dangers of the precipice of disbelief. Peter came and explained a hundred times what Easter meant. He tied to encourage Thomas by confessing his own sin of denial. And Andrew came. And John came. The disciples from Emmaus came, but it was all in vain; Thomas was obstinate. He had laid down his conditions, and he was not about to back down.
Though weary, Thomas stood firm. He could not change. He wanted to be part of that union which Christ Himself had given them, and shared their joy, but he stood off to the side, away from the others, undecided, thinking, confused. Pain is the price of doubt and uncertainty. No one could help Him except the Lord, God Himself. The apostle's salvation hung on the mercy of God.
The feast of the apostle Thomas is celebrated on the shortest day of the year, when the sun gives no warmth and is long hidden behind the dark of morning and quickly swallowed up by the dark of evening. In the soul of Thomas the light was dim and dull; he doubted whether the bright sun of summer would ever rise again.
"'Peace be to you!'" It was the Lord, the Messias, the Redeemer! It was Christ, the Master! His voice rang out through the closed room like the first bells after a silent Holy Week. Thomas could not move or talk; he was suddenly hot and afraid, suddenly sorry that he had ever doubted; but he was full of joy to see what he had not believed. It was the Lord!
It was really and truly the Lord! He alone could enter into closed rooms and closed souls. For the sake of Thomas He had returned to show himself, for He is the Good Shepherd who goes "'after that which is lost, until he finds it.'" And an apostles was so valuable to Christ that he came back to make Himself manifest just for one. Already He had led Peter away from his sin and back to Himself. And Thomas meant just as much to Christ as Peter. The risen Savior lifted His apostle out of doubt and resentment, and took him back into His joy and peace. "'Peace be to you!'"
Word for word the resurrected Christ took up Thomas' conditional obtinacy: "'Bring here thy finger, and see my hands; and bring here thy hand, and put it into my side.'" The Lord's rebuke was like a fragrant balm. ""'And be not unbelieving, but believing'"-fidelis, true and faithful, as the Latin and Greek texts more profoundly say it.
The sudden silence in the room seem endless. It seemed as if Jesus and Thomas were there alone. Never have divine reality and human doubt been so close, face to face, as here. Thomas, the poor ambassador of doubt, was to see and comprehend the pacification of all doubters. He saw the glorious body of the risen Christ, and the red stains of His wounds in His hands. He saw the wound of His side, the opening to the heart of God. He saw the pierced heart like a glittering ruby gleaming through the precious wound. This was enough. The sharp pain and joy that suddenly pierced his own heart removed the necessity that he should first touch, then believe, what he saw. he could no longer doubt. He believed.
Besieged by the tangible reality of the Lord, and even more by the love of the Lord, which is the highest form of spiritual reality, Thomas fell to his knees. He sobbed. He opened his soul to his risen Master, and poured forth all his unspoken laments, unasked questions, pent-up feelings, and silenced desires."'My Lord and my God!;'"
My Lord and my God!
Thomas could say no more, No one of the other apostles had ever called the Lord "God" with such significance. Not one had ever confessed Him to be God so fully and openly, not even Peter in Caesarea Philippi. The doubting and suffering Thomas was the first of all to see the divinity of Christ. Even on Mount Tabor the privileged apostles had not so fully comprehended their glimpse of the beatific vision. Ironically it was the doubting apostle whose joy of Easter was finally the greatest. It was his poor and sinful soul, so full of the need of God's love, that led him to his Lord and God.
The evangelist John closed his Gospel with the account of Jesus' manifestation to Thomas. What John recorded after this in the twenty-first chapter-the manifestation of Jesus to His apostles at the Sea of Tiberias-is only a supplement, an after-thought. The last words of Jesus to Thomas ring out as a powerful Amen, summarizing the entire Gospel for the thousands of years of faith and belief that follow "'Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.'"
This not seeing and yet believing is the grace of God. In his Epistle, St Peter marveled at this open miracle:
Him [Jesus Christ], though you have not seen, you love. In him, though you do not see him, yet believing, you exult with a joy unspeakable and triumphant; receiving, as the final issue of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
For the strengthening of all who believe, whether they see or not, Thomas was called to be an apostle-he who believed only because he had seen. It was the Divine Providence, not mere chance, that this one apostle was not present with the others on that first Easter evening. His doubt was intended either as a hindrance or as a solution to our doubts. In his uncertainty our uncertainties are to be wiped away. Obstinately he persisted in his unhappy doubt so that we might be happy in our grace of belief. So we are obliged to thank the unbelieving Thomas. For our sake did he suffer his doubt, one of the most excruciating torments of the soul. Through this apostle we can see, without doubt, without uncertitude, how Christ's wounds are our salvation.
Truly Thomas was a Didymus, a Twin, for with his confession of God, his profession of faith, we were born.
It is rather ironical that the liturgy on December 21, only a few dayss before Christmas, places St. Thomas, the gloomy ponderer, before the crib of the Child of Bethlehem. Here, before the divine Child, the apostle Thomas, speaking through the sages for people with sad and troubled hearts, prays his child like prayer: "'My Lord and my God!'"
Thomas, the Apostle
In Holy Scripture there are recorded no further accounts of the apostle Thomas. Tradition has passed down no Epistle that he might have written. But could Thomas have departed from the New Testament more beautifully than with his confession to the Lord and God, Jesus Christ?
Tradition strongly favors the East, the land of the rising sun, as the place of his apostolic labors. In Syrian and Armenian legends he appears as the leading apostle in the Orient. Older accounts, dating back to the time of Origen (d. 253), speak of the apostolic works of Thomas among the Parthians. The Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, and the Bactrians also were named. Today this comprises the districts of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan.
Since the middle of the fourth century, even Catholic commentators have followed more recent legends, according to which Thomas pressed on even farther, into the missonary field that today is India. This is not incompatible with the older traditions. In India the opinion has never lost ground, and is prevalent today, that Thomas passed through the "streets of silk," that is, through Persia and Tibet. Approximately in these same years many Jewish-Christians, refugees, were entering Cochin by way of the sea. Here Thomas labored until he later left for Travancore.
An old Syrian tradition named St. Thomas as "the guide and teacher of the Church in India, which he founded and headed." The so-called "Thomas-Christians," who maintained themselves up to our own age on the coast of Malabar-in 1937 seven hundred thousand of these faithful reunited with Rome-claim the apostle Thomas as their spiritual father. However, not all critical studies consider it certain that Thomas labored in India."
The accounts, teeming with miracles, of Thomas' apostolic labors, are uncertain and, for the most part, purely fantastic. Few apostles have been so heavily burdened with such imaginative legends as the unbelieving Thomas. All these legends were certainly much influenced by the apocryphal "Acts of Thomas," which were composed in the first half of the third century, in Gnostic circles, probably in Edessa, and which were soon reworked by the Catholic Syrians and Greeks. Briefly its content was this:
As the apostles separated to go to all parts of the world, Thomas was assigned, by lot, to India. But this apostle, timid, nervous, distressed, refused to go there. Then he was bought as a slave from the Lord Himself by the Indian merchant, Abbanes, who was looking for an architect, according to the instructions of his king, Gundaphar. (There actually was as Indian King Gundaphar who reigned somethime between the year 20 A.D. and 50 A.D., as attested to by inscriptions on the coins of that period.) On the trip to India with Abbanes, Thomas was silent.
The king immediately placed a great trust in this stranger, an "architect." He put at his disposal great wealth for the planning and building of the royal palace. But Thomas donated the entire sum set aside for this construction to the poor on the basis that by this course of action he had built a great palace in heaven for the king. To the furious soverign his deceased brother appeared and testified to the reality and glory of the heavenly palace built by Thomas. Life was then miraculously restored to the brother of the king, and the two were immediately converted and baptized by the apostle Thomas.
This legend continues: Thomas went farther, into the neighboring kingdom. There he persuaded the ever-increasing number of wives in the royal household to turn to abstinence and temperance instead of to married life. (This misogamy is typically Gnostic, a characteristic frequently noticeable in the "Acts of Thomas.") King Mazdai, therefore, had him speared by four soldiers. Even today this manner of death is a constitutional punishment in Siam for the political crime. Tradition named "Calamina" as the place of death, a place, however, that certainly is not proven. It is possible that it has some connection with the large "Thomas Mountain" near Mailapur, the alleged place of death, upon which a church in honor of St. Thomas was built in 1547. On the altar there is found the stone cross of Thomas with inscriptions dating from the sixth to the eighth centuries.
In all legends concerning St. Thomas, it is difficult to separate truth from fiction. The Gnostic Heracleon, in the middle of the second century, asserted that Thomas died of a natural death. For centuries the Church in Edessa has been boasting of his grave, which in a sermon by St. John Chrysostom was numbered among the four known graces of apostles. Indian legends tried to justify this claim by maintaining that the relices of this apostle were taken to Edessa in the third century. Then they were reported to have been taken, in the year 1258, from Edessa to Chios, a Greek island. And later they were moved to Ortona, where they are still honored today.
Various writings have also been attributed to the apostle Thomas, all of which, however, are supurious. A "Gospel of Thomas," which originated in Gnostic circles, has been lost. However, it seems that fragments of this work have found their way into another "Gospel of Thomas," which is preserved today, a rather large collection of babblings about the childhood of Jesus. For example, the Child Jesus is portrayed at play on the Sabbath, forming little birds from clay; and when a Jew complain to Joseph that the sacred Sabbath was being broken by this action, the divine Child clapped His hands and the clay birds quickly flew away. The value of these and similar fictitious tales can be seen in the serious approach Matthew and Luke took in their Gospels when they wrote of the infancy and childhood of Jesus.
Another work that supposedly goes back to St. Thomas is a spurious "Apocalypse." This originated under the title "Epistle of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Disciple Thomas." This writing was condemned as early as the end of the fifth century by Pope Gelasius I. It picked out at random bits of gossip and rumors of the terrors and horrors of the last seven of the thirty days of darkness before the Last Judgment.
This apostle has also been connected with the legendary "Epistle of the Lord to King Abgar of Edessa." Supposedly Thomas himself wrote this epistle at the explicity command of Jesus. Then, after the Ascension of Christ, he sent Thaddeus, one of the seventy-two disciples to Abgar in order to cure this ruler of a serious illness.
The true words of the Gospels concerning the apostle Thomas present a more reliable basis for a description of the apostolic works of this laborer for Christ than the artificial apocryphal writings. There are those modern fanatics who have not hesitated to speak their thoughts: Thomas was not qualified for life, or his life was hardly worth living. What could such a melancholic person do for mankind, who only made life miserable for himself and for others? But going beyond the surface, we can clearly retort: how great and abundant the works of such men, if only a good, kind, and patient hand helps them over their crises! After that miracle of divine mercy on the second evening after Easter Sunday, Thomas was at long last free from the burden of his own self; thereafter, he belonged only to his Master, the Lord. Then he bore the burden of gratitude, such a great and heartfelt gratitude that it continues into eternity. He is indebted to the mercy of God for remaining an apostle instead of becoming an apostate.
Just as the compassion of the Lord was a thorn for Paul, the wounded persecutor, so it was for Thomas, the hurt skeptic. It is deeply symbolic that, according to history or legend, these two apostles worked on the most distant lands, Thomas on the borders of the Orient, India, and Paul on the borders of the Occident, Spain. Their burning and urgent love for Christ drove both of them farther and farther, for theirs was a thirst for souls that could not be quenched until it reached the edges of the sea.
The apostolic preaching of Thomas was certainly mild, indulgent, almost mellow, like the clear, joyful ring of a bell which had been cast and molded with much silver after being painfully proceed over a flaming heat. From his own experience Thomas knew of the fruitless ways of the hearts of men. In an essay by an Oriental father of the Church concerning the judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Lord speaks to Thomas and kindly admonishes him.
Here Jesus spoke aloud what Thomas had spoken again and again in the silent depths of his heart. This apostle, knowing the full meaning of pity, had suffered too much not to be able to understand others whose hearts had been torn apart. But was it merely an understanding? Thomas, tormented by doubt, over whom, nevertheless, the glorious sun of Easter had risen and shone with a special splendor, was able not only to understand human sadness, but also to transfigure it into heavenly bliss.
Of the twelve articles in the Apostles' Creed, legend has symbolically attributed to Thmas this one: "He descended into hell, and on the third day He arose again from the dead." Not melancholy or mere compassion did he have to spread, but also a glorious alleluia, the alleluia that he had drawn from the heart of the Lord, as from a fresh spring, with his own squivering hand.
The heart of the Lord glows with love. The evangelists noted how closely two of the apostles relied on the heart of the Lord: John and Thomas, the beloved apostle and the unbelieving apostle. It would seem as if the suffering doubter would have penetrated the depths of his returned Master's heart much deeper than the disciple whom Jesus loved. It would seem as if the doubter's great torment and need of love would have pressed him even deeper into that comforting heart. A beautiful legend has passed down the saying that the hand of Thomas which was placed into the side of the risen Savior remained red with the stain of blood for the rest of the apostles's life. Never was he able to forget the sight of that wound. It remained red before his eyes; he could not forget ; he could not doubt.
Rubens created a moving portrait of Thomas. A weary and gentle countenance looks down on anyone who looks up to him. His face is thin with pain. It is wrinkled from doubt and thought and care. His eyes are tired from the many sleepless nights he spent and the many tears he wept. But through all of this the joy of seeing the risen Savior appears. The way, which was once so dark and gloomy, was again illuminated by the splendor of the glory and joy of his returned Master. Then did eternal goal become clear.
What a beautiful picture of Thomas! His belief was restored, his struggle conquered. His way was enlightened, and his goal came closer and closer into view. He could see the wound in the side of the Lord and the wounds in His hands; he could see the heart of the Lord where all rest and unrest meet.
This was St Thomas the apostle, who accepted a special grace and turned his doubting into his salvation.
The information below is minimal because nothing certain is known of St Thomas except a few words about him in the Gospels.
St Thomas' words are perhaps the most beautiful ever said by a mortal: "My Lord and My God!" Thomas' eyes didn't tell him that Jesus was God; it was his faith. Thomas uttered this famous statement of faith when Christ showed him His wounds and asked him to touch Him. This event took place a week or two after the resurrection. That is when Thomas cried out in awe or disbelief as if it were too good to be true. He certainly didn't comprehend what he was saying. It was a profound pouring out of his heart to a Man standing before him who he knew had been crucified about fourteen days ago.
When we see something that is spectacular and incredible, we gasp and exclaim from the heart more than from the head. This living Man was Almighty God and Thomas' whole life experiences could not understand how it could happen. But it was real, so real, that he would spend his whole life living that belief in many thousands of ways until he finally died for it and became a martyr.
There are many positive facts to say about St Thomas that makes the 'doubting Thomas', that he is so much noted for, seems almost insignificant. Who has not doubted Christ either explicitly or inexplicitly? Who has not sinned as perhaps Thomas?
The Apostles were huddled together, except Thomas, the first time that Christ appeared to the Apostles after the resurrection. Why? They were afraid and completely unnerved. They were very scared that what happen to the Leader could happen to them. The Romans didn't fool around when they wanted someone out of the way. The Apostles also knew that it was Caiphas and the ruling priests that didn't want anyone associated with Christ or what he preached. Perhaps the Apostles were wondering who was going to be eliminated next? Afterall, they were Jesus' followers. If they killed the disciples' Leader, what would prevent them from coming after them? Both groups, the Romans and/or the ruling religious priests didn't want anyone stirring up trouble and both groups felt Christ infringed on their power. We remembered how Herod had attemped to killed the Infant Jesus because the Messiah might draw some of Herod's power to Himself.
Anyhow, the Apostles remained locked up and hidden because they wanted the best possible security. Their Leader was gone and so was their confidence. Together they could support and protect each other and they were not alone.
On the other hand, Thomas wasn't afraid and certainly not hiding nor seeking the solace of the other disciples. He was aloof, alone and perhaps unafraid to venture out and be bold and brave. Thomas was a realist and knew that dangers and death catches up with everyone. He had previously offered to die for Christ at an earlier time when Christ was alive. Now that Christ was not present, it didn't make any difference to him. If we read the gospel we find that Thomas was unafraid to die for Christ.
Another incredible testament to Thomas' real faith and sincerity was when he openly said (John 11:16) to the other Apostles near him: "Let us also go to die with him." The occasion was when Jesus proposed to go to Bethany after Lazarus had died. Since Bethany was near Jerusalem, this meant walking into the very midst of his enemies and to almost certain death.
Because of the experience of Thomas when the Lord appeared to him the first time after the resurrection, Jesus tells us today: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed". We think Thomas was blessed because he saw the risen Christ but no, Christ tells us that we are more blessed because we are unable to see the risen Christ but have a far deeper contact and intimacy with Him through the gift of faith especially when we practice it daily. Jesus is saying: seeing with our eyes doesn't lead to faith. Believing with our hearts and seeing with the eyes of our souls leads to faith.
We know more about the life of Thomas after Calvary than we do about any of the other apostles except for Peter and John from their inclusion in the "Acts of the Apostles". Ruffin informs us that Thomas' ministry takes place almost entirely outside of the Roman Empire and nearly all our sources about him are non-Western including: Osroene, Armenia, Iran, India and Southwest Asia.
The synoptic gospel writers mentioned Thomas only as one of the Twelve.
St John relates four incidents two of which I have already stated. One of the other mention of Thomas is his reply to Jesus taken from St John's gospel from 14:1-4. Jesus told the Apostles: "You know the road that leads where I go." Thomas asked: "Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
From this question of St Thomas comes one of the most often quoted statment of Jesus Christ: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father but through me". (Jn.14:6) Thousands of books have been written on the "Way" "Truth" and "Life". In this reply to Thomas, Jesus reveals the life of the Father and indirectly the life of the Spirit who Jesus would send and leads us to the Father after his ascension to Heaven.
Jesus reveals the noble and majestic Trinitarian Life of God because of Thomas' question. Jesus tells us that the only way to the Father is through Him. Afterall, who could possible know more about the Father than He who sent Jesus to us to be our Redeemer and Savior? Jesus as Redeemer and Savior followed the way of the cross. The cross surrounded Him from His birth and never stopped pursuing Him everywhere when He was in the public eye. His thirty years living in the shadow of Joseph and Mary helped him to prepared for those 3 years running and hiding because of his radical message and challenges.
When Pilate asked Jesus: What is truth? it was a rhetorical question and he probably didn't believe Jesus when He said He was the Truth. When Jesus said that He was the Life, He was referring to the life of God within Him or the Holy Spirit who He would send when He went to the Father after the Ascension. The solemn feast of the Trinity is a great solemnity celebrated on June 15th, in the year 2003, the same day as Father's Day.
The final time that Thomas is mentioned in the gospel is during a fishing expedition and Thomas' name is mentioned and we learn nothing of his personality from this incident after the resurrection.
Many would attest that Thomas had one of the most active ministries of any of the Twelve. Again, C. Bernard Ruffin in his book "The Twelve" says that Eusebius wrote that almost immediately after Pentecost, Thomas was instrumental in evangelizing many of Osroene, which lay to the north of Palestine, in what is now eartern Turkey, between the Roman and Iaranian Empires.
The earliest source for knowledge of Thomas' ministry in India is a Syriac document, probably written in Edessa around A.D. 200, known as the "Acts of Thomas" however, the Church doesn't accept it although it is based on historical fact. According to Ruffin, when merchants and missionaries from Portugal arrived in India in the sixteenth century, they were astonished to find a flourishing community of Christians who steadfastly maintained that their Church, the Church of Malabar, had been founded in the first century by St Thomas. Some scholars scoff at these traditons. Christianity in India, they say, dates only from the fourth century, when missionaries arrived in Syria.
The entire next paragraph is taken from the "Twelve" and I quote:
"In A.D. 69, Thomas settled permanently in Mylapore. He was by then at least in his sixties and getting too old for extensive travel under rugged and primitive conditions. Allowing for some exaggeration in the Rabban Song and other sources, the apostle conducted a ministry similar to Paul's, with extensive travel and many miraculous occurences. Even the Hindus considered him a "holy man." According to "The Acts of Thomas": "The apostle (St Thomas) was very much like Bartholomew and James the Righteous, given to fasting and long periods of prayer. He is said to have eaten only bread and water and never to have owned more than one garment at one time. This leads one to speculate that he too had once been a disciple of the Baptist".
According to the traditions of the "St Thomas Christians" of Malabar: "Thomas forbade any sort of pictures or images, but decorated his houses of worship with the symbol of the cross. This is interesting in light of the fact that the cross did not emerge as a religious symbol in the Roman Empire until the fourth century, after the Emperor Constantine abolished it as a means of execution."
According to most Indian traditions, Thomas died of stab wounds on July 3, A.D. 72. The Brahman priests of Mylapore feared that Christianity would eclipse Hinduism. They were absolutley correct.
Based upon a 1992 Graphics by CNS if the world were a village of 1,000 people, there would be only 131 Hindus. Christians would number 329, Muslims, 174 and the Buddhists would have 61. Christianity totals about 1/3 of the world's population. Jesus continue to tell us: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News. Living out and practicing our faith is far more important than anything in the whole world both for ourselves and others if we are going to have an impact in helping others to know Jesus as St Thomas did. Each person, in their own unique manner, can proclaim Christ by their love that they share in prayer and action for others.
It was reported that several Brahman priests found St Thomas praying in a cave near his home and wounded him with a spear. The apostle dragged himself out of the cave, struggled some distance to a nearby chapel and in the presence of several of his disciples, grasped a stone cross. According to an account noted by Marco Polo, Thomas prayed, "Lord, I thank Thee for all Thy mercies. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit," and entered into rest. So closed the remarkable career of a remarkable man, a man who should be remembered not for being a "doubter", but for his faith and zeal.
One of the great marvels about St Thomas the Apostle is taken from Joan Cruz's book entitled Mysteries, Marvels and Miracles in the Lives of the Saints . Cruz list only two Apostles and the other one is St Andrew and the mystery of the manna already cited under that Apostle.
After Pentecost, St Thomas the Apostle (d. circa 72)is known to have traveled extensively in spreading the Faith, and to have eventually made his way to India. It is believed that he died eight miles outside of Madras, near the shore of the Bay of Bengal, by being pierced by the sword of a pagan. Located on the spot of execution is a stone engraved with a cross that was seen to ooze blood on December 18, 1558, and to have continued on that day each year with various interruptions until the year 1704.
The phenomenon first took place during the offering of Holy Mass and lasted four hours. Diocesan officials certified that at the end of the bleedings the stone turned a glistening white before returning to its original black.
Authors thinks that Thomas, who suffered more painfully than the other Apostles in that he could think more deeply than the others, did not hold back his question to Christ. With sincerity and frankness he opened up his melancholic soul to the Lord.
The following links provides insight on St Thomas: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/golden138.htm
Apostles.com
