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| St. Thomas the Apostle |
By Bp. Joseph (
Ancient Church of the West)
Today, in the West, we celebrate the life and work of St. Thomas the Apostle to India - Although he is remembered with the negative descriptor, "The Doubter," St. Thomas had been the source of many inspiring hagiographies and legends over the last two thousand years. Known for miracles and philosophical depth in the rediscovered "Gospel of Thomas," and in the eastern myths, such as the "Mar Thoma Kali Margum," that extol him as the founder of the Asian Church, St. Thomas' apostolic influence continues to increase in the West.
St. Thomas sailed to India in 50AD, converting many to Christ by word and deed along the way. Once he arrived, he established Seven Churches in South India, in Kerala and the surrounding country. He is said to have sent missionaries to the Northern Asian countries from here, oncluding the other apostle, St. Bartholomew. Thomas was martyred in India, venerated by the Church of the East, and had his relics taken back to Mesopotamia, from whence they were taken to Constantinople and Rome. St. Thomas' tomb is still a pilgrimage destination today in South India.
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| Contemporary Indian Icon of St. Thomas the Apostle to India |
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| Byzantine Icon of St. Thomas in Syriac |
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A Prototypical Indian-Style Icon of St. Thomas with Syriac Saffron Robes of a Guru
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| The Arrival of St. Thomas |
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| The Baptism of the First Indian Christians |
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| Ancient Persian Cross, Probably from the 6th Century |
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| Two Lotus Cross Icons Arising from the Water |
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| The St. Thomas Christians Take an Oath to Resist Roman Catholic Conversion and Suppression at the Coonan Cross, Binding Themselves to the Cross in AD 1653 |
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| A Contemporary Catholic Icon of St. Thomas Evangelizing in India |
St. Thomas is said to have left a testament of Christ, like the four Canonical Gospels, but this book has not come down to us without massive Gnostic interpolations, in what is now called "The Gospel of Thomas," rediscovered in portions in Armenian and Syriac, and in a complete codice in the Nag Hammadi find in Egypt. Scholars are still trying to discern the original text from the later interpretations that were also passed down with the text, since it relies on a genre that is foreign to the New Testament, a kind of mystery parable where miracles have an internal, psychological aspect, and are not accomplished merely for a forthright reason of healing or blessing.
The legacy of St. Thomas is vital today for Eastern and Asian Christians, who see in him an apostolic witness and a connection with the first generation of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church within their own cultures. As St. Thomas and the Church he started in India become better known in China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea and the Philippines, we pray that a truly Orthodox and Catholic Christian faith will take root and grow, as it did in the first centuries.
May God hear the prayers of St. Thomas of India, as he stands before the Mercy Seat, and may he intercede for our parish in Bangkok, Thailand, which bears his saintly name!
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who didst give thy holy Apostle Thomas faith in Thy Son's Resurrection, so as to make him a great preacher in the East; Grant us so perfectly, and conquering all doubt, to believe in Thy Son Jesus Christ, that our faith may allow us to follow Thy Apostle’s example. Hear us, O Lord, through the same Jesus Christ, to Whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
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