Feast Day: July 3rd
Patron of People in doubt, Architects, Blind people, Builders, Construction workers
Earthly Life: unknown – 72AD (approx)
St. Thomas was one of the twelve Apostles. Thomas is most infamously known from the Gospel of John 20:19-29 where he states upon missing seeing the resurrected Jesus
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
From this Thomas was branded “doubting Thomas” or Didymus. Thomas is also quoted in John 11:16
So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”
At the Last Supper, when Christ told His Apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them to which they also might come because they knew both the place and the way, Thomas pleaded that they did not understand and received the beautiful assurance that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 14:5-6
St. Thomas is also mentioned as being present at another Resurrection appearance of Jesus – at Lake Tiberias when amiraculous catch of fish occurred. John 21:2
This is all that we know about St. Thomas from the New Testament. Tradition says that at the dispersal of the Apostles after Pentecost this saint was sent to evangelize the Parthians, Medes, and Persians; he ultimately reached India, carrying the Faith to the Malabar coast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves “Christians of St. Thomas.” He capped his life by shedding his blood for his Master, speared to death.
His mortal remains were buried are in tombed in Santhome Cathedral Basilica in Chennai, India.
The St. Thomas Cross is an ornate cross also known as Persian Cross and dates from the 6th century and are found in a number of churches in India.
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The Apostle St. Thomas, by Velazquez (c.1619/20) Canvas Art Print (24×18.8 in) (61×48 cm)
The Acts of Thomas (Early Christian Apocrypha)
Acts of the Apostle Thomas: The Story of Thomas Churches
Christianity in India: Two Thousand Years of Faith
The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary
A Doubters Novena: Nine Steps to Trust With the Apostle Thomas