Saint Thomas, Apostle
S. Thomae Apostoli
Saint Thomas, one of the Twelve, is remembered for his doubt turned to faith and his cry “My Lord and my God,” and by ancient tradition carried the Gospel as far as India, where he died a martyr.
Saint Thomas, called Didymus, which means “the Twin,” was numbered among the twelve Apostles whom the Lord chose. The Gospels give us a few vivid glimpses of him, and through them the Church has come to love him as the Apostle whose honest doubt was healed into the clearest of confessions. His feast falls on the twenty-first of December, in the last days of Advent, as the Church prepares to greet the Lord whose Godhead Thomas so firmly proclaimed.
The Apostle who saw and believed
It is Saint John who preserves for us the most memorable scenes of Thomas’s life. When the Lord resolved to return to Judea, into danger, Thomas said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” — a word of brave, if sorrowful, devotion. At the Last Supper, when the Lord spoke of going to prepare a place, it was Thomas who asked, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” drawing forth the answer, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Above all, the Church remembers that Thomas was absent when the Risen Lord first appeared, and would not believe the testimony of the others until he himself should see and touch the wounds. Eight days later the Lord came again and invited him to put forth his hand; and Thomas, overcome, made the great confession, “My Lord and my God.” The Lord answered, “Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.” In this exchange the Church has ever found both a profession of Christ’s divinity and a blessing upon the faith of all later generations who believe without sight.
Apostle of the East
According to a tradition of great antiquity, after Pentecost Saint Thomas carried the Gospel eastward, to the Parthians and as far as India, where the ancient Christian communities of the Malabar coast have long honoured him as their father in the faith and call themselves the Christians of Saint Thomas. There, the same tradition holds, he sealed his preaching with his blood and died a martyr. The particulars of these later journeys cannot all be confirmed by history, yet the memory of his apostolate in the East is venerable and widely attested, and the Church keeps it with reverence.
The collect of his feast asks that we may glory in the solemnity of the blessed Apostle Thomas, so that we may always be helped by his patronage and follow the faith he professed with fitting devotion. In him the Church honours one who passed from doubt to adoration, and who teaches the faithful to seek, to question honestly, and at last to kneel before the Lord and God who is ever near.
The Collect
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that we may glory in the solemnity of thy blessed Apostle Thomas; that we may ever be helped by his patronage, and follow his faith with fitting devotion.
Da nobis, quæsumus, Dómine, beáti Apóstoli tui Thomæ solemnitátibus gloriári: ut ejus semper et patrociniis sublevémur, et fidem cóngrua devotióne sectémur.
Patronage
He is honoured as the Apostle of India and is venerated as a patron of architects and builders, and is invoked by those who struggle with doubt and seek a deeper faith.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his feast is observed on 3 July, while 21 December gives way to the Advent ferias.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 21 December as a Second Class feast, in the last days of Advent. In the modern calendar it is observed on 3 July.
Why is Saint Thomas called ‘Doubting Thomas’?
Because, being absent when the Risen Lord first appeared, he would not believe until he had seen and touched the Lord’s wounds. When the Lord appeared to him, Thomas at once confessed, “My Lord and my God,” and the Lord blessed all who would believe without seeing. The Church holds him up not for his doubt alone but for the faith into which it was healed.
Did Saint Thomas really go to India?
An ancient and widespread tradition holds that Saint Thomas preached the Gospel as far as India and died a martyr there; the Christians of the Malabar coast have honoured him as their founder from very early times. While the details of his journeys cannot all be verified by history, the memory of his apostolate in the East is venerable and the Church keeps it with reverence.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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