Saint Thomas the Apostle

Saint Thomas the Apostle was one of the Twelve. The Gospel of John calls him Didymus, that is, the Twin. The Church remembers him above all as the disciple who would not believe in the resurrection until he had seen the Lord himself, and who then acknowledged him as his Lord and God. His feast falls on July 3.

The name Thomas comes from a Semitic word meaning twin, and the Greek Didymus means the same. We do not know the place or year of his birth. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke name him in the list of the Twelve, and the Acts of the Apostles names him among the apostles who, after the Ascension, devoted themselves to prayer in the Upper Room.

The Gospel of John shows him at several important moments. When Jesus decided to return to Judea, to Lazarus who had died, although there had already been an attempt to stone him there, Thomas said to the other disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” At the Last Supper, when Jesus spoke of the way to the Father, Thomas admitted: “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” In reply he heard: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

On the evening of the day of the resurrection, Thomas was not with the apostles when Jesus came to them. He did not believe their testimony and declared that he had to see the marks of the nails and put his hand into the Lord’s side. Eight days later Jesus came again and invited him to touch his wounds. Then Thomas confessed: “My Lord and my God!” and Jesus answered: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Benedict XVI saw in this story a comfort for believers who struggle with doubt.

The New Testament says nothing about the rest of his life. According to the tradition cited by the Roman Martyrology, it was with this faith that he preached the Gospel to the peoples of India. Benedict XVI recalled an ancient tradition according to which Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia, then reached western India and finally southern India. The Christians of Kerala in southern India, called Saint Thomas Christians, trace their spiritual heritage to his preaching, as John Paul II recalled during his pilgrimage to India in 1986.

According to tradition, Thomas suffered martyrdom in India, pierced by a lance. A hill in Chennai, formerly Madras, called Saint Thomas Mount, is regarded as the place of his martyrdom, and his tomb is venerated in the city’s cathedral basilica; John Paul II visited both places in 1986. The year of his death cannot be established; tradition gives the year 72. The Hieronymian Martyrology, from the fifth or sixth century, records under July 3 the translation of his body to Edessa, and the date of the feast refers to this event. The relics venerated in Edessa later came to Ortona on the Adriatic.

Thomas has been venerated as a saint since antiquity, without a formal canonization. Before the reform of the calendar that followed the Council, the Roman Church celebrated his feast on December 21.