Orthodox Life
Instagram
Saint Thomas the Apostle: From 'My Lord and my God' to Martyrdom in India
The post commemorates the Holy Apostle Thomas, one of the Twelve, on his feast day of October 6th. Thomas, also called Didymus, meaning the Twin, was a Galilean fisherman called by Jesus Christ. The author recalls that when Christ set out toward dangerous territory before the resurrection of Lazarus, Thomas urged the other disciples to go with Him, saying, 'Let us also go, that we may die with Him.' The post treats Thomas's doubt about the…
The post commemorates the Holy Apostle Thomas, one of the Twelve, on his feast day of October 6th. Thomas, also called Didymus, meaning the Twin, was a Galilean fisherman called by Jesus Christ. The author recalls that when Christ set out toward dangerous territory before the resurrection of Lazarus, Thomas urged the other disciples to go with Him, saying, 'Let us also go, that we may die with Him.' The post treats Thomas's doubt about the Resurrection as 'blessed unbelief' or 'saving doubt,' because it strengthened the Church's faith.
When Christ appeared to him eight days after Pascha and invited him to touch His wounds, Thomas confessed, 'My Lord and my God!' The post also recounts a tradition in which divine providence used Thomas to confirm the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary. Arriving three days late to her burial in Jerusalem, he asked that her tomb be opened so he could venerate her.
The empty sepulcher showed her ascent into heaven, and the Mother of God comforted his grief by giving him her holy sash, a relic connected with the feast of the holy belt celebrated on August 31. After Pentecost, Thomas preached outside the Roman Empire in Palestine, Mesopotamia, Parthia, Ethiopia, and India, converting many and building churches.
His preaching provoked a pagan ruler in Meliapur, and he was martyred by being pierced with five spears.
- Thomas, called Didymus the Twin, was a Galilean fisherman among the Twelve Apostles.
- Before Lazarus's resurrection he urged the disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with Him.'
- His doubt is called 'blessed unbelief' or 'saving doubt'; seeing Christ's wounds eight days after Pascha, he confessed, 'My Lord and my God!'
- He arrived late to the Virgin Mary's burial; her empty tomb and the gift of her holy sash confirmed her assumption, remembered on August 31.
- He preached in Palestine, Mesopotamia, Parthia, Ethiopia, and India, and was martyred in Meliapur by five spears.