திருத்தூதரான தூய தோமா
புனித தோமா
( St. Thomas )
திருத்தூதர்
பிறப்பு : கி. பி 1 (முற்பகுதி)
கலிலேயா
இறப்பு : டிசம்பர் 21, 72 கி. பி
சென்னை, இந்தியா (நம்பப்படுகிறது)
ஏற்கும் சபை/ சமயம் : எல்லா கிறிஸ்தவப் பிரிவுகளும்
முக்கிய திருத்தலங்கள் :
சாந்தோம் தேவாலயம், சென்னை
நினைவுத் திருவிழா :
ஜூலை 3 - கத்தோலிக்கம்
அக்டோபர் 6 அல்லது ஜூன் 30 - கிழக்கு மரபு
உயிர்ப்பு விழாவை தொடர்ந்து வரும் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை - பொது
சித்தரிக்கப்படும் வகை : இயேசுவின் விலாவில் கையை இடுபவராக, வேல்
பாதுகாவல் : கட்டட கலைஞர், இந்தியா, மற்றும் பல
திருத்தூதர் புனித தோமா (அல்லது) புனித தோமையார், 1ம் நூற்றாண்டில் வாழ்ந்தவர். கிறிஸ்தவ புனிதராவார். இவர் இயேசுவால் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட பன்னிரு திருத்தூதர்களுள் (அப்போஸ்தலர்களுள்) ஒருவர்.
"நீரே என் ஆண்டவர்! நீரே என் கடவுள்!!" (யோவான் 20:28) என்று உயிர்த்த இயேசுவை நோக்கி இவர் கூறிய வார்த்தைகள் மிகவும் புகழ்பெற்றவை.
திருத்தூதரின் கல்லறைப் பீடத்தில் இந்த வார்த்தைகளே பொறிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
இயேசு உயிர்த்துவிட்டார் என மற்ற திருத்தூதர்கள் சொன்னதை முதலில் நம்ப மறுத்ததால் இவர் 'சந்தேக தோமா' (Doubting Thomas) என்ற பெயராலும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறார்.
இந்தியாவில் இயேசுவின் நற்செய்தியை முதன்முதலில் அறிவித்தவர் இவரே என்று பழங்கால கிறிஸ்தவ மரபும், ஏடுகளும் சான்று பகர்கின்றன. கேரளாவில் வாழும் தோமையார் கிறிஸ்தவர்களும் இதற்கு சான்றாக உள்ளனர்.
பெயரும் அடையாளமும் :
பெயர் மரபு :
இயேசுவின் திருத்தூதர்களுள் ஒருவரான இவரை நற்செய்தி நூல்கள் தோமா என்ற பெயருடனேயே அடையாளப்படுத்துகின்றன. 'தோமா' என்னும் அரமேய மொழிச் சொல்லுக்கு இரட்டையர் என்பது பொருள். இதற்கு இணையான திதைமுஸ் (Didymus, தமிழ் ஒலிப்பெயர்ப்பு: திதிம்) என்ற கிரேக்க மொழிச் சொல் யோவான் நற்செய்தியில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது.
இந்த பெயரின் அடிப்படையில் இவருடன் இரட்டையராகப் பிறந்த ஒரு சகோதரரோ, சகோதரியோ இருந்திருக்கலாம் என்று நம்பப்படுகிறது. பழங்கால சிரிய மரபின்படி, திருத்தூதரின் முழுப்பெயர் யூதா தோமா என்று அறியப்படுகிறது.
இந்தியாவில் கிறிஸ்தவப் பணி :
இந்தியாவில் தோமையார் முதன் முதலில் பண்டைய சேர துறைமுகமான முசிறியில் (தற்போது கேரளாவிலுள்ள) கி.பி. 52-ல் பாதம் பதித்தார். தென் இந்தியாவின் கடற்கறை ஓரமாக நற்செய்தி பணியாற்றிய இவர், ஏழரை ஆலயங்களை நிறுவினார். அவை கொடுங்கல்லூர், பழவூர், கொட்டகாவு, கொக்கமங்கலம், நிரனம், நிலக்கல், கொல்லம் மற்றும் திருவிதாங்கோடு (கன்னியாகுமரி மாவட்டம்) ஆகிய இடங்களில் அமைந்துள்ளன.
இறப்பு :
தோமையார் கி.பி 72-ல் சென்னை மயிலாப்பூரில் மரித்தார் என நம்பப்படுகிறது. 13-ம் நூற்றாண்டில் இந்தியாவில் சுற்றுப்பயணம் செய்த மார்கோ-போலோ குறிப்புப்படி சென்னை அருகே அம்புகளால் குத்தப்பட்டு இறந்தார். அவரது மீப்பொருட்கள் சென்னை சாந்தோம் தேவாலயத்தில் உள்ளன.
விழா நாட்கள் :
9ம் நூற்றாண்டில் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட ரோமன் நாள்காட்டியில், புனித தோமாவின் விழா நாளாக டிசம்பர் 21ம் தேதி குறிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.
1969ம் ஆண்டு ரோமன் நாள்காட்டி திருத்தி அமைக்கப்பட்டபோது, புனித ஜெரோமின் மறைசாட்சிகள் நினைவுநாள் குறிப்பின் அடிப்படையில் திருத்தூதர் தோமாவின் விழா ஜூலை 3ம் தேதிக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டது. இருப்பினும், பெரும்பாலான ஆங்கிலிக்கத் திருச்சபைகள் டிசம்பர் 21ம் தேதியே புனிதரின் விழாவை சிறப்பிக்கின்றன. கிழக்கு மரபு வழி திருச்சபையைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் புனித தோமாவின் விழாவை அக்டோபர் 19ம் தேதி (ஜூலியன் நாட்காட்டியில் அக்டோபர் 6ம் தேதி) கொண்டாடுகின்றனர்.
தோமா ஆண்டவரிடம் ஒரு தனிப்பற்றுதல் கொண்டிருந்தார். நாமும் ஆண்டவருடன் சென்று அவரோடு சாக வேண்டியிருந்தாலும் தயாராய் இருப்போம் என்று கூறியவர். தோமா ஆண்டவரின் விண்ணேற்பிற்கு பிறகு சென்று போதியுங்கள் என்ற அவரின் கட்டளையை நிறைவேற்ற புறப்படுகிறார். யுசிபியுஸ் என்ற புகழ்பெற்ற வரலாற்று ஆசிரியர் கூறுகிறார். "அப்போஸ்தலர் யூதா ததேயுவை எடெஸ்ஸாவிலிருந்த அப்கர் என்ற அரசனுக்கு திருமுழுக்கு கொடுக்க அனுப்பியபின் தமக்கென பார்த்தியா மீட்ஸ், பெர்ஷியா இன்னும் பல அண்டை நாடுகளை தெரிந்துகொண்டு மறைபரப்பு பணியாற்றினார். தோமா. அப்போதுதான் இந்தியா வந்தார். "தோமாவின் பணிகள்" என்ற ஒரு நூல் கி.பி. 3ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் முதல் கால் பகுதியிலேயே மக்களிடம் இருந்ததாக ஆதாரம் இருக்கிறது.
கொண்டோபெர்னஸ்(Condoberns) அல்லது குடுப்பாரா(Cudupara) என்ற மன்னரது ஆட்சி 46 ல் பெஷாவர் வரை பரவிக்கிடந்தது. பஞ்சாபிலிருந்து கொச்சின், திருவிதாங்கூர் சிற்றரசு வரைக்கும் பரவியிருந்தது. அதிலிருந்து " புனித தோமாவின் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள்" என்றே இப்பகுதியினர் அழைக்கப்பட்டு வந்தனர். தங்களுடைய திருவழிபாட்டுக்கு "சீரியக்" என்ற மொழியையே அன்று முதல் இன்றுவரை பயன்படுத்தியதோடல்லாமல் இன்று வரை "சீரியன் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள்" என்றும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். சீரியக் மொழி உறுதியாக பெர்ஷியா, மெசப்பொத்தேமியா பகுதிகளிலுருந்து இறக்குமதியானது. தோமா முதன் முதலில் கிராங்கனூர் கடற்கரையை வந்தடைந்தார் எனவும், மலபாரில் மட்டும் 7 ஆலயங்கள் எழுப்பினார் எனவும், பின்னர் குமரி கடற்கரை வழியாக சென்னை வந்தடைந்தார் எனவும், அங்கே பலரையும் மனந்திருப்பிய பின் "சிறிய மலை" என்ற பெயர் கொண்ட இடத்தில் குத்திக் கொல்லப்பட்டார் எனவும் வரலாறு கூறுகின்றது. அவர் மைலாப்பூரில் அடக்கம் பண்ணப்பட்டதற்கு கல்லறை ஆதாரங்களும் உள்ளது.
1522 ஆம் ஆண்டு போர்த்துகீசியர் சென்னை வந்தபோது, அவரது கல்லறையை கண்டுபிடித்திருக்கிறார்கள். அவர்கள் கண்டுபிடித்த பொருட்கள் மைலாப்பூரில் சாந்தோம் பேராலயத்திலேயே வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இவரின் திருப்பண்டங்கள் பலவும் 4 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டில் எடெஸ்ஸாவுக்கு(Edesta) கொண்டு செல்லப்பட்டதாக "தோமாவின் பணிகள்" என்ற நூலில் தெளிவாக கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்தியாவிலிருந்து மெசப்பொட்டேமியாவுக்கு எடுத்து செல்லப்பட்டதாகவும் அதில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது. பின்னர் எடெஸ்ஸாவிலிருந்து பின்னர் அப்ரூஸ்ஸியில் உள்ள ஓர்டோனாவிற்கு(Ordon) எடுத்து செல்லப்பட்டு இன்றுவரை புனிதமாக காப்பாற்றப்பட்டு வணக்கம் செலுத்தப்பட்டு வருவதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
இயேசுவின் உயிர்ப்புக்குப் பிறகு தோமாவிற்கு இந்தியாவிற்குப் போகுமாறு சீட்டு விழுந்தது. எனவே அவர் இந்தியாவிற்கு வந்தார். அப்போது குண்டபோரஸ் என்னும் மன்னன் அழகு மிளிர்ந்த ஒரு மாளிகை கட்ட நினைத்தான். இந்தப் பொறுப்பை அவன் தன்னுடைய ஆலோசகராகிய ஹப்பான்ஸ் என்பவரிடம் ஒப்படைத்தான். ஹப்பான்ஸ் யாரிடம் இந்த வேலையைக் கொடுப்பது என நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கும்போது, அவருக்குக் கனவில், தோமா என்னும் ஒருவர் இருக்கிறார், அவர் கட்டடக் கலையில் வல்லுநர் என்ற செய்தி வெளிப்படுத்தப்பட்டது. எனவே அவர் தோமாவை அணுகிச் சென்று, மாளிகை கட்டும் பொறுப்பை அவரிடம் ஒப்படைத்தார். மன்னர் தோமாவிடம் மாளிகை கட்டுவதற்கான போதிய பணத்தைக் கொடுத்துவிட்டு, இரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் வெளிநாட்டுப் பயணம் சென்றார்.
தோமாவோ, மன்னன் மாளிகை கட்டக் கொடுத்த பணத்தை அதற்காகப் பயன்படுத்தாமல், ஏழை எளியவர்களுக்குப் பகிர்ந்து கொடுத்தார். இரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து, மன்னர் தோமாவை அழைத்து, “மாளிகை எங்கே?” என்று கேட்டார். அதற்கு அவர், “மாளிகை இங்கே இல்லை. விண்ணகத்திலே கட்டப்பட்டிருக்கிறது” என்றார். இதைக் கேட்டு சினமடைந்த மன்னன், தோமாவை சிறையில் அடைத்தான். இதற்கிடையில் மன்னனின் சகோதரன் காத் என்பவன் இறந்துபோனான். ஒருநாள் அவன் மன்னருக்குக் கனவில் தோன்றி, “சகோதரனே! விண்ணகத்தில் உனக்காக ஓர் அழகு மிளிர்ந்த மாளிகை கட்டப்பட்டிருக்கிறது, மேலும் நீ சிறையில் அடைத்து வைத்திருக்கும் மனிதர் சாதாரண மனிதர் அல்ல, அவர் கடவுளின் தூதர்” என்று உரைத்தான். இதை அறிந்த மன்னன் சிறையில் இருந்த தோமாவை விடுதலைசெய்து அனுப்பினான். அதோடு மட்டுமல்லாமல் அவரிடமிருந்து திருமுழுக்குப் பெற்று உண்மைக் கிறிஸ்தவனாக வாழத் தொடங்கினார்
திதிம் என அழைக்கப்படும் தோமா கலிலேயாவைச் சார்ந்தவர். இவரும் தூய பேதுரு, அந்திரேயா, யோவான் யாக்கோபு போன்று மீன்பிடித் தொழிலைச் செய்து வந்தார். ஆண்டவர் இயேசு அழைத்த உடன், இவர் எல்லாவற்றையும் விட்டுவிட்டு அவரைப் பின்தொடர்ந்தார். விவிலியத்தில் யோவான் நற்செய்தியைத் தவிர மற்ற நற்செய்தி நூல்களில் இவரைக் குறித்த செய்திகள் காணக் கிடைக்கவில்லை.
இயேசுவின் நெருங்கிய நண்பரான இலாசர் இறந்தபோது, இயேசு பெத்தானியாவிற்கு செல்லவேண்டும் என்று முடிவெடித்தார். அப்போது சீடர்கள் எல்லாம் இயேசுவிடம், “ரபி, இப்போதுதானே யூதர்கள் உம்மேல் கல்லெறிய முயன்றார்கள்; மீண்டும் அங்குப் போகிறீரா?” என்று சொல்லி அவரைத் தடுத்தார்கள் (யோவா 11:8). ஆனால் தோமாவோ, “நாமும் செல்வோம், அவரோடு இறப்போம்” என்று சொல்லி தான் இயேசுவுக்காக எதையும் செய்யத் துணிந்தவர் என்பதை வெளிப்படுத்துகிறார்.
இன்னொரு சமயம் இயேசு சீடர்களிடம், “நான் போய் உங்களுக்கு இடம் ஏற்பாடு செய்தபின் திரும்பி வந்து, உங்களை என்னிடம் அழைத்துக்கொள்வேன்” என்று சொல்லும்போது தோமா, “ஆண்டவரே, நீர் எங்கே போகிறீர் என்றே எங்களுக்குத் தெரியாது. அப்படியிருக்க நீர் போகுமிடத்திற்கான வழியை நாங்கள் எப்படித் தெரிந்துகொள்ள இயலும்?” என்பார். அதற்கு இயேசு, “வழியும் உண்மையும் வாழ்வும் நானே. என் வழியாய் அன்றி எவரும் தந்தையிடம் வருவதில்லை” என்பார். (யோவா 14: 1-6). இப்பகுதியில் இயேசு சொன்னது மற்ற சீடர்களுக்கும் புரியாதிருக்கும். ஆனால் அவர்கள் இயேசுவிடம் கேள்வி கேட்கத் துணியவில்லை. தோமாதான் மிகவும் துணிச்சலாக கேள்வியைக் கேட்டு, விளக்கத்தைத் தெரிந்துகொள்கிறார்.
இயேசு தன்னுடைய உயிர்ப்புக்குப் பிறகு, சீடர்களுக்குத் தோன்றினார். அவர் தோன்றிய நேரம் தோமா அங்கு இல்லை. எனவே சீடர்கள் அனைவரும், இயேசு தோன்றிய செய்தியை தோமாவிடம் எடுத்துச் சொன்னபோது, “அவர் நான் அவருடைய கைகளில் ஆணிகளால் ஏற்பட்ட காயங்களில் என் விரலையும், அவருடைய விலாவில் ஏற்பட்ட காயத்தில் என்னுடைய கையை விட்டால் ஒழிய நம்ப மாட்டேன் “என்கிறார். எட்டு நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு சீடர்கள் அனைவரும் (தோமாவும் அதில் இருந்தார்) ஒன்றாகக் கூடி வந்தபோது, இயேசு அவர்கள் நடுவே தோன்றி அவர்களை வாழ்த்தினார். பின்னர் தோமாவிடம், “தோமா உம்முடைய விரலை என்னுடைய கையிலும், கையை என்னுடைய விலாவிலும் விட்டுப் பார்” என்று சொல்லிவிட்டு, “ஐயம் தவிர்த்து நம்பிக்கை கொள்” என்பார். அப்போது தோமா, “நீரே என் ஆண்டவர்! நீரே என் கடவுள்!” என்பார் (யோவா 20: 28). இப்பகுதியைக் வைத்து, நிறையப் பேர் ‘தோமா ஒரு சந்தேகப் பேர்வழி’ என்பர். ஆனால் உண்மையில் அவர் முழு உண்மையை அறிந்துகொள்வதற்காக இப்படிச் செயல்பட்டார் என்பதை இங்கே நாம் புரிந்துகொள்ளவேண்டும். “நீரே என் ஆண்டவர்! நீரே என் கடவுள்” என்று தோமா அறிக்கையிட்ட நம்பிக்கை அறிக்கையைப் போன்று வேறு யாரும் இப்படி வெளிப்படுத்தவில்லை என்பதை நாம் புரிந்துகொள்ளவேண்டும்.
இயேசுவின் விண்ணேற்றத்திற்குப் பிறகு, தோமா தற்போதைய ஈரான், பெர்சியா போன்ற பகுதிகளுக்குச் சென்று நற்செய்தி அறிவித்ததாகவும், இறுதியில் இந்தியாவின் தென்பகுதியில் வந்து நற்செய்தி அறிவித்ததாகவும் சொல்லப்படுகின்றது. ஆனால் கிபி. 52 ஆம் ஆண்டு தோமா கேரளாவில் உள்ள கிராங்கநூர் பகுதியில் தரை இறங்கினார் என்றும் அங்கே ஏழு ஆலயங்களைக் கட்டி எழுப்பினார் என்றும் உறுதியாக நம்பப்படுகின்றது. அதற்கு கேரளாவில் உள்ள தோமையார் கிறிஸ்தவர்களே சான்றாக இருக்கின்றார்கள்.
தோமா கிராங்கநூரையும் அதைச் சுற்றியுள்ள பகுதிகளிலும் சில ஆண்டுகள் பணியாற்றிவிட்டு அதன்பிறகு, சென்னையிலுள்ள மயிலாப்பூர் பகுதியில் நற்செய்தி அறிவித்தார். அவருடைய போதனையைக் கேட்டு நிறைய மக்கள் கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்தைப் பின்பற்றினார்கள். இதனால் அவருக்கு இந்து பூசாரிகளிடமிருந்து கடுமையான எதிர்ப்பு வந்தது. ஆனால் தோமா தனக்கு வந்த எதிர்ப்புகளை எல்லாம் முறியடித்துவிட்டு, தொடர்ந்து நற்செய்தியை அறிவித்து வந்தார். ஒருசமயம் அவர் சின்ன மலையில் ஜெபித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தபோது பகைவர்கள் வந்து, அவர்மீது ஈட்டியைப் பாய்ச்சி அவரைக் கொலை செய்தார்கள்.
இவ்வாறு தோமா, முன்பு சொன்ன, “வாருங்கள் நாமும் போவோம், அவரோடு இறப்போம்” என்ற வார்த்தையை உண்மையாக்கிக் காட்டினார்.
232 ஆம் ஆண்டு தோமாவின் புனித பொருட்கள் எடேசாவிற்கு கொண்டு செல்லப்பட்டன. 15 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டில் இந்தியாவிற்கு வந்த போர்த்துகீசியர்கள் தோமாவின் கல்லறை இருந்த இடத்தில் ஆலயம் கட்டினார்கள். 1972 ஆம் ஆண்டு அப்போது திருத்தந்தையாக இருந்த, திருத்தந்தை ஆறாம் பவுல் தோமாவை இந்திய நாட்டின் திருத்தூதராக அறிவித்தார்.
Feastday: July 3
St. Thomas was born a Jew and was called to be one of the twelve Apostles. His birth and death dates are unknown, but his feast day is celebrated July 3. He lived before the formal establishment of the Catholic Church but is recognized as the patron saint of architects.
He was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. When Jesus said He was returning to Judea to visit His sick friend Lazarus, Thomas immediately exhorted the other Apostles to accompany Him on the trip which involved certain danger and possible death because of the mounting hostility of the authorities.
At the Last Supper, when Christ told His disciples 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.
St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of his Master. Thomas' unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had seen their risen Lord on the first Easter Sunday earned him the title of "doubting Thomas."
Eight days later, on Christ's second apparition, Thomas was gently rebuked for his skepticism and furnished with the evidence he had demanded - seeing in Christ's hands the point of the nails. Thomas even put his fingers in the nail holes and his hand into Christ's side. After verifying the wounds were true, St. Thomas became convinced of the reality of the Resurrection and exclaimed, "My Lord and My God," thus making a public Profession of Faith in the Divinity of Jesus.
St. Thomas is also mentioned as being present at another Resurrection appearance of Jesus - at Lake Tiberias, when a miraculous catch of fish occurred.
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 to 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."
According to tradition, Thomas was killed in an accident when a fowler shot at a peacock and struck Thomas instead. Following his death, some of his relics were taken to Edessa while the rest were kept in what is now known as India. They can still be found within the San Thome Basilica in Chennai, Mylapore, India.
The relics taken to Edessa were moved in 1258 to Italy, where they can be found in the Cathedral of St. Thomas the Apostle in Ortona, Italy. However, it is believed that Saint Thomas' skull rests in the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian on the Greek Island Patmos.
In art, Saint Thomas is commonly depicted as a young man holding a scroll, or as a young adult touching the resurrected Christ's wounds.
Saint Thomas was mentioned in several texts, including one document called The Passing of Mary, which claims then-apostle Thomas was the only one to witness the Assumption of Mary into heaven, while the other apostles were transported to Jerusalem to witness her death.
While the other apostles were with Mary, Thomas was left in India until after her first burial, when he was transported to her tomb and he saw her bodily assumption into heaven, when her girdle was left behind.
In versions of the story, the other apostles doubted Thomas' words until Mary's tomb was discovered to be empty with the exception of her girdle. Thomas and the girdle were often depicted in medieval and early Renaissance art.
Thomas the Apostle (Biblical Hebrew: תוֹמָאס הקדוש; Ancient Greek: Θωμᾶς; Coptic: ⲑⲱⲙⲁⲥ; Classical Syriac: ܬܐܘܡܐ ܫܠܝܚܐ Tʾōmā šliḥā; Malayalam: മാര് തോമാ ശ്ലീഹ mar thoma sliha), also called Didymus ("twin") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told of it (as related in the Gospel of John alone); later, he confessed his faith ("My Lord and my God") on seeing Jesus' crucifixion wounds.
According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of modern-day Kerala in India, Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as the Malabar Coast which is in modern-day Kerala State, India.[1][5][6][7] According to their tradition, Thomas reached Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in Kerala State, India) in AD 52.[8][9][1] In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona, in Abruzzo, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle.[10] He is often regarded as the patron saint of India among its Christian adherents,[11][12] and the name Thomas remains quite popular among the Saint Thomas Christians of India.
Gospel of John
Thomas first speaks in the Gospel of John. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has recently died, and the apostles do not wish to go back to Judea, Thomas says: "Let us also go, that we may die with him."[a]
Thomas speaks again in John 14:5. There, Jesus had just explained that he was going away to prepare a heavenly home for his followers, and that one day they would join him there. Thomas reacted by saying, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?"
John 20:24–29 tells how doubting Thomas was skeptical at first when he heard that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to the other apostles, saying, "Except I shall see on his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."[20:25] But when Jesus appeared later and invited Thomas to touch his wounds and behold him, Thomas showed his belief by saying, "My Lord and my God".[20:28] Jesus then said, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed."[20:29]
Names and etymologies
The name Thomas (Koine Greek: Θωμᾶς) given for the apostle in the New Testament is derived from the Aramaic תְּאוֹמָא or Classical Syriac: ܬܐܘܿܡܵܐ Tāʾwma/Tʾōmā, equivalently from Hebrew תְּאוֹם tʾóm, meaning "twin". The equivalent term for twin in Greek, which is also used in the New Testament, is Δίδυμος Didymos.
Other names
The Nag Hammadi copy of the Gospel of Thomas begins: "These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos, Judas Thomas, recorded." Early Syrian traditions also relate the apostle's full name as Judas Thomas.[b] Some have seen in the Acts of Thomas (written in east Syria in the early 3rd century, or perhaps as early as the first half of the 2nd century) an identification of Thomas with the apostle Judas, Son of James, better known in English as Jude. However, the first sentence of the Acts follows the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in distinguishing the apostle Thomas and the apostle Judas son of James. Others, such as James Tabor, identify him as Judah, the brother of Jesus mentioned by Mark. In the Book of Thomas the Contender, part of the Nag Hammadi library, he is alleged to be a twin to Jesus: "Now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself…"[13]
A "Doubting Thomas" is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience—a reference to the Apostle Thomas, due to his refusal to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles, until he could see and feel the wounds received by Jesus on the cross.
Feast days
When the feast of Saint Thomas was inserted in the Roman calendar in the 9th century, it was assigned to 21 December. The Martyrology of St. Jerome mentioned the apostle on 3 July, the date to which the Roman celebration was transferred in 1969, so that it would no longer interfere with the major ferial days of Advent.[14] Traditionalist Roman Catholics (who follow the General Roman Calendar of 1960 or earlier) and many Anglicans (including members of the Episcopal Church as well as members of the Church of England and the Lutheran Church, who worship according to the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer),[15] still celebrate his feast day on 21 December. However, most modern liturgical calendars (including the Common Worship calendar of the Church of England) prefer 3 July, Thomas is remembered in the Church of England with a Festival.[16]
The Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches celebrate his feast day on 6 October[17] (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian calendar, 6 October currently falls on 19 October of the modern Gregorian calendar). In addition, the next Sunday of the Easter (Pascha) is celebrated as the Sunday of Thomas, in commemoration of Thomas' question to Jesus, which led him to proclaim, according to Orthodox teaching, two natures of Jesus, both human and divine. Thomas is commemorated in common with all of the other apostles on 30 June (13 July), in a feast called the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles.[17] He is also associated with the "Arabian" (or "Arapet") icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God), which is commemorated on 6 September (19 September).[18] The Malankara Orthodox church celebrates his feast on three days, 3 July[19] (in memory of the relic translation to Edessa), 18 December (the Day he was lanced),[19] and 21 December (when he died).[19]
Later history and traditions
The Passing of Mary, adjudged heretical by Pope Gelasius I in 494, was attributed to Joseph of Arimathea.[20][21] The document states that Thomas was the only witness of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The other apostles were miraculously transported to Jerusalem to witness her death. Thomas was left in India, but after her first burial, he was transported to her tomb, where he witnessed her bodily assumption into heaven, from which she dropped her girdle. In an inversion of the story of Thomas' doubts, the other apostles are skeptical of Thomas' story until they see the empty tomb and the girdle.[22] Thomas' receipt of the girdle is commonly depicted in medieval and pre-Council of Trent Renaissance art,[23][24] the apostle's doubting reduced to a metaphorical knot in the Bavarian baroque Mary Untier of Knots.[citation needed]
During his visit to India in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI said that Thomas had landed in western India, somewhere in modern-day Pakistan and Christianity had spread from there to south India.[25] This is contrary to the popular legend of Thomas' direct visit to Kerala and had kicked off a debate among Christians in Kerala. Some believe that Thomas was indeed Thomas of Cana who arrived in Kerala from the Middle East to India sometime between the 4th and the 9th century.
Mission in India
The Postal Department of India brought out a stamp commemorating his mission to the country.
Main articles: Saint Thomas Christians, Christianity in India, and Christianity in Kerala
Map of ancient Silk Road and Spice Route
According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of India, the Apostle Thomas landed in Muziris (Cranganore) on the Kerala coast in AD 52 and was martyred in Mylapore, near Madras in AD 72.[8][9][1][5] The port was destroyed in 1341 by a massive flood that realigned the coasts. He is believed by the Saint Thomas Christian tradition to have established seven churches (communities) in Kerala. These churches are at Kodungallur, Palayoor, Kottakkavu (Paravur), Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kollam, and Thiruvithamcode.[26] Thomas baptized several families, namely Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Palackal, Thayyil, Payyappilly, Kalli, Kaliyankal, and Pattamukku.[27] Other families claim to have origins almost as far back as these, and the religious historian Robert Eric Frykenberg notes that: "Whatever dubious historicity may be attached to such local traditions, there can be little doubt as to their great antiquity or to their great appeal in the popular imagination."
It was to a land of dark people he was sent, to clothe them by Baptism in white robes. His grateful dawn dispelled India's painful darkness. It was his mission to espouse India to the One-Begotten. The merchant is blessed for having so great a treasure. Edessa thus became the blessed city by possessing the greatest pearl India could yield. Thomas works miracles in India, and at Edessa Thomas is destined to baptize peoples perverse and steeped in darkness, and that in the land of India.
— Hymns of Saint Ephrem, edited by Lamy (Ephr. Hymni et Sermones, IV).
... Into what land shall I fly from the just?
I stirred up Death the Apostles to slay, that by their death I might escape their blows.
But harder still am I now stricken: the Apostle I slew in India has overtaken me in Edessa; here and there he is all himself.
There went I, and there was he: here and there to my grief I find him.
— quoted in Medlycott 1905, Ch II
Ephrem the Syrian, a doctor of Syriac Christianity, writes in the forty-second of his "Carmina Nisibina" that the Apostle was put to death in India, and that his remains were subsequently buried in Edessa, brought there by an unnamed merchant.[2]
The tomb of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Mylapore, India
According to Eusebius' record, Thomas and Bartholomew were assigned to Parthia and India.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][9] The Didascalia (dating from the end of the 3rd century) states, "India and all countries condering it, even to the farthest seas... received the apostolic ordinances from Judas Thomas, who was a guide and ruler in the church which he built."
Thomas is believed to have left northwest India when an attack threatened and traveled by vessel to the Malabar Coast, possibly visiting southeast Arabia and Socotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port of Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor)[26] (c. AD 50) in the company of a Jewish merchant Abbanes/Habban (Schonfield, 1984,125). From there he is said to have preached the gospel throughout the Malabar coast. The various churches he founded were located mainly on the Periyar River and its tributaries and along the coast, where there were Jewish colonies. In accordance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry of the Malankara Church.
Death
Martyrdom of St. Thomas by Peter Paul Rubens, 1636–1638
According to Syrian Christian tradition, Thomas was allegedly martyred at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai on 3 July in AD 72, and his body was interred in Mylapore.[36] Ephrem the Syrian states that the Apostle was killed in India, and that his relics were taken then to Edessa. This is the earliest known record of his death.[37]
The records of Barbosa from early 16th century witness that the tomb was then maintained by a Muslim who kept a lamp burning there.[38] The San Thome Basilica Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India presently located at the tomb was first built in the 16th century by the Portuguese and rebuilt in the 19th century.[39] St. Thomas Mount has been a revered site by Muslims, and Christians since at least the 16th century.[40]
Possible visit to China
The alleged visit to China of Thomas is mentioned in the books and church traditions of Saint Thomas Christians in India (Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the Syro-Malabar rites)[41] who, for a part, claim descent from the early Christians evangelized by Thomas the Apostle in AD 52. For example, it is found in the Malayalam ballad Thomas Ramban Pattu (The Song of the Lord Thomas) with the earliest manuscript being from the 17th century. The sources clearly have Thomas coming to India, then to China, and back to India, where he died.[41]
In other attested sources, the tradition of making Thomas the apostle of China is found in the "Law of Christianity" (Fiqh al-naṣrāniyya),[42] a compilation of juridical literature by Ibn al-Ṭayyib (Nestorian theologian and physician who died in 1043 in Baghdad). Later, in the Nomocanon of Abdisho bar Berika (metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia, died in 1318) and the breviary of the Chaldean Church[43] it is written:
1. Through St. Thomas the error of idolatry vanished from India.
2. Through St. Thomas the Chinese and Ethiopians were converted to the truth.
3. Through St. Thomas they accepted the sacrament of baptism and the adoption of sons.
4. Through St. Thomas they believed in and confessed the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.
5. Through St. Thomas they preserved the accepted faith of the one God.
6. Through St. Thomas the life-giving splendors rose in all India.
7. Through St. Thomas the Kingdom of Heaven took wing and ascended to China.
— Translated by Athanasius Kircher in China Illustrata (1667), Office of St. Thomas for the Second Nocturn, Gaza of the Church of St. Thomas of Malabar, Chaldean Breviary
In its nascent form, this tradition is found at the earliest in the Zuqnin Chronicle (775 CE) and may have originated in the late Sasanian period.[44][45] Perhaps it originated as a 3rd-century pseudepigraphon where Thomas would have converted the Magi (in the Gospel of Matthew) to Christianity as they dwelled in the land of Shir (land of Seres, Tarim Basin, near what was the world's easternmost sea for many people in antiquity).[46] Additionally, the testimony of Arnobius of Sicca, active shortly after 300 CE, maintains that the Christian message had arrived in India and among the Persians, Medians, and Parthians (along with the Seres).[47]
Possible travel into Indonesia
According to Kurt E. Koch, Thomas the Apostle possibly traveled into Indonesia via India with Indian traders.[48]
Paraguayan legend
Ancient oral tradition retained by the Guaraní tribes of Paraguay claims that the Apostle Thomas was in Paraguay and preached to them.
in the estate of our college, called Paraguay, and twenty leagues distant from Asumpcion. This place stretches out on one side into a pleasant plain, affording pasture to a vast quantity of cattle; on the other, where it looks towards the south, it is surrounded by hills and rocks; in one of which a cross piled up of three large stones is visited, and held in great veneration by the natives for the sake of St. Thomas; for they believe, and firmly maintain, that the Apostle, seated on these stones as on a chair, formerly preached to the assembled Indians.
— Dobrizhoffer 1822, p. 385
Almost 150 years prior to Dobrizhoffer's arrival in Paraguay, another Jesuit Missionary, F.J. Antonio Ruiz de Montoya recollected the same oral traditions from the Paraguayan tribes. He wrote:
...The paraguayan tribes they have this very curious tradition. They claim that a very holy man (Thomas the Apostle himself), whom they call "Paí Thome", lived amongst them and preached to them the Holy Truth, wandering and carrying a wooden cross on his back.
— Ruiz de Montoya 1639, Ch XVIII
The sole recorded research done about the subject was during José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia's reign after the Independence of Paraguay. This is mentioned by Franz Wisner von Morgenstern, an Austro-Hungarian engineer who served in the Paraguayan armies prior and during the Paraguayan War. According to Von Morgenstern, some Paraguayan miners while working nearby some hills at the Caaguazú Department found some stones with ancient letters carved in them. Dictator Francia sent his finest experts to inspect those stones, and they concluded that the letters carved in those stones were Hebrew-like symbols, but they couldn't translate them nor figure out the exact date when those letters were carved.[49] No further recorded investigations exists, and according to Wisner, people believed that the letters were made by Thomas the Apostle, following the tradition.
Relics
Shrine of Saint Thomas in Mylapore, 18th-century print
Holy relics of Saint Thomas in Mar Mattai Monastery
Relics of Thomas in the Cathedral of Ortona
Mylapore
Traditional accounts say that the Apostle Thomas preached not only in Kerala but also in other parts of Southern India – and a few relics are still kept at San Thome Basilica in Mylapore neighborhood in the central part of the city of Chennai in India.[50] Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller and author of Description of the World, popularly known as Il Milione, is reputed to have visited Southern India in 1288 and 1292. The first date has been rejected as he was in China at the time, but the second date is generally accepted.[50]
Edessa
According to tradition, in AD 232, the greater portion of relics of the Apostle Thomas are said to have been sent by an Indian king and brought from Mylapore to the city of Edessa, Mesopotamia, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.
The Indian king is named as "Mazdai" in Syriac sources, "Misdeos" and "Misdeus" in Greek and Latin sources respectively, which has been connected to the "Bazdeo" on the Kushan coinage of Vasudeva I, the transition between "M" and "B" being a current one in Classical sources for Indian names.[51] The martyrologist Rabban Sliba dedicated a special day to both the Indian king, his family, and St Thomas:
Coronatio Thomae apostoli et Misdeus rex Indiae, Johannes eus filius huisque mater Tertia (Coronation of Thomas the Apostle, and Misdeus king of India, together with his son Johannes (thought to be a latinization of Vizan) and his mother Tertia) Rabban Sliba
— Bussagli 1965, p. 255
In the 4th century, the martyrium erected over his burial place brought pilgrims to Edessa. In the 380s, Egeria described her visit in a letter she sent to her community of nuns at home (Itineraria Egeriae):[52]
We arrived at Edessa in the Name of Christ our God, and, on our arrival, we straightway repaired to the church and memorial of saint Thomas. There, according to custom, prayers were made and the other things that were customary in the holy places were done; we read also some things concerning saint Thomas himself. The church there is very great, very beautiful and of new construction, well worthy to be the house of God, and as there was much that I desired to see, it was necessary for me to make a three days' stay there.
According to Theodoret of Cyrrhus, the bones of Saint Thomas were transferred by Cyrus I, Bishop of Edessa, from the martyrium outside of Edessa to a church in the south-west corner of the city on 22 August 394.[53]
In 441, the Magister militum per Orientem Anatolius donated a silver coffin to hold the relics.[54]
In AD 522, Cosmas Indicopleustes (called the Alexandrian) visited the Malabar Coast. He is the first traveller who mentions Syrian Christians in Malabar, in his book Christian Topography. He mentions that in the town of "Kalliana" (Quilon or Kollam) there was a bishop who had been consecrated in Persia.[55]
In 1144, the city was conquered by the Zengids and the shrine destroyed.[54]
Chios and Ortona
Ortona's Basilica of Saint Thomas
The reputed relics of Saint Thomas remained at Edessa until they were translated to Chios in 1258.[56] Some portion of the relics were later transported to the West, and now rest in the Cathedral of St. Thomas the Apostle in Ortona, Italy. However, the skull of Thomas is said to be at Monastery of Saint John the Theologian on the Greek island of Patmos.[57]
Ortona's three galleys reached the island of Chios in 1258, led by General Leone Acciaiuoli. Chios was considered the island where Thomas, after his death in India, had been buried. A portion fought around the Peloponnese and the Aegean islands, the other in the sea lapping at the then Syrian coast. The three galleys of Ortona moved on the second front of the war and reached the island of Chios.
The tale is provided by Giambattista De Lectis, physician and writer of the 16th century of Ortona. After the looting, the navarca Ortona Leone went to pray in the main church of the island of Chios and was drawn to a chapel adorned and resplendent with lights. An elderly priest, through an interpreter informed him that in that oratory was venerated the Body of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Leone, filled with an unusual sweetness, gathered in deep prayer. At that moment a light hand twice invited him to come closer. The navarca Leone reached out and took a bone from the largest hole of the tombstone, on which were carved the Greek letters and a halo depicted a bishop from the waist up. He was the confirmation of what he had said the old priest and that you are indeed in the presence of the Apostle's body. He went back on the galley and planned the theft for the next night, along with fellow Ruggiero Grogno. They lifted the heavy gravestone and watched the underlying relics. The wrapped in snow-white cloths them laid in a wooden box (stored at Ortona to the looting of 1566) and brought them aboard the galley. Leone, then, along with other comrades, he returned again in the church, took the tombstone and took her away. Just the Chinardo admiral was aware of the precious cargo moved all the sailors of the Muslim faith on other ships and ordered him to take the route to Ortona.
Portal of Ortona, St Thomas' Basilica
He landed at the port of Ortona 6 September 1258. According to the story of De Lectis, he was informed the abbot Jacopo responsible for Ortona Church, which predispose full provision for hospitality felt and shared by all the people. Since then the body of the apostle and the gravestone are preserved in the crypt of the Basilica. In 1259 a parchment written in Bari by the court under John Peacock contracts, the presence of five witnesses, preserved in Ortona at the Diocesan Library, confirming the veracity of that event, reported, as mentioned, by Giambattista De Lectis, physician and writer Ortona of the 16th century.
The relics resisted both the Saracen looting of 1566, and the destruction of the Nazis in the battle of Ortona fought in late December 1943. The basilica was blown up because the belfry was considered a lookout point by the allies, coming by sea from San Vito Chietino. The relics, together with the treasure of Saint Thomas, were intended by the Germans to be sold, but the monks entombed them inside the bell tower, the only surviving part of the semi-ruined church.
Original Chios' tombstone of Thomas, brought in the crypt of Ortona's Basilica
The tombstone of Thomas, brought to Ortona from Chios along with the relics of the Apostle, is currently preserved in the crypt of St Thomas Basilica, behind the altar. The urn containing the bones instead is placed under the altar. It is the cover of a fake coffin, fairly widespread burial form in the early Christian world, as the top of a tomb of less expensive material. The plaque has an inscription and a bas-relief that refer, in many respects, to the Syro-Mesopotamian. Tombstone Thomas the Apostle on inclusion can be read, in Greek characters uncial, the expression 'osios thomas, that Saint Thomas. It can be dated from the point of view palaeographic and lexical to the 3rd–5th century, a time when the term osios is still used as a synonym of aghios in that holy is he that is in the grace of God and is inserted in the church: the two vocabulary, therefore, indicate the Christians. In the particular case of Saint Thomas' plaque, then, the word osios can easily be the translation of the word Syriac mar (Lord), attributed in the ancient world, but also to the present day, is a saint to be a bishop.
Iraq
The finger bones of Saint Thomas were discovered during restoration work at the Church of Saint Thomas in Mosul, Iraq in 1964,[58] and were housed there until the Fall of Mosul, after which the relics were transferred to the Monastery of Saint Matthew on 17 June 2014.[59][60]
Historical references
By the command of an Indian King he was thrust through with Lances
A number of early Christian writings written during the centuries immediately following the first Ecumenical Council of 325 mention Thomas' mission.
The Transitus Mariae describes each of the apostles purportedly being temporarily transported to heaven during the Assumption of Mary.
Acts of Thomas
The main source is the apocryphal Acts of Thomas, sometimes called by its full name The Acts of Judas Thomas, written circa 180–230 AD/CE,[61][62] These are generally regarded by various Christian religions as apocryphal, or even heretical. The two centuries that lapsed between the life of the apostle and the recording of this work cast doubt on their authenticity.
The king, Misdeus (or Mizdeos), was infuriated when Thomas converted the queen Tertia, the king's son Juzanes, sister-in-law princess Mygdonia and her friend Markia. Misdeus led Thomas outside the city and ordered four soldiers to take him to the nearby hill, where the soldiers speared Thomas and killed him. After Thomas' death, Syphorus was elected the first presbyter of Mazdai by the surviving converts, while Juzanes was the first deacon. (The names Misdeus, Tertia, Juzanes, Syphorus, Markia and Mygdonia (c.f. Mygdonia, a province of Mesopotamia) may suggest Greek descent or cultural influences.[62] Greek traders had long visited Muziris. Greek kingdoms in northern India and Bactria, founded by Alexander the Great, were vassals[dubious – discuss] of the Indo-Parthians.[63]
Doctrine of the Apostles
The Doctrine of the Apostles as reflected in Cureton 1864, pp. 32–34 attests that Thomas had written Christian doctrine from India.
India and all its own countries, and those bordering on it, even to the farther sea, received the Apostle's hand of Priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was Guide and Ruler in the Church which he built and ministered there". In what follows "the whole Persia of the Assyrians and Medes, and of the countries round about Babylon… even to the borders of the Indians and even to the country of Gog and Magog" are said to have received the Apostles' Hand of Priesthood from Aggaeus the disciple of Addaeus
— Cureton 1864, p. 33
Origen
Christian philosopher Origen taught with great acclaim in Alexandria and then in Caesarea.[64] He is the first known writer to record the casting of lots by the Apostles. Origen's original work has been lost, but his statement about Parthia falling to Thomas has been preserved by Eusebius. "Origen, in the third chapter of his Commentary on Genesis, says that, according to tradition, Thomas's allotted field of labour was Parthia".[65][66][67]
Eusebius
Quoting Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea says: "When the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered over all the world, Thomas, so the tradition has it, obtained as his portion Parthia…"[68] "Judas, who is also called Thomas" has a role in the legend of king Abgar of Edessa (Urfa), for having sent Thaddaeus to preach in Edessa after the Ascension[69][32] Ephrem the Syrian also recounts this legend.)[70]
Ephrem the Syrian
Many devotional hymns composed by Ephrem the Syrian bear witness to the Edessan Church's strong conviction concerning Thomas's Indian Apostolate. There the devil speaks of Thomas as "the Apostle I slew in India". Also, "The merchant brought the bones" to Edessa.[71]
Another hymn eulogizing Saint Thomas reads "The bones the merchant hath brought". "In his several journeyings to India/ And thence on his return/ All riches/ which there he found/ Dirt in his eyes he did repute when to thy sacred bones compared". In yet another hymn Ephrem speaks of the mission of Thomas: "The earth darkened with sacrifices' fumes to illuminate", "a land of people dark fell to thy lot", "a tainted land Thomas has purified"; "India's dark night" was "flooded with light" by Thomas.
— Medlycott 1905, pp. 21–32[dubious – discuss][better source needed]
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus was born AD 330, consecrated a bishop by his friend Basil of Caesarea; in 372, his father, the Bishop of Nazianzus, induced him to share his charge. In 379, the people of Constantinople called him to be their bishop. By the Orthodox Church, he is emphatically called "the Theologian".[72] "What? were not the Apostles strangers amidst the many nations and countries over which they spread themselves? … Peter indeed may have belonged to Judea, but what had Paul in common with the gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?"[73][better source needed]
Ambrose of Milan
Ambrose of Milan was thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Latin Classics and had a good deal of information on India and Indians. He speaks of the Gymnosophists of India, the Indian Ocean, the river Ganges etc., a number of times.[74] "This admitted of the Apostles being sent without delay according to the saying of our Lord Jesus… Even those Kingdoms which were shut out by rugged mountains became accessible to them, as India to Thomas, Persia to Matthew..."[75][better source needed]
Gregory of Tours
The testimony of Gregory of Tours (died 594): "Thomas the Apostle, according to the narrative of his martyrdom is stated to have suffered in India. His holy remains (corpus), after a long interval of time, were removed to the city of Edessa in Syria and there interred. In that part of India where they first rested, stand a monastery and a church of striking dimensions, elaborately adorned and designed. This Theodore, who had been to the place, narrated to us."[76]
Writings
Let none read the gospel according to Thomas, for it is the work, not of one of the twelve apostles, but of one of Mani's three wicked disciples.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Cathechesis V (4th century)
In the first two centuries of the Christian era, a number of writings were circulated. It is unclear now why Thomas was seen as an authority for doctrine, although this belief is documented in Gnostic groups as early as the Pistis Sophia. In that Gnostic work, Mary Magdalene (one of the disciples) says:
Now at this time, my Lord, hear, so that I speak openly, for thou hast said to us "He who has ears to hear, let him hear:" Concerning the word which thou didst say to Philip: "Thou and Thomas and Matthew are the three to whom it has been given… to write every word of the Kingdom of the Light, and to bear witness to them"; hear now that I give the interpretation of these words. It is this which thy light-power once prophesied through Moses: "Through two and three witnesses everything will be established. The three witnesses are Philip and Thomas and Matthew"
Pistis Sophia 1:43
An early, non-Gnostic tradition may lie behind this statement, which also emphasizes the primacy of the Gospel of Matthew in its Aramaic form, over the other canonical three.
Besides the Acts of Thomas there was a widely circulated Infancy Gospel of Thomas probably written in the later 2nd century, and probably also in Syria, which relates the miraculous events and prodigies of Jesus' boyhood. This is the document which tells for the first time the familiar legend of the twelve sparrows which Jesus, at the age of five, fashioned from clay on the Sabbath day, which took wing and flew away. The earliest manuscript of this work is a 6th-century one in Syriac. This gospel was first referred to by Irenaeus; Ron Cameron notes: "In his citation, Irenaeus first quotes a non-canonical story that circulated about the childhood of Jesus and then goes directly on to quote a passage from the infancy narrative of the Gospel of Luke.[Luke 2:49] Since the Infancy Gospel of Thomas records both of these stories, in relative close proximity to one another, it is possible that the apocryphal writing cited by Irenaeus is, in fact, what is now known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Because of the complexities of the manuscript tradition, however, there is no certainty as to when the stories of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas began to be written down."
The best known in modern times of these documents is the "sayings" document that is being called the Gospel of Thomas, a noncanonical work whose date is disputed. The opening line claims it is the work of "Didymos Judas Thomas" – whose identity is unknown. This work was discovered in a Coptic translation in 1945 at the Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi, near the site of the monastery of Chenoboskion. Once the Coptic text was published, scholars recognized that an earlier Greek translation had been published from fragments of papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus in the 1890s.
Saint Thomas Cross
Saint Thomas Christian cross
In the 16th-century work Jornada, Antonio Gouvea writes of ornate crosses known as Saint Thomas Crosses. It is also known as Nasrani Menorah,[77] Persian Cross, or Mar Thoma Sleeva.[78] These crosses are believed to date from the 6th century as per the tradition and are found in a number of churches in Kerala, Mylapore and Goa. Jornada is the oldest known written document to refer to this type of cross as a Saint Thomas Cross. Gouvea also writes about the veneration of the Cross at Cranganore, referring to the cross as "Cross of Christians".
In Islam
The Qur’anic account of the disciples of Jesus does not include their names, numbers, or any detailed accounts of their lives. Muslim exegesis, however, more or less agrees with the New Testament list and says that the disciples included Peter, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Andrew, James, Jude, John, and Simon the Zealot
St. Joseph Peter Uyen
Feastday: July 3
Death: 1838
Canonized: Pope John Paul II
Dominican tertiary, martyr of Vietnam. A native catechist, he died of abuse in prison for refusing to give up the faith and was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Gunthiern
Feastday: July 3
Death: 500
Welsh prince who became a hermit in Brittany, France.
St. Phocas the Gardener
Feastday: July 3
Death: 303
Martyred Christian gardener who lived at Sinope, in Paphiagonia, on the Black Sea and was put to death during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian. Phocas is sometimes confused with Phocas of Antioch, although there is no doubt about the historical act of his martyrdom. According to tradition, he gave welcome to the Roman soldiers sent to find and execute him and, as they did not know who he was, he agreed to take them to the Phocas whom they sought. After fixing them food and allowing them to sleep in his house, he went out and dug his grave, using the rest of the night to prepare his soul. In the morning he led them to his prepared grave and informed them of his identity. When they were aghast and hesitated to slay him, he encouraged them to complete their task and behead him. He is especially venerated in the East and was long considered a patron saint for sailors.
ST. PHOCUS dwelt near the gate of Sinope, a city of Pontus, and lived by cultivating a garden, which yielded him a handsome subsistence, and wherewith plentifully to relieve the indigent. In his humble profession he imitated the virtue of the most holy anchorets, and seemed in part restored to the happy condition of our first parents in Eden. To prune the garden without labour and toil was their sweet employment and pleasure. Since their sin, the earth yields not its fruit but by the sweat of our brow. But still, no labour is more useful or necessary, or more natural to man, and better adapted to maintain in him vigour of mind or health of body than that of tillage; nor does any other part of the universe rival the innocent charms which a garden presents to all our senses, by the fragrancy of its flowers, by the riches of its produce, and the sweetness and variety of its fruits; by the melodious concert of its musicians, by the worlds of wonders which every stem, leaf, and fibre exhibit to the contemplation of the inquisitive philosopher, and by that beauty and variegated lustre of colours which clothe the numberless tribes of its smallest inhabitants, and adorn its shining landscapes, vying with the brightest splendour of the heavens, and in a single lily surpassing the dazzling lustre with which Solomon was surrounded on his throne in the midst of all his glory. And what a field for contemplation does a garden offer to our view in every part, raising our souls to God in raptures of love and praise, stimulating us to fervour, by the fruitfulness with which it repays our labour, and multiplies the seed it receives; and exciting us to tears of compunction for our insensibility to God by the barrenness with which it is changed into a frightful desert, unless subdued by assiduous toil! Our saint joining prayer with his labour, found in his garden itself an instructive book, and an inexhausted fund of holy meditation. His house was open to all strangers and travellers who had no lodging in the place; and after having for many years most liberally bestowed the fruit of his labour on the poor, he was found worthy also to give his life for Christ. Though his profession was obscure, he was well known over the whole country by the reputation of his charity and virtue.
When a cruel persecution, probably that of Dioclesian in 303, was suddenly raised in the church, Phocas was immediately impeached as a Christian, and such was the notoriety of his pretended crime, that the formality of a trial was superceded by the persecutors, and executioners were despatched with an order to kill him on the spot wherever they should find him. Arriving near Sinope, they would not enter the town, but stopping at his house without knowing it, at his kind invitation they took up their lodging with him. Being charmed with his courteous entertainment, they at supper disclosed to him the errand upon which they were sent, and desired him to inform them where this Phocas could be most easily met with? The servant of God, without the least surprise, told them he was well acquainted with the man, and would give them certain intelligence of him next morning. After they were retired to bed he dug a grave, prepared everything for his burial, and spent the night in disposing his soul for his last hour. When it was day he went to his guests, and told them Phocas was found, and in their power whenever they pleased to apprehend him. Glad at this news, they inquired where he was. "He is here present," said the martyr, "I myself am the man." Struck at his undaunted resolution, and at the composure of his mind, they stood a considerable time as if they had been motionless, nor could they at first think of imbruing their hands in the blood of a person in whom they discovered so heroic a virtue, and by whom they had been so courteously entertained. He indirectly encouraged them, saying, that as for himself, he looked upon such a death as the greatest of favours, and his highest advantage. At length recovering themselves from their surprise, they struck off his head. The Christians of that city, after peace was restored to the church, built a stately church which bore his name, and was famous over all the East. In it were deposited the sacred relics, though some portions of them were dispersed in other churches.
St. Asterius, bishop of Amasea about the year 400, pronounced the panegyric of this martyr, on his festival, in a church, probably near Amasea, which possessed a small part of his remains. In this discourse 1 he says, "that Phocas from the time of his death was become a pillar and support of the churches on earth: he draws all men to his house; the highways are filled with persons resorting from every country to this place of prayer. The magnificent church which (at Sinope) is possessed of his body, is the comfort and ease of the afflicted, the health of the sick, the magazine plentifully supplying the wants of the poor. If in any other place, as in this, some small portion of his relics be found, it also becomes admirable, and most desired by all Christians." He adds, that the head of St. Phocas was kept in his beautiful church in Rome, and says, "The Romans honour him by the concourse of the whole people in the same manner they do Peter and Paul." He bears testimony that the sailors in the Euxine, Ćgean, and Adriatic seas, and in the ocean, sing hymns in his honour, and that the martyr has often succoured and preserved them; and that the portion of gain which they in every voyage set apart for the poor is called Phocas's part. He mentions that a certain king of barbarians had sent his royal diadem set with jewels, and his rich helmet a present to the church of St. Phocas, praying the martyr to offer it to the Lord in thanksgiving for the kingdom which his Divine Majesty had bestowed upon him. St. Chrysostom received a portion of the relics of St. Phocas, not at Antioch, as Baronius thought, and as Fronto le Duc and Baillet doubt, but at Constantinople as Montfaucon demonstrates. 2 On that solemn occasion the city kept a great festival two days, and St. Chrysostom preached two sermons, only one of which is extant. 3 In this he says, that the emperors left their palaces to reverence these relics, and strove to share with the rest in the blessings which they procure men. The emperor Phocas built afterwards another great church at Constantinople in honour of this martyr, and caused a considerable part of his relics to be translated thither. The Greeks often style St. Phocas hiero-martyr or sacred martyr, which epithet they sometimes give to eminent martyrs who were not bishops, as Ruinart demonstrates against Baronius.
Saint Phocas, sometimes called Phocas the Gardener (Greek:Φωκᾶς), is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. His life and legend may have been a fusion of three men with the same name: a Phocas of Antioch, a Phocas the Gardener and Phocas, Bishop of Sinope
Saint Anatolius of Alexandria
அலெக்சாண்ட்ரியாவின் புனிதர் அனடோலியஸ்
(St. Anatolius of Alexandria)
ஆயர், ஒப்புரவாளர்:
(Bishop and Confessor)
பிறப்பு: கி.பி. மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டின் தொடக்க காலம்
அலெக்சாண்ட்ரியா, டோலேமெய்க் அரசு, எகிப்து
(Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt)
இறப்பு: ஜூலை 3, 283
லாவோடிசியா, ரோம சிரியா (தற்போதைய சிரியாவிலுள்ள லடகியா)
(Laodicea, Roman Syria (Now Latakia, Syria)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை
(Eastern Orthodox Church)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஜூலை 3
“லாவோடிசியா’வின் அனடோலியஸ்” (Anatolius of Laodicea) என்றும், “அலெக்சாண்ட்ரியா’வின் அனடோலியஸ்” (Anatolius of Alexandria) என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும் இப்புனிதர், ரோம சிரியாவின் (Roman Syria) மத்தியதரைக் கடலோரமுள்ள (Mediterranean) துறைமுக நகரான “லாவோடிசியா” (Laodicea) நகரின் ஆயர் ஆவார். அத்துடன், இயல்பியல் (Physical sciences) மற்றும் “அரிஸ்டோடிலியன் தத்துவத்தில்” (Aristotelean philosophy) அக்காலத்தைய முன்னோடி அறிஞர்களில் ஒருவராகவும் இருந்தார். ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை (Roman Catholic Churches) மற்றும் கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபைகள் (Eastern Orthodox) இவரை புனிதராக ஏற்கின்றன.
புனிதர் அனடோலியஸ், கி.பி. மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டின் தொடக்க காலத்தில், எகிப்து (Egypt) நாட்டின் இரண்டாம் பெரிய நகரான அலெக்சாண்ட்ரியாவில் (Alexandria) பிறந்து வளர்ந்தவர் ஆவார். திருச்சபையின் பெரும் விளக்குகளில் ஒன்றாக மாறுவதற்கு முன்பு, அனடோலியஸ் அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரியாவில் கணிசமான கௌரவமுள்ள பெரிய மனிதராக வாழ்ந்தார். கணிதம், வடிவவியல் (Geometry), இயற்பியல் (Physics), சொல்லாட்சிக் கலை (Rhetoric), “வாதமுறை ஆராய்ச்சி” (Dialectic) மற்றும் வானியல் (Astronomy) ஆகியவற்றைப் பற்றிய ஒரு பெரும் அறிவைப் பெற்றிருந்தார். கிறிஸ்தவ சரித்திர ஆசிரியரான “யூசேபியஸ்” (Eusebius of Caesarea) என்பவரின்படி, அலெக்ஸாண்டிரியாவிலுள்ள அரிஸ்டாட்டிலின் அடுத்தடுத்த பள்ளியைத் தக்கவைத்துக்கொள்ள அனடோலியஸ் தகுதியுடையவராக கருதப்பட்டார். புறமத பாகன் தத்துவவாதியான “இம்பம்லிகஸ்” (Pagan Philosopher) என்பவர், சிறிது காலம் இவரது சீடர்களிடையே கல்வி கற்றார்.
அவரால் எழுதப்பட்ட பத்து கணிதப் புத்தகங்களின் துண்டுகளும், இயேசுநாதர் உயிர்த்தெழுந்த கொண்டாட்ட நாள் பற்றிய (Paschal celebration) கட்டுரைகளும் இன்றளவும் உள்ளன.
அக்காலத்தில், அலெக்ஸாண்டிரியாவின் ஒரு பகுதியாயிருந்த “புருச்சியம்” (Bruchium) பிராந்தியத்தில் நடந்த கலகத்தை அனடோலியாஸ் எவ்வாறு உடைத்தெறிந்தார் என்பதையும் யூசெபிசியஸ் எழுதியுள்ளார். ஜெனோபியாவின் (Zenobia) படைகளால் நடத்தப்பட்ட அந்த கலகம், ரோமர்களால் கடுமையாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டு பட்டினியாய் இருந்தது. அந்த நேரத்தில் புரூச்சியத்தில் (Bruchium) வாழ்ந்த துறவி, எல்லா பெண்களையும் குழந்தைகளையும், வயதான மற்றும் நோயாளிகளையும் அங்கிருந்து தப்பிப்பதற்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்தார். அது பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் கிளர்ச்சியாளர்களை சரணடைய வைத்தது. இது, பாதிக்கப்பட்ட பல மக்களை காப்பாற்றியது, இத்துறவியின் நாட்டுப் பற்றுள்ள நடவடிக்கையாக அமைந்தது.
“லாவோடிசியா” (Laodicea) புறப்பட்ட அவரை, மக்கள் பிடித்து ஆயராக்கினார்கள். அவரது நண்பர் யூசேபியஸ் இறந்துவிட்டாரா அல்லது அவர்கள் இருவரும் சேர்ந்தே சேவை செய்தார்களா என்பது விவாதத்திற்குரிய விஷயமாகவே இருந்தது.
Also known as
Anatolius of Laodicea
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Noted scientist, philosopher, scholar, teacher, and writer. He wrote ten books on mathematics alone, and Saint Jerome praised his scholarship and writing. Head of the Aristotlean school in Alexandria, Egypt. However, he was known not just as a scholar but as a humble and deeply religious man. Ignorance horrified him, and part of his work with the poor was to educate them. Held a number of government posts in Alexandria.
During a rebellion against the Roman authorities in 263, the area of Alexandria was under seige, resulting in the starvation of both rebels and citizens who had nothing to do with the uprising. Anatolius met with the Romans and negotiated the release of non-combatant children, women, the sick, and the elderly, saving many, and earning him a reputation as a peacemaker. The rebels, freed of caring for the non-combatants, were able to fight even longer. However, when they lost, Anatolius found himself with enemies on each side of the conflict, and he decided to leave Alexandria.
Anatolius emigrated to Caesaria, Palestine. His reputation as a scholar and Christian had preceeded him, and he became assistant and advisor to the bishop. In 268, while en route to the Council of Antioch, he passed through Laodicea, Syria. Their bishop, Saint Eusebius of Laodicea, had just died, they saw Anatolius' arrival as a gift from God, and insisted that he assume the bishopric. He accepted, and spent his remaining fifteen years there.
Born
Alexandria, Egypt
Died
283 at Laodicea, Syria of natural causes
Saint Eusebius of Laodicea
Also known as
• Eusebius of Alexandria
• Eusebio of...
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Deacon in Alexandria, Egypt, serving under Saint Dionysius the Great. Exiled to Kefro, Libya in the persecutions of emperor Valerian c.255 for refusing to sacrifice to idols, Eusebius went into hiding to avoid the sentence, ministered to other covert Christians for several years, and cared for the sick during a plague outbreak in 260. Negotiated the surrender of women, children and elderly men to Roman troops during a siege of the Brucchium section of Alexandria. Represented his bishop at the Synod of Antioch which dealt with the heresey of Paul of Samosata and the false doctrines of Adoptionism and Monarchianism. Bishop of Laodicea, Syria (modern Latakia, Syria). A shory biography of him was included by Saint Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History.
Born
3rd century Egypt
Died
269 in Laodicea, Syria (modern Latakia, Syria) of natural causes
Saint Anatolius of Constantinople
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Patriarch of Constantinople from 449 to 458. Known for his simple, austere life, his charity to the poor, his zeal for the faith, and his opposition to heresy. He opposed the heretic Dioscurus at the Council of Chalcedon, and supported the doctrinal authority of Pope Saint Leo the Great, which put him in the midst of both theological and political turmoil. He fought against the Nestorian heresy at the Council of Ephesus. Miraculously healed from a serious illness by Saint Daniel the Stylite. May have been murdered by local heretics for his support of the Pope. Some of his writings, correspondence and hymns have survived the centuries.
Died
458 of unknown circumstances
Saint Gunthiern
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Prince who became a hermit in Brittany. The local lord, Grallon, gave Gunthiern land on the Isle of Groie, near River Blavet to found a monastery. It survives today as the Benedictine house of Kemperle.
Legend says that insects once threatened to destroy the region's crops. Count Guerech I of Vannes, France, requested the saint's help. Gunthiern blessed some water and had it sprinkled over the fields. The insects fled, and the crops were saved.
Born
Welsh
Died
• c.500 in Brittany (in modern France) of natural causes
• his body was hidden during the Norman invasions, and was lost for a while
• remains re-discovered in the 11th century
• relics were translated to the Kemperle monastery
Saint Giuse Nguyen Ðình Uyen
Also known as
• Giuseppe Nguyen Dinh Uyen
• Joseph Peter Uyen
Additional Memorial
24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam
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Layman Dominican tertiary and catechist. Died after being imprisoned for his faith during the persecutions of Emperor Minh Mang. Martyr.
Born
c.1775 in Ninh Cuong, Nam Ðinh, East Tonkin (in modern Vietnam)
Died
4 July 1838 in prison in Hung Yên, East Tonkin (modern Viet Nam from the ill treatment he received there
Canonized
19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Raymond of Toulouse
Also known as
• Raymond Gayrard
• Raimund, Raimundus
Profile
Married layman. Widower. Cantor, archdeacon and canon of Saint Sernin church in Toulouse, France. Helped rebuild the church. Known for his austere lifestyle, charity and generosity to the poor, and his good relations with the local Jewish community.
Born
at Toulouse, France as Raymond Gayrard
Died
• 3 July 1118 of natural causes
• many miracles reported at his tomb, and the church became a popular pilgrimage site
Beatified
1652 by Pope Innocent X (cultus confirmation)
Pope Saint Leo II
Profile
Pope. Eloquent preacher. Interested in music. Noted for his charity to the poor. Confirmed the Sixth Council of Constantinople in 681 which condemned Monthelitism and censured Pope Honorius I for not doing the same. Secured revocation of the edict of Constans II which proclaimed the bishops of Ravenna, Italy free from the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome.
Born
Sicilian
Papal Ascension
• elected 10 January 681
• consecrated on 17 August 682
Died
28 June 683 in Rome, Italy of natural causes
Saint Ioannes Baptista Zhao Mingxi
Also known as
• Zhao Mingxi Ioannes Baptista
• Ruohan
• Giovan Battista Zhao Mingxi
Profile
Layman Christian in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. Martyred in the Boxer Rebellion while trying to rescue some women and children from the rebels.
Born
c.1844 in Beiwangtou, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Died
3 July 1900 in Beiwangtou, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Canonized
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Heliodorus of Altinum
Also known as
• Heliodorus of Altino
• Eliodoro...
Profile
A soldier in his youth. Close friend and financial supporter of Saint Jerome, and helped with the logistics of the translation of the Vulgate Bible. Followed Jerome to the east, but declined the life of a desert hermit. Bishop of Altinum, a small town near Venice, Italy which has since disappeared. Fierce opponent of Arianism.
Born
332 at Dalmatia
Died
390 at Altino, Italy of natural causes
Saint Philiphê Phan Van Minh
Also known as
• Filippo Phan Van Minh
• Philip Minh
Profile
Priest in the the apostolic vicariate of West Cochinchina (in modern Vietnam). Member of the Paris Society for Foreign Missions. Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Tu-Duc.
Born
c.1815 at Cái Mon, Vinh Long, West Cochin-China (modern Vietnam)
Died
beheaded on 3 July 1853 at Ðinh Khao, Vietnam
Canonized
19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Petrus Zhao Mingzhen
Also known as
• Baiduo
• Zhao Mingzhen Petrus
• Pietro Zhao Mingzhen
Profile
Layman Christian in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. Martyred in the Boxer Rebellion while trying to rescue some women and children from the rebels.
Born
c.1839 in Beiwangtou, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Died
3 July 1900 in Beiwangtou, Shenzhou, Hebei, China
Canonized
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed Barbara Jeong Sun-Mae
Additional Memorial
20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea
Profile
Lay woman martyr in the apostolic vicariate of Korea. Convert to Catholicism. Moving to Seoul, she founded a group of other Christian lay women who wanted to live in community. Martyr.
Born
1777 in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Died
3 - 4 July 1801 in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Beatified
15 August 2014 by Pope Francis
Blessed Andreas Ebersbach
Profile
Premonstratensian monk. Canon of the monastery in Teplá, Bohemia (in the modern Czech Republic). Abbot of Teplá in 1599; he served in that office for 30 years. Known for his strict adhereance to the Rule of his Order, and commended by diocesan authorities for his work as a Christian catechist and apologist.
Born
c.1554 in the modern Czech Republic
Died
3 July 1629 of natural causes
Saint Irenaeus of Chiusi
Also known as
Ireneo
Profile
Deacon. Tortured and martyred with Saint Mustiola for ministering to Christian prisoners, and giving proper burial to martyrs.
Died
273 at Chiusi, Tuscany, Italy
Patronage
Chiusi, Italy
Saint Germanus of Man
Also known as
Germain, German, Jarman
Profile
Nephew of Saint Patrick. Missionary monk in Ireland, Wales and Brittany. Bishop on the Isle of Man where several locations are still named for him.
Died
c.474 of natural causes
Saint Dathus of Ravenna
Also known as
Datus, Dathius
Profile
Bishop of Ravenna, Italy during the reign of the Roman emperor Commodus. Elected to the see when a dove miraculously appeared over his head during the deliberations.
Died
190 of natural causes
Saint Hyacinth of Caesarea
Profile
Chamberlain to the emperor Trajan at Caesarea, Cappadocia. Imprisoned for his faith, his only food was meat that had been offered to idols; he starved rather than touch it. Martyr.
Died
starved to death c.120 in Caesarea, Cappadocia (in modern Turkey)
Saint Mennone the Centurian
Also known as
Memnon
Profile
Centurian in the imperial army in the reign of Diocletian and Maximian. Convert, brought to the faith by Saint Severus. Tortured and murdered for his new faith. Martyr.
Died
Byzie, Thrace (modern Vize, turkey)
Saint Firminus of Apsaros
Profile
One of seven Christian brothers who were soldiers in the imperial Roman army. Kicked out of the military, exiled and eventually martyred in the persecutions of Maximian.
Died
c.311 at Apsaros (in modern Georgia)
Saint Firmus of Apsaros
Profile
One of seven Christian brothers who were soldiers in the imperial Roman army. Kicked out of the military, exiled and eventually martyred in the persecutions of Maximian.
Died
c.311 at Apsaros (in modern Georgia)
Saint Guthagon
Profile
May have been Irish royalty. Hermit at Oostkerk, Flanders, Belgium.
Born
Eighth century Ireland
Died
• in Belgium of natural causes
• many miracles reported at this tomb
• relics translated on 3 July 1059
Saint Mark of Mesia
Profile
Martyr of the early Church for refusing to sacrifice to idols.
Died
beheaded in Mesia (in modern Spain)
Saint Maelmuire O'Gorman
Also known as
Marianus O'Gorman
Profile
Abbot of Knock, Louth, Ireland. Noted as a poet.
Born
Irish
Died
some time after 1167 of natural causes
Saint Mucian of Mesia
Also known as
Mocian
Profile
Martyr of the early Church for refusing to sacrifice to idols.
Died
beheaded in Mesia (in modern Spain)
Saint Byblig
Also known as
Biblig, Peblig, Peglig, Piblig, Publicius
Profile
A holy man with some connection to Carnarvon, Wales.
Born
Welsh
Died
5th century
Blessed Gelduin
Profile
Monk. Abbot of a monastery near Douai, France. Friend of and extensive correspondent with Saint Anselm of Canterbury.
Died
1123 of natural causes
Saint Cillene
Also known as
Killen
Profile
Monk. Elected abbot in Iona Abbey in Scotland in 726.
Born
Irish
Died
752 of natural causes
Saint Paul of Mesia
Profile
Martyr of the early Church, executed for encouraging other martyrs not to lose their faith.
Died
put to the sword
Saint Bladus
Also known as
Blade
Profile
Early bishop on the Isle of Man.
Martyrs of Alexandria
Profile
Thirteen Christian companions marytred together. No details about them have survived but the names - Apricus, Cyrion (2 of), Eulogius, Hemerion, Julian, Julius, Justus, Menelaus, Orestes, Porfyrios and Tryphon (2 of).
Died
Alexandria, Egypt, date unknown
Martyrs of Constantinople
Profile
A group of 24 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Arian emperor Valens. We know little more than their names – Acacios, Amedinos, Ammonius, Ammus, Cerealis, Cionia, Cionius, Cyrianus, Demetrius, Eulogius (2), Euphemia, Heliodoros, Heraclios, Horestes, Jocundus, Julian, Martyrios, Menelaeus, Sestratus, Strategos, Thomas, Timotheos and Tryphon.
Died
c.367 in Constantintinople
Theodotus and Companions
Profile
Six Christians who were imprisoned, tortured and martyred together in the persecutions of Trajan. Saint Hyacinth ministered to them in prison. We know nothing else about them but their names - Asclepiodotus, Diomedes, Eulampius, Golinduchus, Theodota and Theodotus.
Died
beheaded c.110, location unknown
