thomas

St. ThomasThomas the Apostle is mentioned in all the Gospels. He was prepared to die with Jesus, but later, after the Resurrection, refused to believe in the risen Christ until he had touched his wounds ( hence the expression ‘Doubting Thomas’). "The Incredulity of St Thomas" by Caravaggio shown on the right illustrates this element of his life.

Little is known about the rest of his life. One tradition suggests that he was a missionary in Parthia. Another, far stronger one, records that he travelled to India, was killed with a spear and was buried near Madras, at Mylapore. An ancient cross still marks his supposed burial place, and the Syrian Christians on India’s Malabar coast claim him as their founder, describing themselves as the "St. Thomas Christians" or the "Mar Thoma Church".

His patronage of architects is based on a colourful tale in the apocryphal ‘Acts of Thomas’: an Indian king gave Thomas a large sum of money to build a palace, for which he had produced plans. Instead Thomas spent the it on the poor, "thus building a palace in heaven".

 

collect

Almighty and eternal God, who, for the firmer foundation of our faith, allowed your holy apostle Thomas to doubt the resurrection of your Son till word and sight convinced him: grant to us, who have not seen, that we also may beleive and so confess Christ as our Lord and our God; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

 

patron of architects?

His symbol is the builder’s square; there are several stories that explain it:

  • he built a palace for King Guduphara in India

  • he built the first church in India with his own hands

  • it is representative building a strong spiritual foundation as he had complete faith in Christ (though initially less in the Resurrection)

  • he offered to build a palace for an Indian king that would last forever; the king gave him money, which Thomas promptly gave away to the poor; he explained that the palace he was building was in heaven, not on earth