Orthodox · 1st century
Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas
Commemorated: October 19 (October 6, Old Style)
Life
Thomas, called Didymus, “the Twin”, was one of the Twelve. The Gospel of John tells that he would not believe in the Resurrection until he could touch the wounds, and that when Christ appeared to him he exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!”
Tradition holds that he preached in Parthia and India. The Acts of Thomas, a 3rd-century Syriac work, and his Life tell that a king had him led up a hill and pierced with spears. The Christians of Kerala, the “St Thomas Christians”, trace their origin to him and venerate his tomb at Mylapore near Chennai; by the 4th century his relics were also venerated at Edessa.
Places
- Place of death: Mylapore
- Place of burial: San Thome Basilica
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Lives of the Saints by St Dimitry of Rostov (1902–1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.