3 July: Feast day of St Thomas

St Thomas Didymus was an Apostle, whose name means "the Twin". Thomas is remembered for his doubt that Christ had actually risen from the dead.

1. We don't know much about his early life, but it is presumed he was a Jew who was born in Galilee. There is no evidence he was a fisherman. Nor is the story told of how he became a disciple of Jesus.
2. The name Thomas is derived from the Aramaic Toma and the Hebrew Teom, meaning "twin". It's possible his full name was Judas Thomas. Whether he was a twin or not, we don't know. There is a reference in the Book of Thomas the Contender, part of the Nag Hammadi texts which aren't accepted by the church, Jesus acknowledges Thomas as his own twin although it could mean Jesus was talking about Thomas as one of his counterparts on Earth.
3. He is famous for refusing to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he had seen and touched the risen Christ for himself. He wasn't going to take anyone else's word for it. When he did see Jesus, though, he totally believed it, saying "My Lord and my God.” The term "Doubting Thomas" originates from this story.
4. He may have been a doubter but he could be brave, too. The first words he speaks in the gospels are when the other disciples aren't keen to go back to Judea, where people had attempted to stone Jesus. Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
5. He also wasn't afraid to ask questions. When Jesus told the disciples he was going away to prepare a heavenly home for them, and that they would one day join him there, it is Thomas who asks, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6. Later on, Thomas became a missionary to India. According to the Acts of Thomas, a book in the New Testament apocrypha, the apostles cast lots as to which part of the world they would go and evangelise. Thomas drew India. He didn't feel up to the task, claiming his health wasn't good enough, and how could a Jew teach Indians? Jesus, of course, wasn't going to take no for an answer. Christ appeared as a merchant and sold Thomas as a slave to an Indian king, so Thomas had no choice but to go.
7. In another story, Thomas tells the king he will build him a palace which will last forever. The king gave him money for this and Thomas gave it all to the poor. When asked to account for the money, Thomas told the king he was building a palace in heaven, not on earth.
8. Saint Thomas is the patron saint of India. He is also the patron saint of Sri Lanka, and of the blind, craftsmen, geometricians and theologians.
9. Thomas is said to be the only apostle to witness the Assumption of Mary into heaven. While the other apostles were miraculously transported to Jerusalem to see her die, Thomas wasn't. However, he was transported to her tomb in time to see her assumption into heaven, when she dropped her girdle and he caught it. This time, the other apostles are skeptical until Thomas shows them Mary's empty tomb and her girdle.
10. Thomas was martyred by King Vasudeva I of the Kushan Empire. he was stabbed to death with a spear at St. Thomas Mount, in Chennai, in 72 A.D.

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