Saint Thomas the Apostle is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. He came from a family of fishermen. He is especially honored by the Church on Sunday of St. Thomas, also known as Second Sunday or Antipascha.
Thomas refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles because of his absence from the first appearance of the Risen Christ. Eight days later, in the presence of Jesus Christ and his disciples, Thomas became that person who publicly claims the certainty of the Lord’s Resurrection due to “good Incredulity,” his fruitful insistence on witnessing the glorious miracle by meeting the Savior Christ. Then, he was motivated by Jesus Christ to feel the wounds from the spear and the nails of the crucifixion and not to remain unfaithful, but to become faithful. In awe, Thomas worships the Risen Lord, exclaiming: “My Lord and my God.” The answer of the Risen Jesus will teach through the ages all those who will want to remain skeptical before the truth of the Gospel: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
After the apparition of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, obeying the command of the resurrected Christ, “therefore go and make disciples of all nations,” Saint Thomas preached the Word of God to the Parthians, the Medes, the Persians and the Indians.
In India, the Apostle Thomas was arrested by King Misdeus for catechizing and baptizing his son Juzanes, his wife Tertia and his daughters Mygdonia and Narka. Because he persuaded the king’s family to embrace Christianity, he was arrested by five soldiers who and was taken to a mountain, where he was speared and killed, confirming that he, like most of the Apostles, would preach the word of the Gospel, but they will also become Martyrs of the Faith.
~Orthodox Times, https://orthodoxtimes.com/memory-of-saint-thomas-the-apostle/.
The name Thomas means, “twin.” He was one of the Twelve, a Galilean by birth. Sophroneus (not the famous Patriarch of Jerusalem [7th Century, celebrated March 11], but a friend of Jerome’s), quoted also by Jerome, says that Saint Thomas preached to the Parthians, Pesians, Medes, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and neighbouring nations. According to Heracleon, the Apostle died a natural death; according to other accounts, he was martyred at Meliapur His tomb was known by Saint John Chrysostom to be at Edessa in Syria, to which city his holy relics may have been translated from India in the fourth century.
Apolytikion of Apostle Thomas
Third Tone
O Holy Apostle Thomas, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
Kontakion of Apostle Thomas
Fourth Tone
Christ’s Apostle, who was filled with God’s divine grace, he who was His genuine and faithful servant in all truth, all-lauded Thomas exclaimed aloud in deep repentance: Thou art both my God and Lord.
~Website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA), https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=230
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