Saint Thomas the Apostle, or How to avoid becoming a modern Thomas for non-believers

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• Prayers to St. Thomas the Apostle Second prayer to St. Thomas the Apostle
• Troparion

On October 19, according to the new style, the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of remembrance of the Apostle Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.

Feast days of St. Thomas the Apostle:

• April 15 - Recollection of the assurance of the Apostle Thomas
• July 13 – Council of the 12 Apostles
• October 19 is the day of memory of the Apostle Thomas

The Holy Apostle Thomas went through a difficult path to faith in the Lord and His Resurrection. However, having walked this path to the end, he fully justified the title of a disciple of Christ, bringing the light of the Gospel to the most difficult country for preaching - pagan India. For this he was awarded the crown of martyrdom - the highest award that the Lord God can bestow on His righteous man.

Before becoming one of the closest disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, before going to distant India and gaining the glory of a martyr, the Apostle Thomas had to go through a difficult path of spiritual maturation under the guidance of the Savior. We don’t know very much about how the life of Saint Thomas developed during the time of the Lord’s preaching. However, even from those few references that the evangelists brought to us, we can get a certain idea about this disciple of Christ.

According to Church tradition, the future apostle was born in the city of Paneas in Galilee. Judging by the fact that in the Gospel he is also called Gemini, he probably had a brother (brothers) or sister (sisters). Like most of Christ's disciples, before his calling he was engaged in fishing. Like all Jews, he expected the coming of the Messiah, who, according to the ideas of that time, was supposed to liberate the country and people from Roman rule, restore the glory of Israel and conquer the whole world.

And then Jesus Christ comes out to preach. Even during the Baptism of the Lord on the Jordan River, and maybe a little later, the fisherman Thomas learns about the new Prophet. The Gospel does not tell us exactly how the future apostle came to the Lord and became his disciple, but the Tradition of the Church says that, having heard the sermon, Thomas abandoned his craft and immediately followed the Savior.

It is quite possible that, like most of the apostles, Thomas at first did not understand where and for what the Lord would call them. However, one of their main qualities was childish, naive purity and faith - they believed, albeit vaguely, that Christ was the Messiah for whom they were waiting.

The first time Thomas is mentioned in the Gospel is associated with the Lord’s calling of His twelve closest disciples. As can be seen from the texts of the evangelists, Thomas (along with other disciples) not only becomes an apostle of Christ, but also receives special power, a special gift from God - to heal illnesses and cast out demons. After mentioning the calling of the twelve disciples, the synoptic evangelists (that is, who wrote Matthew, Mark and Luke almost simultaneously) no longer mention Thomas. He, like most of the twelve, does not stand out from the total number - this has a special meaning. Thus, the evangelists show the unity of the apostles in their following of Christ. However, the image of the Apostle Thomas did not remain completely hidden. The most striking moments of his following and service to the Lord were brought to us by the Gospel of John the Theologian.

The first episode involving the Apostle Thomas occurred at the moment when the Lord went to Judea to resurrect His friend Lazarus. In Judea, supporters of the scribes and Pharisees had already tried to attack Jesus Christ in order to stone him for His preaching to the people. Remembering this, the disciples ask Christ: “Rabbi! How long have the Jews been looking to stone You, and You are going there again? However, Christ could not be stopped by the threat of death, so He sets off.

And here we see the actions of the Apostle Thomas, which more clearly characterize his faith than ever. In response to Christ’s desire to go to Judea, where He could be killed, the apostle turns to the other disciples: “Come, we will also die with Him.” These words reveal Thomas’s sincere readiness to die with the Lord. Perhaps the apostle has a glimpse of the future path of martyrdom that he and the other apostles had to go through.

The next episode of the Gospel of John, where we see the Apostle Thomas, is associated with the Last Supper. On this night, on the eve of His Passion on the Cross, Christ holds his last conversation with his disciples and establishes the Sacrament of the Eucharist. And so, when Judas Iscariot had already left the Supper to betray Christ, the Savior told the apostles that He would be the first to enter the Kingdom of His Father and prepare a place for them. But the path by which the apostles must enter there is the path of preaching, martyrdom, testimony of Christ as the Savior of the world: “And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that you too may be where I am. I am going, you know, and you know the way.” And so, after these words of Christ, the Apostle Thomas asks: “Lord! We don't know where you're going; and how can we know the way? These words revealed what we have already mentioned - being with Christ, the apostles were not yet perfect; they, like ordinary people, still doubted, did not understand much, and were waiting for a greater Revelation. The journey of growing up was not yet over, and strength in faith was just about to come.

To the question of the Apostle Thomas, Christ answered with words that went down in the history of all mankind: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” As we see, the Apostle Thomas is shown by the Evangelist John in the most important moments of the ministry of Jesus Christ: the calling of the twelve and the Last Supper.

However, the most striking episode involving the Apostle Thomas, which undoubtedly was revealed for those who want to follow Christ, but do not always find the strength to do so, is associated with the resurrection of the Savior. One day after His resurrection, the Lord appeared to the disciples and the Mother of God while they were in the house for their meetings. He appeared at once, despite the fact that the doors of the house were locked, since the disciples were afraid of the Jews and were afraid to go outside. And so, everyone was able to see the living, resurrected Teacher, were able to hear His voice and touch His body. However, among those present there was no Apostle Thomas, who was absent at that moment. When he returned and heard from others about the coming of Christ, he doubted (again an indicative moment of the incomplete maturation of Christ’s disciples) and said: “Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger in the marks of the nails, and put my hands mine in His side, I won’t believe it.”

However, this was not just mistrust. The Apostle Thomas, of course, wanted Christ to really rise again and, like others, to already believe in His God-manhood. But, most likely, this episode reveals a character trait of the apostle - the desire to see for himself, to capture for himself with his own eyes the fact of the resurrection. This is a completely normal human feeling.

And so, a week later, the following happened in the same upper room: “Jesus came when the doors were locked, stood in the middle of them and said: Peace be with you! Then he says to Thomas: put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and place it in my side; and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer.

Thomas answered Him: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus says to him: “You believed because you saw Me; Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” In this passage, everything was combined into a single whole: the apostle’s fulfilled hopes, and his desire to touch the risen Savior himself, and the words of confession of his faith (and not refusal or doubt that it was not a ghost that appeared). However, the most important thing here are those words that were addressed by the Lord to the Apostle Thomas, but addressed to all people in general: “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

For the last time, the Evangelist John mentions the Apostle Thomas along with the other apostles. This is due to the fact that the Lord appears to the disciples many more times before His Ascension, teaches them, instructs them. At one of these moments, Christ appeared to the disciples on the Sea of ​​Tiberias. For the Apostle Thomas, this became another opportunity to be convinced, to be confident in the resurrection of Christ, although now it was already an indisputable fact for him.

Prayers to Saint Apostle Thomas

“O famous and glorious Apostle of Christ Fomo! When, at the end of the ages, God came to man and chose you as His disciples and gave you the power to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, it was not for this sake that you clung to Christ, but most of all through love, desiring to follow Him even to the point of death. . For this reason, even if, by Divine permission, you did not see the disciples of the risen Savior with others, even if you denied believing this, until you put your finger into the wounds of the nail and put your hand into His side, otherwise the Lord will fulfill the request of your heart and immutably confirm your faith . We also pray to you: open the eyes of faith to us, so that the invisible things of the flesh may appear to us; give us hope for God’s condescension, so that sinful despair will not consume us; Reveal to us the bliss of love, which is as strong as death, and the only one that can overcome it, so that having worked for Christ on earth, we too will erect for ourselves the shelters of Heaven and with you and all the saints we will glorify the most honorable and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Second prayer to the Apostle Thomas

“O holy servant of God, Apostle Fomo! Having fought a good fight on earth, you have received in Heaven the crown of righteousness, which the Lord has prepared for all who love him. In the same way, looking at your holy image, we rejoice at the glorious end of your life and honor your holy memory. You, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring them to the All-Merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us against the wiles of the devil, so that, having been delivered from sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, we will live piously and righteously in the present We will be worthy through your intercession, even though we are unworthy, to see good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints, the glorified God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen."

Troparion

Voice 2 : Having been a disciple of Christ, a participant in the Divine Council of the Apostles, having known through unbelief the Resurrection of Christ and having assured Him of His most pure passion by touch, O all-valid Thomas, and now ask us for peace and great mercy.

GREATNESS: We magnify you, Apostle of Christ Thomas, and honor your illnesses and labors, in which you worked in the gospel of Christ.

KONDAC voice 4 : Filled with the wisdom of grace, Christ's apostle and true servant, crying out to You in repentance: You are my God and Lord.

Thomas' Confidence and Fidelity to Christ

By the way, in Hebrew the name Thomas sounds like a twin. As church historians suggest, his twin brother was the Apostle Judas, called by another name - Thaddeus.

Thomas led the life of a simple fisherman in the city of Paneas in Galilee. When he learned what the Savior was saying and saw with his own eyes the miracles performed by the Lord, he immediately believed and followed Jesus as His disciple. It so happened that the Apostle Thomas doubted whether Christ conquered death. But after the Holy Spirit descended, the unbelieving apostle repented of his unbelief and became one of the most devoted and faithful disciples of the Lord.

Icon of the Apostle Thomas

Iconography

In the iconography of St. Thomas the Apostle, the general traditions of Orthodox icon painting are observed, and the main emphasis is on the most reliable rendering of the image of the saint.

• Saint Thomas the Apostle is depicted as a young man, without a mustache or beard. This style of depiction is rare for Orthodox icon painting. However, this is precisely how historical authenticity is achieved, because it is precisely this image of the apostle that the Tradition of the Church has conveyed to us.
• In another version (it is not so widespread), the Apostle Thomas is depicted as an old man - this iconographic plot is dedicated to the service of the apostle in India. The apostle's gaze is directed directly at the person praying. This is also a traditional form of depicting saints who are intercessors and prayer books for us before the Lord God Himself.
• According to tradition, the Apostle Thomas is depicted in the attire characteristic of that time - a chiton (a type of long shirt) and a himation (outer clothing in the form of a rectangular piece of fabric). The colors of the clothes in which the Apostle Thomas is traditionally written are as follows: chiton - dark green or blue, himation - red. The right hand of the Apostle Thomas is raised in a blessing gesture, the left (depending on the tradition) is either hidden under the himation, or holds a scroll (codex) - this is a symbol of the Gospel, the Good News that Saint Thomas brought to the peoples of Palestine, India and Ethiopia.
• A characteristic feature of the iconography of the Apostle Thomas is also the background, which is depicted in red, and not in gold, as usual. The red color in this case is a symbol of martyrdom, which marked the end of the apostle’s life.

© vedmochka.net
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Saint Demetrius of Rostov

The Life and Suffering of St. Thomas the Apostle

October 19 - memory of the Apostle Thomas

Seeing Christ and touching his life-giving ribs, Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:24-29).

This event with Thomas most clearly convinces everyone of the truth of the resurrection of the Lord, because Christ appeared to the disciples not as a ghost or in any other body, but in the same one in which he suffered for our salvation.

After the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles cast lots among themselves where each of them should go to preach the Word of God. Thomas’s lot fell to go to India in order to enlighten the countries darkened by paganism and teach the true faith to the various peoples who lived there - the Parthians and Medes, the Persians and Hyrcanians, the Bactrians and Brahmans and all the most distant inhabitants of India.

Thomas was very sad that he was being sent to such wild peoples; but the Lord appeared to him in a vision, strengthening him and commanding him to be courageous and not to be afraid, and promised to be with him Himself. He soon showed him the opportunity to penetrate these countries.

The Indian king Gundafor, wanting to build himself a palace as skillfully as possible, sent his merchant Avan to Palestine to look for a skilled builder there who would be experienced in construction and could build the same chambers that the Roman emperors had. With this same Avan, the Lord commanded Thomas to go to the Indian countries. When Avan was looking for skilled architects in Paneada, Thomas met him and presented himself as a man experienced in the art of construction. Avan, having hired him, entered the ship with him, and they set off, taking advantage of the favorable wind.

When they landed in a city, they heard the sound of trumpets and other musical instruments. The king of that city was giving his daughter in marriage, and sent heralds to notify throughout the city so that both rich and poor, slaves and strangers would gather for the wedding, and if anyone did not want to come, he would be subject to the royal court. Hearing this, Avan and Thomas, fearing, like strangers, to anger the king if they did not listen to him, they went to the wedding celebration in the royal courtyard. When everyone sat down and began to have fun, the Apostle sat down in the very last place and did not eat anything, did not take part in the fun, but was lost in thought. Everyone looked at him as a stranger and a foreigner. Those who reclined next to him said to him:

“Why did you come here when you don’t eat or drink anything?”

The Apostle said in response:

“I came here not to eat and drink, but to fulfill the will of the king, for the heralds loudly announced that if anyone does not come to the wedding, he will be subject to the royal court.”

At that time, among those feasting there was one Jewish woman who played the flute beautifully, singing some kind of greeting to each of those reclining. Seeing Thomas, who was not having fun, but only often raised his eyes to heaven, she realized that he was a Jew, and, playing in front of him, she sang the following chorus to him in Hebrew: “There is only one God - the Jew, who created heaven and earth.”

The Apostle, listening to this refrain with pleasure, asked her to repeat those words several times.

The cupbearer, seeing that the Apostle was not having fun, hit him in the face, saying:

- You are invited to the wedding - do not be sad, but have fun, joining the drinkers.

Then the Apostle said to the one who struck him:

- May the Lord reward you for this in this life, and may I see the hand that hit me, dragged by a dog for show to many!

Some time later, the cupbearer who struck the Apostle went to the well, intending to bring water to the guests to dilute the wine. There a lion suddenly attacked him, knocked him down and killed him, and, having sucked his blood, left. Then the dogs came running, tore his body into pieces, and one black dog, grabbing his right hand, dragged it to the feast and threw it in front of everyone. Everyone present there, seeing this, was horrified and asked whose hand this was. The woman playing the pipe exclaimed:

– Something extraordinary and mysterious is happening among us now: among those reclining with us is either God or God’s messenger. For I saw how the cupbearer struck one man and heard that this man said in Hebrew: “Let me see your right hand dragged by a dog for the show of many,” which, as you all see, came true.

After these words, fear attacked everyone.

At the end of the feast, the king, hearing about what had happened, called the holy Apostle Thomas to him and said:

“Enter the palace and bless my daughter who was given in marriage.”

The apostle, entering the bedchamber, began to teach the newlyweds about chastity and maintaining pure virginity and, having prayed for them, blessed them and left. In a dream, the newlyweds saw Jesus, who appeared to them in the form of the Apostle Thomas and lovingly embraced them. The husband, thinking that it was Thomas in front of him, said to him:

“You left us before everyone else—how did you end up here again?”

The Lord answered:

“I am not Thomas, but his brother, and everyone who renounced the world and followed Me just like him will not only be My brothers in the future life, but will also inherit My kingdom.” So do not forget, My children, what My brother advised you, and if, according to his advice, you keep your virginity immaculate, then you will be rewarded with incorruptible crowns in My heavenly palace.

Having said this, the Lord became invisible; They, having awakened from sleep, told each other what they had seen in the dream, and, getting up, fervently prayed to God all night; The words he spoke were kept in his heart like precious pearls.

In the morning, the king entered the bedchamber where the newlyweds were, and found them sitting separately from each other. Perplexed, he asked them the reason for such distance from each other. They answered him:

“We pray to God that He will give us the strength until our very death to observe perfect chastity in marriage, in which we now remain, so that we may be crowned in the heavenly palace with incorruptible crowns, as the Lord who appeared to us promised.

Then the king realized that the wanderer who had been in the palace the day before had convinced them to preserve their virginity; he became extremely angry and immediately sent his servants to seize the Apostle, but they did not find him, because he and Avan had already sailed to India.

Arriving at the Indian king Gundafor, they appeared before him, and Avan said:

“Here, sir, I have brought to you from Palestine a skilled builder so that he can build the chambers that your Majesty desires.”

The king was delighted, showed Thomas the place where he wanted to build the chambers, and, having determined their dimensions, gave him a large amount of gold for construction, and he himself went to another country.

Thomas, having received the gold, began to distribute it to those in need - the poor and wretched, while he himself, laboring in preaching the Gospel, converted many to faith in Christ and baptized them.

At that time, the young man who, on the advice of Thomas, promised to preserve virginity together with his wife, having heard that the Apostle was preaching Christ in India, came with her to the Apostle. Instructed by the holy Apostle in the faith of Christ, they received holy baptism from him. The maiden received the name Pelagia and subsequently shed her blood for Christ, while the young man was named Dionysius and was subsequently awarded the rank of bishop. Returning with the Apostolic blessing to their fatherland, they spread the glory of the Name of God, converting the unfaithful to Christ and building churches in the cities.

After two years, the king sent to the Apostle to find out: will the construction of the chambers be completed soon? The apostle answered the messengers that all that remained was to put on the roof. The king was delighted, for he believed that Thomas was really building a palace for him on earth, and he sent him a lot more gold, ordering him to quickly build a magnificent roof for the chambers.

Thomas, having received more gold, raised his eyes and hands to heaven, saying:

– Thank You, Lord, Lover of Mankind, that You arrange the salvation of people in various ways!

And again he distributed the gold sent by the king to those who asked him for help, and he himself continued to diligently preach the Word of God.

After some time, the king learned that Thomas had not even begun to carry out his command, that all the gold was distributed to the poor, and the builder did not even think about the construction, but, passing through cities and villages, preached some new God and performs wondrous miracles. The king became very angry and sent his servants to seize the Apostle. When Saint Thomas was brought to the king, he asked him:

-Have you built the chambers?

Thomas answered:

- He built them, and they were magnificent and beautiful.

Then the king said:

“Let’s go and see your palace.”

The Apostle answered:

- In your life you cannot see this palace, but when you leave this life, then you will see it and, happily settling in it, you will live there forever.

The king, thinking that he was laughing at him, was greatly offended and ordered him to be thrown into prison along with the merchant Avan, who had brought him, where they were to languish in anticipation of a painful death penalty: the king intended to skin them alive and burn them at the stake.

When they were sitting in prison, Avan began to reproach the Apostle:

“You,” he said, “deceived both me and the king, calling yourself a most skillful builder.” And now you have spent the royal gold uselessly and ruined my life. Because of you I suffer and must die a cruel death: the king is cruel and will kill us both.

The Apostle, consoling him, said:

– Don’t be afraid, the time has not yet come for us to die; we will be alive and free, and the king will honor us for the chambers that I have built for him in the kingdom of heaven.

That same night the king's brother fell ill and sent to tell the king:

“Because of your grief, I also began to feel sad, and from this melancholy I fell into an illness from which I am now dying.”

Immediately after this, the king's brother actually died. The king, having forgotten his previous grief, fell into new grief and wept inconsolably over the death of his brother. The Angel of God, taking the soul of the deceased, lifted it to the heavenly abodes and, going around the local villages, showed it numerous magnificent and brilliant chambers, among which one was so beautiful and brilliant that its beauty cannot be described. And the angel asked the soul:

- Which of all the chambers do you prefer to live in?

She, looking at that most beautiful chamber, said:

“If I had been allowed to stay at least in the corner of that chamber, then I would not need anything else.”

The angel told her:

“You cannot live in this chamber, for it belongs to your brother, with whose gold the stranger Thomas, known to you, built it.

And the soul said:

“I ask you, sir, let me go to my brother, and I will buy this chamber from him, for he does not yet know its beauty - and then, having bought it, I will return here again.”

Then the angel returned the soul to the body, and the deceased immediately came to life and, as if awakening from sleep, asked those around him about his brother, and prayed that the king would come to him as soon as possible. The king, hearing that his brother had come to life, was very happy and hurried to him, and, seeing him alive, became even more joyful. The resurrected one began to say to him:

“I am sure, king, that you love me as your brother; I know that you wept inconsolably for me and, if it were possible to free me from death, you would have given even half your kingdom for it.

The king answered:

- Yes, this is absolutely true.

“If you love me so much,” the king’s brother said to this, “then I ask you for one gift - do not deny me it.”

The king answered:

“I give everything that I own in my state to you, my beloved brother,” and he confirmed his promise with an oath. Then the resurrected brother said:

“Give me your chamber, which you have in heaven, and take all my wealth for it.”

The king, having heard such words, became embarrassed and remained silent, as if he had lost the ability to speak. Then he said:

- How can I have a chamber in heaven?

“Truly,” answered the king’s brother, “there is such a chamber in heaven that you do not know about and which you have never seen in all of heaven.” It was built for you by Thomas, whom you keep in prison; I saw her and marveled at her indescribable beauty and asked to be placed in at least one corner of her, but this was not allowed to me; for the angel who led me said: You cannot live in it, because this is your brother’s chamber, which Thomas, known to you, built. I asked the angel to let me go to you to buy that chamber from you. So, if you love me, give her to me and take all my property instead.

Then the king rejoiced at his brother’s return to life and at the chamber built for him in heaven. And he said to the resurrected brother:

- Beloved brother! I swore not to deny you anything that is under my control on earth, but I did not promise you the chamber that is in heaven. But if you want, we have an architect who can build the same chamber for you.

Having said this, the king immediately sent servants to the prison to bring Saint Thomas out of there along with the merchant Avan who had brought him. When they came to the king, the latter hurried to meet the Apostle and fell at his feet, asking him for forgiveness for his sin against him, committed out of ignorance. The apostle, having given thanks to God, began to teach both brothers faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and they, touched by their souls, accepted his words with love. Soon after, he baptized them and taught them to live like Christians, and the brothers, with their numerous alms, created for themselves eternal abodes in heaven. Having stayed with them for some time and confirmed them in the holy faith, the Apostle went to other surrounding cities and villages, laboring in the cause of saving human souls.

At the time when Thomas enlightened the Indian countries with the preaching of the Gospel, the time came for the honest repose of the Mother of God and all the Apostles from different countries were caught up in the clouds of heaven and transferred to Gethsemane, to the bed of the Blessed Virgin. Then Saint Apostle Thomas was raptured from India, but did not have time to arrive on the very day of burial of the God-glorified body of the Most Pure Mother of God. This was arranged by God's will in order to certify the believers that the Mother of God with her body was taken to heaven. For just as regarding the resurrection of Christ we were more confirmed in faith through Thomas’s unbelief, so we learned about the taking into heaven with the flesh of the Most Pure Virgin Mary of the Theotokos as a result of Thomas’ slowdown. The Apostle arrived only on the third day after the burial and grieved that he could not be in Gethsemane on the very day of the burial to accompany the body of the Mother of his Lord to the burial place with the other Apostles. Then, by the general agreement of the holy Apostles, the tomb of the Most Holy Theotokos was opened for Saint Thomas, so that he, seeing the most venerable body, would bow to it and be consoled in his sorrow. But when they opened the tomb, they did not find the body, but only one shroud lying there. And from here everyone was firmly convinced that the Mother of God, like Her Son, rose on the third day and was taken to heaven with her body.

After this, Thomas again appeared in the Indian countries and preached Christ there, converting many to faith with signs and wonders. Arriving in Meliapor, he enlightened many there with the preaching of the Gospel and confirmed them in the holy faith with the following miracle. In one place lay a tree of extraordinary size, which not only people, but even elephants could not move, but Thomas tied his belt to this tree and on that belt dragged the tree ten furlongs and gave it to the construction of the temple of the Lord. Seeing this, the believers became even stronger in their faith, and many of those who did not believe believed. The Apostle performed another miracle there, even greater than the first. One pagan priest killed his son and accused Saint Thomas of this, saying:

- Foma killed my son.

An unrest arose among the people, and the assembled crowd seized Saint Thomas as a murderer and demanded that the court condemn him to torture. When there was no one who could testify that Thomas was not involved in that murder, the Apostle of Christ began to beg the judge and the people:

“Let me go, and I, in the name of my God, will ask the murdered man to tell him himself who killed him.”

Everyone went with him to the body of the murdered priest's son. Raising his eyes to heaven, Thomas prayed to God and then said to the dead man:

“In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I command you, young man, tell us who killed you?”

And immediately the dead man said:

- My father killed me.

Then everyone exclaimed:

– Great is the God whom Thomas preaches.

The Apostle was freed, and the priest, thus, himself fell into the hole that he dug for the Apostle. After this miracle, a great multitude of people turned to God and received baptism from the Apostle.

Then the Apostle went even further, to the Kalamis country, where King Muzdius ruled. Preaching Christ here, the saint converted one woman to the faith, named Sindicia, the niece of Mygdonia, the wife of the royal favorite Carisius. Syndicia convinced Mygdonia that she should know the truth and believe in the One God, the Creator of the entire universe, Whom Thomas preaches. Then Mygdonia said to Syndicia:

“I would like to see for myself the man who preaches the true God and hear his teaching from him.”

Syndicia replied:

“If you want to see the Apostle of God, dress in bad clothes, as if you were a simple and poor woman, so that you do not be recognized, and then come with me.”

Mygdonia did so and went with Sindicia. They found the Apostle preaching Christ in the midst of a large crowd of simple and poor people. Having intervened in the crowd, they began to listen to the teaching of Thomas, who spoke a lot about Christ the Lord and taught faith in Him, and also spoke about death, about judgment and hell, and about the kingdom of heaven. Listening to all this, Migdonia was touched in her heart and believed in Christ; Having returned home, she constantly reflected on the apostolic words and, talking with her niece Syndicia about Christ, affirmed her love for Him. From that time on, she began to abhor unbelievers as enemies of God, and to avoid all communication with them in conversations and at feasts, and at the same time to move away from worldly pleasures altogether. She also decided to end her marital cohabitation with her husband. This deeply saddened him, and when he could not force Mygdonia to change her decision, he began to ask King Muzdius to send his wife, Queen Tertiana, to persuade Mygdonia not to disdain marital cohabitation (Queen Tertiana and Mygdonia, the wife of Carisius, were sisters) . The queen went to Mygdonia and asked her why she did not obey her husband.

Mygdonia answered:

- Because he is a pagan and an enemy of God, and I am a servant of the One true God, Jesus Christ, and I do not want to be desecrated by an unbeliever and unclean person.

Tertiana wanted to know who Jesus Christ is, whom Mygdonia calls the true God. Then Mygdonia presented before her the sermon of the Apostle Thomas and taught her the knowledge of the true faith. Tertiana, wanting to know more clearly about Christ and better learn faith, wished to see the Apostle himself and hear his sermon. After consulting with Mygdonia, she secretly sent for the Apostle and, calling him, both begged him to guide them on the true path. He, preaching Christ to them, enlightened them with the light of faith, washed them with the font of holy baptism and taught them to keep the commandments of God and all virtues. Tertiana and Mygdonia, having imprinted in their hearts everything that was said to them, both agreed to serve the Lord in purity and not to communicate with their husbands, as with infidels. The Apostle, by the power of God, continued to perform numerous miracles and heal all sorts of ailments, and many, not only from the common people, but even from the royal courtiers, seeing the signs performed by the Apostle and listening to his teaching, turned to Christ. One of the sons of the king himself, named Azan, believed and was baptized by the Apostle; for the Lord Himself acted through the Apostles, multiplying His church and spreading the glory of His name.

Queen Tertiana, having returned from Mygdonia, remained in prayer and fasting and continued to renounce carnal cohabitation with her husband. The king, surprised by such a change in his wife, said to his friend Carisius:

“Wanting to return your wife to you, I lost my own, and mine began to treat me even worse than yours towards you.”

After this, the king and Carisius carried out the most rigorous investigation into the reason for this change that they noticed in their wives, and they learned that a certain foreigner - an alien named Thomas, having taught them the faith of Christ, convinced them to stop conjugal cohabitation with their husbands. They also learned that the royal son Azan and many of the servants of the royal house, as well as officials and countless ordinary people, as a result of Thomas’s preaching, believed in Christ. All this made them angry, and they grabbed Thomas and threw him into prison. After this, the Apostle was presented to the king for trial. The king asked him:

- Who are you - a slave or a free one?

Thomas said:

“I am the slave of Him over whom you have no power.”

The king said:

“I see that you are a wicked servant who ran away from his master and came to this land to corrupt people and confuse our wives.” - Tell me, who is your master?

“My lord,” answered the Apostle, “the Lord of heaven and earth, God and Creator of every creature.” He sent me to preach His holy Name and convert people from error. The king said:

“Stop, deceiver, your insidious speeches and obey my command: just as you turned our wives away from us with your cunning so that they would not communicate with us, so turn them back to us again.” For if you do not make sure that our wives live with us again in the same love and communication, then we will put you to a cruel death.

The Apostle answered:

– It is not fitting for the handmaids of Christ to have conjugal intercourse with wicked husbands and for believers to be defiled by the wicked and unbelievers.

Hearing this, the king ordered to bring red-hot iron sheets and place the Apostle on them with his bare feet. When this was done, water suddenly appeared under the boards, which cooled them down. Then they threw Saint Thomas into a hot oven, but the next day he came out of it alive and unharmed.

After this, Carisius turned to the king with the following advice:

“Make him bow down and make a sacrifice to the sun god, so that through this he will anger his God, who keeps him unharmed in torment.”

When the Apostle was brought to the idol of the sun, the idol immediately melted and melted like wax. The believers rejoiced at the sight of such power of the Heavenly God, and many unbelievers turned to the Lord. The idol priests grumbled at Thomas for destroying their idol, and the king himself, extremely offended, thought about how to destroy him; he was afraid, however, of the people and his servants and many nobles who believed in Christ.

Having taken Thomas, the king left the city with his soldiers, and everyone thought that he wanted to see some miracle from the Apostle. Having walked about a mile, the king gave Thomas into the hands of five soldiers, ordering them to go up the mountain with him and pierce him there with spears, and he himself went to the city of Axium. Azan, the king's son, and one man named Siphorus hurried after the Apostle and, having caught up with him, wept for him. Then Thomas, having asked the soldiers for permission to pray, prayed to the Lord and ordained Siphorus as a priest, and Azan as a deacon, and commanded them to take care of the multiplication of believers and the spread of the Church of Christ. After this, the warriors pierced him with five spears, which is why he died. Sifor and Azan mourned him for a long time and buried his holy body with honor. After the burial took place, they sat near the grave of the Apostle and mourned. And so the saint appeared to them, commanding them to go to the city and strengthen the brethren in the faith. Following this command of their teacher, the holy Apostle Thomas, assisted by his prayers, they successfully ruled the Church of Christ. King Muzdius and Carisius tormented their wives for a long time, but were unable to persuade them to fulfill their desires. Realizing that their wives would never obey them until their death, they had to leave them to live freely, of their own free will. Freed from the burden of the marital yoke, women spent their lives in strict abstinence and prayer, serving the Lord day and night, and through their virtuous lives they brought great benefit to the Church.

Several years later, one of the sons of King Muzdi fell into a demonic state and no one could heal him, for he had a very fierce demon. The king was extremely upset by the illness of his son and decided to open the tomb of the holy Apostle in order to take one of the bones of his body and tie it around his son’s neck so that he would get rid of demonic torment, for he heard that Saint Thomas cast out many demons during his lifetime from people. When the king wanted to do this, Saint Thomas appeared to him in a dream and said:

“You didn’t trust a living person, do you think you can find help from a dead person?” But do not remain in your unbelief, and my Lord Jesus Christ will be merciful to you.

This dream further strengthened the king’s desire to open the tomb of the Apostle. Having gone to the place of burial of the saint, Muzdius opened the coffin, but did not find his relics there, for one Christian, secretly taking the holy relics, took them to Mesopotamia and placed them there in an appropriate place. Taking earth from that place, the king tied it to the neck of his son , saying:

- Lord Jesus Christ! Through the prayers of Your Apostle Thomas, heal my son, and I will believe in You.

And the demon immediately left the king’s son, and the boy recovered. Then King Muzdius believed in Christ and, together with all his nobles, received baptism from the priest Siphorus. Great joy took possession of the hearts of the believers, for the idols were crushed and their temples were destroyed, and in their place the churches of Christ were built. The Word of God spread and the holy faith strengthened. The king, upon receiving baptism, repented of his previous sins and asked everyone for help and prayers. Presbyter Siphorus said to all believers:

– Pray for King Muzdius, that he may receive pardon from our Lord Jesus Christ and remission of his sins.

And the whole church prayed for the king. In the same place where the holy body of the Apostle was buried, through his prayers, many miracles were performed for the glory of Christ our God. May he, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, receive honor and worship from us forever! Amen.

Source portal Word

Return to the work of a preacher, the martyrdom of Thomas and miracles after his death

Thus, all Christian believers were assured of the ascension of the Blessed Virgin into heaven on the third day after her Dormition. After these events, Thomas returned to India again, where he baptized many pagans, both the Indian ruler Gundafor himself and his brother. By order of the king, the holy apostle was tortured after the baptism of the royal wives Sindikia and Mygdonia. But the Lord protected him from suffering. Then, by supreme order, the holy apostle was stabbed to death with the sharpest spears.

The son of the ruler Muzdiya, a prince suffering from illness, was miraculously healed with a handful of earth from the grave of the deceased Thomas. Then the former pagan Muzdius repented, believed and was baptized. The miraculous relics of the illustrious and faithful disciple of Christ are divided into several parts, and are kept not only in India, but also in the land of Hungary and in the Athos monastery.