St. Thomas

St. Thomas In India
Submitted By Lenin Elijah

INTRODUCTION

The man whom we are proud to call as the Indian patron saint can be none other than St. Thomas, who was sent by God to India to each the Indians with the Gospel .The evidence shows clearly that he visited India in 52 A.D and reached on the coast, now called as the “Marthoma Gate”, and from there he established the first church in Kodungalor. This paper attempts to prove the historicity of St. Thomas arrival in India in a very systematic and organized way.

MYLAPORE

St. Thomas after working among the Brahmins was very successful and after spending nearly two and a half years in the Coromandal coast, he traveled to Mylapore where he won the respect of many Tamilians. Tradition says that once he single-handedly pulled a big log that nobody else can pull and therefore the king gave this big log as a gift. Thomas with that big log built a small chapel along the seashore with the help of the local people, whom he paid with sand, which is said that it later turned into gold. This small chapel said to build by Thomas served both as a chapel for him and the congregation as well as the home of the Apostle. Today it stands as the renowned Santhome Basilica, which contains the tomb of St. Thomas, a statue of St. Thomas in a sitting posture and also the statute of “Our Lady of Mylapore”. The Santhome Cathedral was built in 1896 and was raised to a level of a minor Basilica in 1956. It also has the glory of saying, that it is one among the two Cathedrals which is built on the tomb of an apostle in this whole world, the one is on the tomb of Peter in Rome and the other is the one in Mylapore. This place also houses a museum known as, “St. Thomas Information Centre and Museum”, which is a treasure house of great antiquity, and it is said that the spear by which he was killed was buried along with him. It is also said that St. Francis Xavier has spend many days in fasting and prayer before his voyage to the Far East. Now this place is a object of veneration of saint and on December 3rd every year there is a great celebration of the feast day of St. Thomas.

LITTLE MOUNT

Tradition says that the major reason for St. Thomas to go this, to say Thomas and the Local king Mahadena were close friends, but whereas Thomas was treated badly by his ministers, therefore he sought refuge in the jungles of little mount which is approximately 80 ft above sea level. This is the place where he lived, prayed and also preached among the people who sought after him no matter where he was. It seems once he quenched the thirst of those who came seeking after him just by producing water spring from the rocks. This place hosts specially the hand and the footprints of Thomas in the cave where he hid himself. It also has a miraculous handprint near the water spring. Tradition says that as the Apostles’ enemies chased him and he escaped through the window. At present there is a church in this place called, “The Little Mount” and it also contains the statistics of Thomas’ healing ministry and according to Ramban Pattu it is said that he raised 19 from the dead, 260 were released from demon possession, 230 healed from leprosy, 250 were given sight, 220 healed from paralytic, made the 20 dumb to speech and the 250 who were considered hopeless by physicians were restored to health. At present it also has a number of statues of the way to the cross and also many angels surround one of Mother Mary.

ST. THOMAS MOUNT

Since the enemies chased him he fled to a nearby mountain, which is 300ft above the sea level called the St. Thomas Mount, and after ascending to the mountain he installed his cross and began to pray. There is a recorded evidence that the stone cross on the altar was carved by St. Thomas and it is considered to be miraculous, as it sweated blood several times during mass between 1551 A.D to 1704 A.D and the inscription on the cross in the language ‘Nagari Palidi’, means, “Through cross-suffering the Messiah Jesus brought salvation to the world”. The chapel also contains the picture of Our Lady, which is said to have been painted by St. Luke and brought to India by St. Thomas. This place known as “the Calvary of St. Thomas” is where he was attacked and killed by the mob of ferocious Chinnambranar Brahmins while he was praying. This church was built in 1547 and at present contains the title Senhora Da Expectacao and contains the spot where he was pierced with a lance and killed. The chapel also hosts the picture of the thirteen disciples (along with Paul) and Jesus and the manner in which they died and also the relics of St. Thomas. The bone of St. Thomas is also preserved there. On 5th February 1986, Pope John Paul- II visited this place and blessed a large gathering. Later his body was taken back to his house, which was also the in Mylapore, where he was buried. Tradition also says that he was buried along with the spearhead by which he was killed.

CONCLUSION

From the above trip to these three historical places it is proved beyond doubt that the historicity of St. Thomas is very much true. Though there are different traditions like Indian Tradition and Western Tradition that he came to south India and preached the Gospel. It is also true that the straight road between St. Thomas to Paris Corner is named as Mount Road after St. Thomas. But the point here his coming to South India, especially Santhome, St.Thomas Mount and Little Mount cannot be disproved at all.