Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/July 3 2007

Thomas, also called St. Thomas, Judas Thomas or Didymus, was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels and Acts list this "twin" (Toma means twin in Aramaic, as does Didymus in Greek) among the apostles (Mt 10:3, Mk 3:18, Lk 6:15).

Thomas appears in a few passages in the Gospel of John. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has just died, the disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea, where the Jews had previously tried to stone Jesus. Jesus is determined, but Thomas has the last word: "Let us also go, that we might die with him" (NIV). Some interpret this to anticipate St. Paul's theological conception of "dying with Christ".

He also speaks up at The Last Supper in John 14:5. Jesus assures his disciples that they know where he is going, but Thomas protests that they don't know at all. Jesus replies to this and to Philip's requests with a detailed and difficult exposition of his relationship to God the Father.

In Thomas's best known appearance in the New Testament, John 20:24-29, he doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to feel Jesus' wounds before being convinced. Caravaggio's painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (illustration above), depicts this scene. This story is the origin of the term Doubting Thomas. After seeing Jesus alive (the Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ's wounds), Thomas professed his faith in Jesus, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!"; on this account he is also called Thomas the Believer.

Just as Saints Peter and Paul are said to have brought the fledgling Christianity to Greece and Rome, Saint Mark brought it to Egypt, Saint John to Syria and Asia Minor, Thomas is often said to have taken it eastwards as far as India. Saint Thomas is said to have been the first Catholicos of the East.

Attributes:The Twin, placing his finger in the side of Christ, spear (means of martyrdom), square (his profession, a builder)

Patronage:Architects, India, masons, carpenters, construction workers, quarrymen, surveyors and theologians, backache and a happy marriage

Prayer:To Jesus, after being asked to place his finger in the Lord's wound after his Crucifixion and Resurrection: "My Lord, and my God!"