The Holy and All-praised Apostle Thomas (1st c.)
The holy Apostle Thomas, called the Twin (in Greek, Didymus), was born in the Galilean town of Paneas, which Philip, the son of Herod, afterwards named Caesarea in honour of the Roman emperor Tiberius (Caesarea Philippi). This town lay at the foot of Mount Hermon, at the eastern source of the river Jordan, where the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali came to an end.
When our Lord Christ, in His public ministry among men in this world, went about the towns and villages of Galilee and Judea, teaching the people and healing every sickness, Thomas too heard His divine preaching and saw His marvellous wonders. Because of this he cleaved to the Lord with his whole being and never left Him again. With the other closest disciples Thomas too delighted in the words of Jesus Christ and in beholding His all-holy face; he too followed the Lord constantly and was counted worthy to be numbered among the twelve apostles. He too was an eyewitness of all the Lord’s earthly works, of His Passion on the cross and His voluntary death. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Saint Thomas, by his disbelief of the other apostles’ words, strengthened still further the Church’s faith in the Lord’s resurrection. For when the other disciples of Christ said to him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas would not believe it and said to the apostles:
“Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). So great is the mystery of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead that even this “unbelief” of Thomas was permitted by divine providence, so that all of us might believe deeply and without doubt in the resurrection from the dead of the Lord’s human nature, and in the ascension of this human nature into heaven and its sitting for ever at the right hand of the Father. In confirmation of this divine mystery, by which every man has been given the possibility of deification and of return to heaven, eight days after His radiant resurrection the Lord appeared again to His disciples, among whom Thomas was present this time, and said to them:
“Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27).
Then, at the sight of the risen Christ, when he had touched both His life-giving side and His hands, Thomas cried out:
“My Lord and my God” (ibid., v. 28).
This event assures us all, more clearly than anything, of the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead; for He appeared to His disciples not as a phantom nor in some other body, but in that very body in which He suffered on the cross for our salvation.
After the Lord’s ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, they, as is well known, cast lots to see who should preach the word of God in which country. India fell by lot to Saint Thomas, so that in this far-off region of Asia he might enlighten the Parthians and Medes, the Persians and Hyrcanians, the Bactrians and Brahmins, darkened by paganism, and the inhabitants of all the remotest corners of India (in ancient times all the countries of South Asia were called India, including India proper as it is today).
Thomas was much grieved that he had to go to such distant lands and to savage peoples; but the Lord appeared to him in a vision, strengthened him and commanded: be always of good courage and fear nothing, for I too will be with you always. Soon Thomas learned from the Lord how he was to reach that country…
At about that time the following took place:
Gundaphorus, king of India, wished to build himself a great and splendid palace, and sent one of his merchants, named Abban, to Palestine: go there and find me a builder so experienced and skilled that he can build me a palace like those of the Roman emperors. It was with this very merchant Abban that the Lord sent His apostle: while Abban was looking for a skilled builder in Palestine, Thomas met him and told him that he was a man of great experience in the art of building. Abban hired him at once, took him aboard his ship, and soon, as soon as a following wind sprang up, they set sail for India.
Some days later they put in at the harbour of a city where the wedding of the king’s daughter was being held, and the king was inviting everyone without distinction to the wedding. Abban and Thomas also came to the wedding feast. Here Thomas foretold punishment from God for one of those who insulted him. This prophecy was fulfilled that same day with astonishing exactness, which struck terror into the people. The king too was told what had happened. The king summoned Thomas and said to him:
“Come into my palace and bless my daughter, who has been married today!”
The apostle went into the palace and began to instruct the newly married couple in chastity: keep your virginity, preserve your purity undefiled, and such a lot will be far better for you. At last he prayed for the young man and the maiden, blessed them and departed. In their sleep the newly married couple saw Jesus Christ, who appeared to them in the likeness of Thomas and embraced them with love. The husband of the king’s daughter, thinking that Thomas had come back, asked:
“You left us before anyone else — how is it that you are here again?”
But the Lord answered:
“I am not Thomas, but his brother! And everyone who renounces this world and follows Me as Thomas has done will be not only My brother in the endless life to come, but also My heir, for he will inherit My whole Kingdom! And so you too, My children, do not forget all that My brother Thomas counselled you. And if, as he counselled, you keep your virginity spotless, you will become worthy to receive incorruptible crowns in My heavenly palace!”
(Such glorification of virginity and of unmarried life does not at all mean that men cannot be saved in married life. But according to the teaching of the ancient holy fathers of the Church, those who keep their virginity will receive the highest reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, as the Revelation of John also testifies (14:1–5). That is why the all-foreseeing Lord, who knows the spiritual strength of these newly married young people, calls them to a virginal life, so that they may devote their whole life to the service of God. It is worth noting that at this point in the Greek original of the life of Thomas the Lord also tells the young man and the maiden that if they should bear children, those children would be sickly, wicked and unhappy.)
When He had said this the Lord became invisible; and they, rising from sleep, told each other what they had seen in their dream. When they understood that they had both seen the same thing, they rose and prayed fervently before God all night long, and kept the words they had heard from the Lord deep in their hearts, like precious pearls.
In the morning the king went into the bedchamber of the newly married couple and found them sitting apart from each other. In surprise he asked why they were so far apart.
And they said in answer:
“We are praying and asking God to give us strength, so that to the end of our lives we may keep complete chastity as we keep it now, that in the heavenly palace we may be adorned with incorruptible crowns. So the Lord promised us, who appeared to us here!”
Then the king understood that the keeping of purity had been put into their minds by that very stranger who had been in the palace the day before. The sovereign was enraged and at once sent servants to seize Thomas and bring him to him. But they searched for the holy apostle in vain, for he had already gone aboard the ship with Abban and set sail for India…
When they arrived in India they came before King Gundaphorus, and the merchant Abban said to the sovereign:
“Here, O king, I have brought you a skilled builder from Palestine! He will build you palaces such as your majesty desires!”
The king was glad; he showed Thomas the place where he wished the palace to be built, set out its dimensions for him and gave him a great deal of gold for the building, and went away somewhere himself.
When he had received so much gold from the king, Thomas began to distribute it to the poor and needy; at the same time he laboured tirelessly in preaching the Gospel, turned many to the true faith and baptised them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Meanwhile the young man who, together with his new bride, the king’s daughter, had vowed on the holy apostle’s advice to keep their purity, learned that Thomas was preaching Christ in India and came to him with his wife. Saint Thomas instructed them in the true faith and baptised them. In baptism the young woman received the name Pelagia, and afterwards she shed her pure blood for faith in Christ; the young man was named Dionysius in baptism, and afterwards was counted worthy of the rank of bishop. Having received the apostle’s blessing, they returned to their homeland, where they spread the glory of God’s name, turned many unbelievers to the true faith and founded churches of Christ in the towns and villages…
Some years later the king of India sent servants to the holy Apostle Thomas to learn whether the building of the royal palace would soon be finished. Thomas told the servants to tell the sovereign that only the roof remained to be put on. The king was very glad, for he thought Thomas really was building him a splendid palace in this world. So he sent still more gold and ordered him to finish the building of the palace as quickly as possible and to put the most beautiful of roofs on it.
When Thomas had again received a great deal of gold from the king, he lifted up his eyes and his hands to heaven and gave thanks to God:
“I thank Thee, O Lord, Lover of mankind, that by various means Thou dost order the salvation of men!”
And the gold he had received he again distributed to those who came to him asking for help, while he himself went on zealously preaching the word of God. Some time later the king learned that Thomas had not yet even begun the building and had given away all the gold to the poor and needy; that he was not thinking of carrying out the sovereign’s command but was going about the towns and villages, preaching some new God to the people and working many wonders. At this the king was greatly enraged and at once sent servants to seize the apostle. And when he was brought before the king, the king asked him:
“Have you built my palace?”
Saint Thomas answered:
“Yes, I have built it, and the most beautiful and splendid of palaces!”
Then the king said:
“Well then, let us go and see the palace you have built!”
“In this earthly life you cannot see that palace!” the apostle answered. “Only when you depart from this world will you be able to see it, settle in it with joy and live there for ever!”
The king thought he was mocking him and took Thomas’s words as an insult. So he ordered that he and Abban, the great merchant who had brought him, be thrown into prison, where both were to suffer awaiting death by torture. The king intended to skin them, that is, to flay them alive, and then to burn them on a pyre. While they were in prison Abban reproached the apostle and said to him:
“You deceived me and made a fool of the king when you passed yourself off to us as a builder. And now you have squandered the king’s gold for nothing and ruined my life as well! Because of you I suffer, an innocent man, and must die a terrible death! The king is a hard-hearted man and will put us to death!”
The holy apostle calmed Abban and comforted him with these words:
“Do not be afraid! The time of our execution has not yet come! We shall stay alive and be set free, and the king will pay us great honour for the palace I have built for him in the Kingdom of Heaven!”
That same night the king’s brother fell gravely ill; he sent servants to the king with this message:
“Your grief has made me sorrowful too, and now from this sorrow a grave illness has seized me, of which I am dying!”
And indeed, very soon after this the king’s brother died. The king forgot his earlier offence, and a still greater grief took hold of him: he mourned inconsolably and wept bitterly over the death of his beloved brother. But the angel of the Lord who had carried off the dead man’s soul took it up to the heavenly dwellings, led it everywhere and showed it a multitude of splendid, marvellously built and shining palaces, one of which was especially outstanding and so beautiful that the tongue of man could not describe it.
And then the angel of the Lord asked the dead man’s soul:
“In which of these palaces would you choose to live?”
The soul of the king’s brother looked at the one, the most beautiful palace, and answered:
“If they would let me live even in some little corner of this palace, I should wish for nothing more!”
Then the angel said:
“You cannot live in this palace, for it belongs to your brother; it was built with his gold by the foreigner you know of — Thomas!”
“I beseech you, my lord!” the soul said to the angel of the Lord. “Let me go back to my brother, and I will buy this palace from him, for he does not yet know how beautiful it is. And when I have bought it, bring me back here again!..”
And indeed the angel returned the soul to the body, and the sovereign’s dead brother at once came to life, as though he had woken from sleep. As soon as he opened his eyes he asked those around him, who were utterly astonished, to have his brother come to him at once, wherever he might be. When the king learned that his brother had come back to life, he rejoiced beyond measure and hurried to him, and when he saw him face to face, alive and perfectly well, his joy knew no bounds. And the one who had risen from the dead said to him:
“O king! I am sure that you love me as your own brother! I know too that you mourned me inconsolably when I lay here lifeless, and that if it had been possible to free me from death, you would have given even half your kingdom for it!”
“Yes, that is the whole truth!” the king answered.
“Then, if you love me so,” said his brother, “I ask one gift of you only, and I beg you: do not refuse me!”
The king answered:
“Everything I possess in my realm I grant to you, my beloved brother!” — and he confirmed his promise with an oath.
Then the brother who had risen from the dead asked:
“Give me your palace that you have in heaven, and take all my possessions in exchange for it!”
When he heard these words the king was dumbfounded, and stood a long while without a word, for in his astonishment he had even lost the power of speech. At last he said only:
“How could I have a palace in heaven?!”
“Truly, you have one!” his brother exclaimed. “You really do have a palace in heaven of which you know nothing, and the like of which you have never seen under the sun! This palace was built for you by Thomas, whom you have thrown into prison and condemned to death! I saw this palace and was struck with wonder at its unspeakable beauty and splendour. I asked to be allowed to live even in some corner of it, but they would not let me, for the angel who was my guide said to me:
‘It is impossible for you to live here, for this palace belongs to your brother; Thomas, whom you know of, has built it for him.’
And I begged the angel to send me back to you, so that I might buy the palace from you. And now here I am before you, and I beg you: if you love me, sell me your heavenly palace and take all my possessions and estates in exchange!”
Then the king rejoiced greatly over everything — both over his brother’s return to this world and over the palace which, it turned out, the foreigner Thomas had built for him. And so he said to his brother who had risen from the dead:
“Beloved brother! I swore that I would refuse you nothing of what is subject to my rule in this world. But I did not promise you the palace which, it seems, has been built in heaven. So if you wish, you may take the builder we have, who is able to build a palace like it for you too!”
With these words he at once sent servants to the prison to bring Saint Thomas, and the merchant Abban who had brought him, before the sovereign. And when they were brought in, the king hastened to meet the apostle and fell at his feet in entreaty: forgive me my sin against you, for I knew not what I did.
The holy Apostle Thomas gave thanks to the Lord God for such mercy and began to instruct both brothers in the true faith. They received the apostle’s words fervently and were enlightened with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Soon Thomas baptised them and taught them the Christian life, and the brothers, by giving abundant alms, gained an eternal inheritance in heaven.
The holy Apostle Thomas stayed for a while with the king and his brother and strengthened them in the holy faith, and then went out to the towns and villages round about to preach the word of God, and laboured actively for the salvation of men.
And at the time when the Apostle Thomas was enlightening the lands of India with the preaching of the Gospel, the time came for the falling-asleep of the All-holy Theotokos, and all the apostles of the Lord were caught up by the Holy Spirit from their various countries and brought in an instant to the garden of Gethsemane, to the bed of the all-blessed Ever-Virgin Mary (according to Church tradition this happened in the fifteenth year after the Lord’s ascension into heaven), that is, in the year 48 from the Nativity of Christ, when the Theotokos was sixty-four years old. At that time the Apostle Thomas too, who was in India, was caught up by the Holy Spirit and brought to Jerusalem, but even so he did not arrive in time for the burial of the holy body of the Theotokos. This came about by divine providence, so that the faithful might be plainly assured that the Mother of God was taken up to heaven with her body as well. For just as we became still more firmly assured of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead precisely through the “unbelief” of the holy Apostle Thomas at that time, so in this case too we learned of the taking up into heaven of the All-holy Theotokos, the Ever-Virgin Mary, precisely because the Apostle Thomas arrived late.
Saint Thomas arrived only on the third day after the burial of the Theotokos and was deeply grieved that he had not been in the garden of Gethsemane on the day of the burial, to accompany the body of the Mother of the Lord to the tomb with the other apostles and to see her all-blessed face for the last time in this world. Then the holy apostles by common consent decided to open the tomb of the Theotokos for Thomas, so that he might see her most precious body, venerate it and be comforted in his grief. But lo, when they opened the tomb they found nothing there except the mantle of the Theotokos. By this all were firmly assured that the Mother of God, like her divine Son, had risen from the dead on the third day and had been taken up bodily into heaven, where she abides exalted above all the heavenly powers and prays before the Lord for all of us…
After this the holy Apostle Thomas set out again for the land of India to preach the word of God, and there turned many to the true faith by working signs and wonders. When he came to the city of Meliapor (on the east coast of the peninsula of Hindustan), he enlightened its inhabitants too with the preaching of the Gospel. Here he strengthened people in faith in Christ with the following wonder:
In one place in Meliapor there lay a tree of uncommon size, which not only men but even huge elephants could not move from where it lay. Saint Thomas tied his belt to the tree and dragged it about half an hour’s walk away, where he gave it to be used in building a church of the Lord. At the sight of this the faithful were strengthened still more, and many of the unbelievers turned to the true faith and were baptised. The holy apostle worked another wonder here too, greater than the first. Once a certain pagan priest killed his own son and laid the blame for it on the holy apostle: Thomas has killed my son.
The people were in great commotion. A crowd gathered and seized Thomas as a murderer, and demanded that the city court put him to death by torture. And since no one could be found to confirm his innocence, the holy Apostle Thomas himself turned to the judge and to the people with this request:
“I beg you, let me go! I will go to the murdered man, I will question the murdered man, and in the name of my Lord I will make him say who killed him!”
Everyone was amazed at this, and they agreed to go with him to the priest’s murdered son. When they came there, Saint Thomas lifted up his eyes to heaven, prayed, and then said to the murdered youth:
“In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ I command you, young man: say who killed you!”
And the dead man at once spoke up:
“My father killed me!”
Then all were greatly amazed and began to cry out:
“Great is the God whom Thomas preaches!”
The apostle was set free, and the pagan priest thus fell himself into the pit he had dug for Thomas. After this wonder a great multitude of people turned to the true faith and received holy baptism from the apostle.
After this Thomas went on to a still more distant region, the land of Calamina, where King Mazdai reigned, to preach the word of God. While he was proclaiming faith in Christ there, the apostle converted a woman named Sindikia, who was the niece of Mygdonia, the wife of Charisius, the king’s chosen friend and brother-in-law. Sindikia urged Mygdonia too to come to know the truth and to believe in the one God who created the whole world, whom Saint Thomas preached. Then Mygdonia said to Sindikia:
“I should like to see for myself the man who preaches the true God, and to hear the teaching of Christ from him!”
Sindikia answered:
“If you wish to see the apostle of God, put on old clothes, as though you were a simple, poor woman, so that no one will recognise you, and then come with me!”
Mygdonia did so and went with Sindikia. They found Saint Thomas among simple and poor people, to whom he was preaching the word of God. The women mingled with the people and listened to Thomas’s discourse; he spoke much of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the true faith, of death, of the Day of Judgement, of the fire of Gehenna and of the Kingdom of Heaven. Mygdonia received all this with a sincere heart and came to believe in Christ. When she returned home she thought constantly about the apostle’s words, spoke constantly of Christ with her niece Sindikia, and at last came to love Christ with her whole being. From that time on Mygdonia shunned all dealings with unbelievers as enemies of the Lord: she did not converse with them, did not go to their feasts, and in general renounced every earthly pleasure. More than that, she resolved to end her married life with her husband. This grieved her husband deeply, and since he could not force Mygdonia to change her decision, he went to the king himself and asked Mazdai: perhaps your wife Tertia could persuade her (Tertia and Mygdonia were sisters). And indeed the queen came to Mygdonia and asked her why she would not obey her husband.
“He is a pagan,” Mygdonia answered, “an enemy of God, and I am the handmaid of the one true God, Jesus Christ, and I do not wish to defile myself by living with an unbelieving and unclean man!” (According to the teaching of the holy Apostle Paul, this circumstance should not prevent a Christian wife and a pagan husband (or the reverse) from living together (see 1 Cor. 7:12–14), for by living with a Christian spouse the unbeliever is sanctified and may even be converted. But Mygdonia is strict with herself, and has the right to be.)
When she heard this, Tertia wished to learn who Jesus Christ was, whom Mygdonia called the true God. Then Mygdonia told her the whole content of Thomas’s preaching and urged her: you too believe in the true God. Tertia, wishing to learn more of Jesus Christ and to be better instructed in the true faith, asked Mygdonia: show me Thomas, so that I may hear everything from him myself. On Mygdonia’s advice she secretly sent servants to the apostle and summoned him to her. When Saint Thomas came to the queen, both women fervently begged him: instruct us in the true faith. And he preached Christ to the sisters, enlightened them with the light of faith, washed them in the font of baptism, and taught them to keep the commandments of God and to live virtuously. The women imprinted deeply on their hearts everything they had heard from the holy apostle, and resolved to devote their whole lives to the Lord and to serve Him in holiness and purity, not living with their husbands, as with unbelievers.
Saint Thomas, by the power of God, went on working many wonders and healing every sickness. Hearing his preaching and seeing his wonder-working, many were converted, not only among ordinary citizens but among the king’s own courtiers. The king’s only son too, named Azan, believed in Christ and received holy baptism from the apostle; for through His apostles the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was at work, multiplying His Church and spreading the glory of His name everywhere!
When she returned to the palace, Queen Tertia gave herself to fasting and prayer and refused her husband bodily union. The king was amazed at such a change in his wife’s life, and once said to his friend and brother-in-law Charisius:
“I wanted to bring your wife back to you, and now I have lost my own! She treats me just as Mygdonia treats you!”
Because of this the king and Charisius searched out diligently the cause of such a change in their wives, and learned that a certain stranger named Thomas had taught the women faith in Christ and had put it into their minds to end their married life with their husbands. They learned too that as a result of Thomas’s preaching Prince Azan had also believed in Christ, as had many servants and high officials of the royal court, while among the common people the number of followers of the new faith was beyond measure. At this the king and his brother-in-law were greatly enraged and ordered their servants to seize Thomas and throw him into prison. Soon he was brought before the king’s court.
The sovereign asked:
“Who are you — a slave or a free man?”
Thomas answered:
“I am the servant of Him over whom you have no power!”
“I see you are a cunning slave!” said the king. “No doubt you have run away from your own master and come to our land to lead the people astray and trouble our wives… Well then, tell me, who is your master?”
“My Master is the Lord of heaven and earth!” answered the holy apostle. “God and Creator of every creature. He has sent me here to preach His name and to turn men to the true faith from their former error.”
The king was enraged:
“Stop your cunning talk, you liar, and hear my command: just as you led our wives astray by your craftiness and made them turn their backs on us, so now give us back our wives, or you will regret it! For if you do not see to it that our wives live with us again in their former love and unity, we will put you to a cruel death!”
To the king’s harsh words Thomas answered just as harshly:
“It is not fitting for the handmaids of Christ to live in married union with lawless husbands! It is not fitting for the faithful to be defiled and polluted by wicked unbelievers.”
When he heard this, King Mazdai was terribly enraged and ordered the torture of the holy apostle to begin. First they brought red-hot iron plates to make Thomas stand on them barefoot. But as soon as the apostle set foot on them, water suddenly appeared under his feet and cooled the iron. Then he was thrown into a heated furnace and left all night in its blazing fire; but the next day, when they opened the furnace door, Thomas came out alive and entirely unharmed.
These wonders did not bring the king to his senses, nor Charisius, who gave the sovereign this advice:
“Make him bow down and offer sacrifice to our ‘god’, the sun, so that he will anger his own God, who has kept him unharmed through the tortures until now!”
But as soon as the holy apostle was brought to the idol of the sun, it at once melted like wax. The faithful rejoiced beyond measure at seeing such power of God the Creator, and a great multitude of the unbelievers too were won for the Lord. But the servants of the idol murmured greatly against Thomas for destroying their “deity”, and demanded that the king put the apostle to death. The king was at a loss and did not know what means to devise to destroy him; for he feared the people, and also his servants and high officials, many of whom had already come to believe in Christ as the true God.
Then the king took Thomas and went out of the city with his soldiers. Everyone thought the king wished to see some wonder from the apostle. But as soon as they were about half an hour’s walk from the city wall, the sovereign handed Thomas over to five soldiers and ordered them to take him up a mountain and there pierce him with spears, while he himself went off to the neighbouring city of Axium. Meanwhile Prince Azan and another Christian, named Siphor, had come out of the city and followed in the apostle’s footsteps, and now, seeing him condemned to death in the soldiers’ hands, they wept bitterly for him. Then Thomas asked the soldiers’ leave to pray, and when he had prayed he ordained Siphor a priest and Azan a deacon, and charged them to care for the increase of the faithful and the spreading of the Church of Christ. After this the soldiers pierced the holy Apostle Thomas with five spears. Siphor and Azan lamented over their teacher for a long time, and then buried his holy body with great honour (the place of the apostle’s martyrdom is shown to this day at Kalurmin, about six kilometres from the city of Malipur, where Saint Thomas often withdrew to pray). After the burial they sat a long while by the apostle’s grave in deep sorrow. And lo, Saint Thomas appeared to them in a vision and bade them return to the city and strengthen the brethren in the faith. They returned and, strengthened by the prayers and blessing of Saint Thomas, governed the Church of Christ with success.
King Mazdai and Charisius tormented their wives for a long time, but they achieved nothing and could not persuade them to married life. And when they understood that they could not make them submit, they were forced to allow them to live freely, for they saw that the women would sooner choose death than life with them. So the godly sisters were freed from the yoke of married life and gave themselves to a strict and virtuous life: they prayed continually, fasted and served the Lord faithfully, and in this way brought the greatest benefit to the Church.
Some years later one of King Mazdai’s sons was possessed by an evil spirit, and no one could heal him, for a most savage demon had made its dwelling in him. The sovereign was sorely grieved by his son’s affliction, and since he had heard that in his lifetime Saint Thomas had cast many evil spirits out of men, he resolved to open his grave, take one of the apostle’s bones and hang it round his suffering son’s neck, so as to free him in this way from the devil’s torment. And just as he was about to carry out his plan, Saint Thomas appeared to him in a dream and said:
“You did not believe me when I was alive, and now you want to receive help from the dead? But do not remain in your unbelief, and my Lord Jesus Christ will be merciful to you.”
This vision strengthened still more the king’s desire to open the apostle’s grave and carry out his plan. And indeed King Mazdai went to the place where Saint Thomas was buried and opened the grave, but found nothing there, for a Christian man had secretly taken the apostle’s holy relics and carried them to a fitting place in Mesopotamia. Then the sovereign took a handful of earth from that place, wrapped it in a piece of cloth and hung it round his son’s neck. At the same time he turned to the Lord in prayer and supplication:
“Lord Jesus Christ! I beseech Thee, heal my son through the prayer of Thy holy apostle Thomas! And then I too will believe in Thee as the true God!”
And as soon as he had finished speaking these words, the devil at once left the prince, and the boy was completely healed. Because of this King Mazdai believed in Christ, and with all his nobles and servants received holy baptism from the priest Siphor. Then the hearts of the faithful were filled with the greatest joy, for everywhere the idols were thrown down and their temples destroyed, and Christian churches were built in their place. The word of God was preached everywhere, and the true faith was strengthened throughout India by the prayerful intercession of the holy Apostle Thomas.
After receiving baptism Mazdai sincerely repented of his former sins and begged everyone for the help of their prayers. And the presbyter Siphor called on all the faithful to help the sovereign:
“Pray for King Mazdai, that our Lord Jesus Christ may look upon him with mercy and forgive him all his sins!..”
And indeed the whole Church prayed for the king, and forgiveness of his sins was granted him: the converted king lived in a way pleasing to God and gave great help to the Church of Christ. And at the place where the relics of the holy Apostle Thomas had rested, many wonders and marvellous healings came to pass through his prayers.
According to the testimony of church writers, the holy relics of the Apostle Thomas were afterwards (in 385) translated to the city of Edessa. But, as is known, some part of them also remained in India. In Edessa a magnificent church was built over these holy relics, to which pilgrims came even from distant lands. In the reign of the emperor Anastasius (490–518) the holy relics of the Apostle Thomas were translated to Constantinople, where a church was also built in his name. During the Fourth Crusade (1204) King Andrew II of Hungary took the right hand of Saint Thomas to his homeland. And the skull of the Apostle Thomas rests in Georgia, in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. Through the prayers of this holy apostle of the Lord many wonders have come to pass and still come to pass, for the help of all Orthodox Christians and to the honour and glory of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, to whom is due worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages. Amen.
