Saturday, December 21, 2013

Feast of St Thomas


Today is the feast of the apostle Thomas.

The readings at Matins are:

Nocturn I: Common of Apostles (I Corinthians 4:1-15)
Nocturn II: on the life of the saint (see below) and sermon of St Gregory
Nocturn III: Homily of St Gregory (also at Divinum Officium)
Gospel: John 20: 24-29

On the life of St Thomas:

(Reading 5): The Apostle Thomas, called Didymus, or the Twin, was a Galilean. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, he went into many provinces to preach Christ's Gospel. He gave knowledge of the rules of Christian faith and life to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, and Bactrians. He went last to the East Indies. Here he provoked the anger of one of the idolatrous kings, because the holiness of his life and teaching, and the number of his miracles, drew many after him, and brought them to the love of Christ Jesus. He was therefore condemned, and slain with lances. He crowned the dignity of the Apostleship with the glory of martyrdom, on the Coromandel coast, not far from Madras.

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