The feast of St. Thomas

Today, December 21st, is the feast of the Apostle Thomas, also known as “Doubting Thomas” because he refused to believe that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. He had not been present during the Lord’s first post-Resurrection appearance to his disciples. When he subsequently encountered the risen Jesus, having examined the wounds in the Lord’s hands and side, he made his profession of faith, “My Lord and my God”.

THE COLLECT

GIVE us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, a share in the glory of today’s festival of Thy blessed Apostle Thomas: and grant that we may be uplifted by his patronage and drawn with fitting devotion to equal him in faith. Through Our Lord.

The so-called Gospel of Thomas has nothing to do with St. Thomas the Apostle, having been written in the second century by an anonymous author, and is an apocryphal work of sayings attributed to the Lord Jesus. Much of its content is clearly lifted or adapted from the canonical gospels, but it also shows leanings toward gnosticism.