Join us Saturday, July 13 at 9:00 am for Mass to Celebrate the
Feast Day of St. Thomas the Apostle, the Patron Saint of India. 



The Indian Community of St Angela would like to invite the parish community  to the 5th Annual St Thomas the Apostle's Feast day Mass.  The music and clothing will reflect our Indian heritage and there will be a reception with Indian snacks afterwards.
Please come share in this colorful celebration!

It is believed that Christianity came to India in AD 52, much ahead of many other nation in the world. It is said that the 12 apostles, in their eagerness to fulfill Jesus's command, known as the Great Commission, cast lots among themselves to see who goes where. Accordingly, Peter went to Rome, James to Spain, and Thomas, to India. He traveled through land and sea and arrived in an area in India, called, Malabar, today’s Kerala and preached the good news of the gospel. Then he went to Chennai, known at that time as Madras and preached the gospel. It was in Chennai Thomas received his crown of martyrdom. On his tomb now stands a magnificent basilica, known as San Thome Basilica. Thus, Thomas became one of the only three of the apostles on whose tombs churches were built; the other two being, St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, erected on the tomb of St Peter, Basilica of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, erected on the tomb of the apostle St James..

St. Thomas got his nickname ‘doubting Thomas”, only after he refused to believe that Jesus is risen. It may not have been his doubt that made Thomas disbelieve that the Lord is risen, but his grief.He was grieving,“his grief for Jesus was such that it would not let him believe that his Master was risen, and therefore his statement“ unless I actually saw him and touched his wounds…. Thomas' strength was in his physical loyalty to the Lord. Thomas acted as a protector, a shield for Jesus and was even ready to die with Jesus as we read in John 11: 16, When the Lord told the disciples that He was going back into hostile territory, Thomas was ready to go and die with Him. Thomas not only loved Jesus but he proclaimed Jesus to be “my Lord and my God”.

Finally, There are two similarities between Jesus’s death and Thomas’s death. These two stand out and connect Jesus’s death to Thomas’s death. Jesus earned the wrath of the priestly class, the High Priest and his cohort who put him to death. Thomas earned the wrath of the Brahmans, the priestly class of India and they had him killed. The other being, Jesus was pierced by a lance/spear from the front, when he hung on the cross, Thomas was pierced by a lance/spear from the back while praying and the spear reached his heart.

 

Read more about this ICON and the meaning behind it HERE

View Pictures of the Event on Facebook Here