Thomas the Apostle

From Wiki Maria Valtorta
Drawing of Thomas by Lorenzo Ferri Salton according to the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary collection of the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation.

Thomas was born in Ramah (Judea) (of Benjamin), near Jerusalem. He is therefore one of the three Judean Apostles along with Judas and Simon the Zealot (Apostle). He comes from a wealthy family[1]: his father is a renowned goldsmith. Joseph of Arimathea knows him well. Thomas himself is a goldsmith and occasionally practices this trade.

In 28, he witnesses, like Judas, the expulsion of the Merchants of the Temple[2]-[3], which convinces him to follow Jesus.[4] He becomes the 7th apostle.

Barely returned from Homel, he is sent on a Mission to Simon the Zealot (Apostle) who has just been healed as well as to other lepers in Jerusalem, to announce the hope.[5]
- "When your Good News can be announced by the world," he says to Jesus, "I believe that the first to hear it and the most numerous will be the slaves, those who have no comfort humanly speaking and who will take refuge in your promises to find it... if it indeed befalls me the honor to announce you, I will have a special love for these unhappy...

- "How will you approach them?" asks Jesus.

- "It is through work that I will do propaganda among the infidels. I will be a goldsmith for the ladies and a master for their slaves." [6]-[7]
During a stay in Nazareth, he puts his talent to use: he makes a brooch representing lilies of the valleys (lily of the valley). He offers it to the Virgin Mary.[8] He knows she will not wear it, but he had heard Jesus compare the humility of the flower to the humility of His mother.[9]
"Good Thomas who loves his Master," says Mary, "to the point of retaining not only his Doctrine, but even his humblest words on the most humble things and the most insignificant people." She thus refers to his love for the forsaken.[10]
Jesus goes to his Family in Ramah (Judea).[11] There He meets his parents, his brothers and sisters, including his twin sister. His nickname Didymus[12] indeed means twin in Greek. During this stay, Jesus delivers the discourse on the number of the chosen and the narrow door that must be crossed.[13]-[14]-[15]
Wanting to honor the Virgin Mary who came to join her son in his exile in Ephraim in Samaria, he deploys his talent for decoration: "He is truly an artist," says Simon the Zealot (Apostle) to the other Apostles. "Out of nothing, he decorated the room as for a Weddings feast. Go and see."[16]
His sensitivity does not prevent his courage: When Jesus decides to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus, knowing the hostility that awaits them there, he tells the other Disciples:
"Let us go too, to die with him!"[17]-[18]
According to Maria Valtorta, he goes to fetch the donkey colt with Andrew the Apostle for Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.[19]

He flees after Jesus' arrest[20] and thus does not witness the Passion. He is found a week later in the Nativity cave where he had taken refuge.[21]

Shaken by events, he initially refuses to To Believe in the Resurrection:
"I believe He is God. But precisely because I believe it, I say that, as good as He may be, He cannot be good enough to come among those who loved Him so little. And I add that, humble as He is, He must be fed up with humbling Himself in our flesh. No. He must be—He certainly is—triumphant in Heaven, and perhaps He will appear as spirit. I say: perhaps. We don't even deserve that! But resurrected in flesh and in bone? No. No, I don't believe it."
And:
"I don't believe it at all. I cannot believe. To believe, I would have to see. If I do not see the hole of the nails in His hands and if I do not put my finger there, if I do not touch the wounds in His feet, and if I do not put my hand where the lance opened His side, I will not believe. I am neither a child nor a Woman. I want evidence. What my reason cannot accept, I refuse. And I cannot accept your word."[22]
Jesus appears to him in the following days.[23] He reproaches him for his unbelief and invites him to touch His wounds. Thomas had said he would not believe without touching Jesus' wounds. He then utters his famous exclamation: "My Lord and my God!"[24]

Witness of the Last Supper[25], the Resurrection, the Ascension[26], and Pentecost.[27]

On the eve of her Assumption, while summarizing the characters of the Apostles, Mary confides to John, the only witness present: "Thomas is a peaceful one."[28]

Character and appearance

He has a cheerful, good-natured, and peaceful character, with a somewhat plump appearance.[29] He is about 38 years old. His voice is baritone.[30] His face radiates liveliness.

Thomas willingly acts as the cook of the group of Apostles. He himself has a hearty appetite.

He is eloquent and voluble:
"Thomas knows how to speak. It seems like he is advertising at the market to sell his merchandise, but he manages to convince," says Simon Peter about him.[31]
His rhetoric is very useful to the group of Apostles, especially when it comes to negotiating with the Philistines, who are not favorable to the Jews.[32]

His name

In Aramaic "Toma" means "twin" (Didymus in Greek).

Where is he mentioned in the work?

Calling of the first Apostles: GRM 53 GRM 54 GRM 55 GRM 56
Apostolic journey in Judea: GRM 66 GRM 70 GRM 91 GRM 92 GRM 93 GRM 94 GRM 95 GRM 96 GRM 97
The last shepherds: GRM 98 GRM 99 GRM 100 GRM 102 GRM 103 GRM 104 GRM 105 GRM 108 GRM 109
In Judea before communal life: GRM 110 GRM 111 GRM 112 GRM 114 GRM 115 GRM 116 GRM 117 GRM 118
Teachings on the Ten Commandments: GRM 119 GRM 120 GRM 121 GRM 122 GRM 123 GRM 124 GRM 125 GRM 126 GRM 127 GRM 128 GRM 129 GRM 130 GRM 131 GRM 132
End-of-year festivals: GRM 133 GRM 134 GRM 135 GRM 136 GRM 137 GRM 138 GRM 139 GRM 140 GRM 141 GRM 142
The Samaritan woman: GRM 143 GRM 144 GRM 145 GRM 146 GRM 147 GRM 149
Female apostleship: GRM 153 GRM 154 GRM 155 GRM 157 GRM 158
In Galilee, election of the Apostles: GRM 160 GRM 162 GRM 164 GRM 165 GRM 166
The Sermon on the Mount: GRM 169 GRM 170 GRM 171 GRM 172 GRM 173 GRM 174 GRM 176
Apostleship in Galilee: GRM 177 GRM 178 GRM 179 GRM 180 GRM 181 GRM 182 GRM 183 GRM 184 GRM 186
The second Easter journey: GRM 187 GRM 188 GRM 189 GRM 190 GRM 191 GRM 192 GRM 193 GRM 194 GRM 195 GRM 196 GRM 197 GRM 198 GRM 199 GRM 201 GRM 202 GRM 203
Apostleship in Judea: GRM 205 GRM 206 GRM 206 GRM 207 GRM 208 GRM 210 GRM 211 GRM 212 GRM 212 GRM 214 GRM 215
Apostleship in Philistia: GRM 216 GRM 217 GRM 218 GRM 219 GRM 220 GRM 221 GRM 222 GRM 223 GRM 224 GRM 225
The conversion of Mary Magdalene: GRM 228 GRM 230 GRM 232 GRM 233 GRM 235 GRM 237 GRM 238 GRM 239 GRM 240 GRM 241 GRM 242 GRM 243 GRM 244 GRM 247 GRM 248 GRM 249 GRM 250 GRM 251 GRM 252 GRM 253 GRM 254 GRM 255
Sending of Apostles and Disciples on Mission: GRM 256 GRM 257 GRM 260 GRM 261 GRM 262 GRM 265 GRM 268 GRM 269 GRM 271 GRM 272 GRM 273 GRM 274 GRM 275 GRM 276 GRM 277 GRM 278 GRM 279 GRM 280
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: GRM 281 GRM 284 GRM 296 GRM 297 GRM 298 GRM 299 GRM 300 GRM 301 GRM 302
End-of-year festivals in Nazareth: GRM 309
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: GRM 334 GRM 335 GRM 336 GRM 338 GRM 339 GRM 340 GRM 341 GRM 342 GRM 343 GRM 344 GRM 345 GRM 346 GRM 347
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: GRM 348 GRM 349 GRM 350 GRM 351 GRM 352 GRM 353 GRM 354 GRM 355 GRM 356 GRM 357 GRM 358 GRM 359 GRM 360 GRM 361 GRM 362 GRM 363
The penultimate Passover: GRM 364 GRM 365 GRM 366 GRM 367 GRM 368 GRM 369 GRM 370 GRM 371 GRM 372 GRM 374 GRM 375 GRM 376 GRM 377 GRM 378
In Judea: GRM 379 GRM 380 GRM 381 GRM 382 GRM 383 GRM 384 GRM 385
AGodx in Judea: GRM 386 GRM 387 GRM 388 GRM 389 GRM 390 GRM 391 GRM 392 GRM 393 GRM 394 GRM 398 GRM 399 GRM 402 GRM 403
Plain of Sharon: GRM 404 GRM 405 GRM 406 GRM 407 GRM 408 GRM 410 GRM 411 GRM 412
Pentecost, Decapolis and Esdraelon Plain: GRM 413 GRM 414 GRM 415 GRM 416 GRM 417 GRM 418 GRM 419 GRM 420 GRM 421 GRM 422 GRM 423 GRM 424 GRM 425 GRM 426 GRM 427 GRM 428 GRM 429 GRM 430 GRM 430 GRM 431 GRM 432
Summer in Nazareth: GRM 433 GRM 434 GRM 435 GRM 436 GRM 439 GRM 440 GRM 441 GRM 443 GRM 444 GRM 445 GRM 446 GRM 447 GRM 448 GRM 449 GRM 450 GRM 451 GRM 452 GRM 453 GRM 454 GRM 455 GRM 456 GRM 457 GRM 458 GRM 459 GRM 460 GRM 461 GRM 462 GRM 463 GRM 465
In Syro-Phoenicia: GRM 466 GRM 467 GRM 469 GRM 470 GRM 471 GRM 475 GRM 473 GRM 474 GRM 475 GRM 476 GRM 477 GRM 482 GRM 483
The Feast of Tabernacles and the Dedication: GRM 488 GRM 490
In Moab and Judea: GRM 496 GRM 497 GRM 498 GRM 500 GRM 503 GRM 504 GRM 505 GRM 508 GRM 511 GRM 519 GRM 520 GRM 522
The Feast of Dedication: GRM 527 GRM 528 GRM 529 GRM 531 GRM 532 GRM 535 GRM 537 GRM 538
The resurrection of Lazarus: GRM 545 GRM 547 GRM 550
The exile in Samaria: GRM 551 GRM 552 GRM 553 GRM 554 GRM 566 GRM 567 GRM 568 GRM 571 GRM 575
Return to Jerusalem: GRM 577 GRM 582 GRM 584 GRM 586
Holy Week: GRM 590 GRM 595 GRM 596 GRM 597 GRM 598 GRM 600
The Passion: GRM 602
Resurrection Sunday: GRM 621
From Resurrection to Ascension: GRM 628 GRM 629 GRM 630 GRM 631 GRM 633 GRM 634 GRM 635 GRM 636 GRM 638 GRM 639 GRM 640 GRM 649 GRM 651

Learn more about this character

Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, according to Maria Valtorta (Msgr. René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Salvator Editions, 2012):
The Chaldean Church of Iraq claims its foundation by Saint Thomas.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea, he evangelized the Parthians whose empire extended from present Iran to India[33], which is echoed in the Acts of Thomas, a 3rd-century apocryphon. He reportedly converted King Goudnaphar (or Gondophares) who ruled over Afghanistan and part of Pakistan. Thomas is said to have preached the Gospel in India where he founded a Church in Kerala, called the Saint Thomas Church. He is said to have continued his mission to China.

He was martyred in Calamina near Madras. Christians in this region have venerated his tomb since time immemorial. St. Gregory of Tours reports, in support, the testimony of a priest who passed there in the 6th century.[34]

His Relics were reportedly transferred to Edessa in Mesopotamia and then to Italy, to Ortona in the Abruzzo region, of which he is the patron saint.

In 1972, Paul VI proclaimed him apostle and patron saint of India. He is celebrated on July 3.

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.

  1. ↑ GRM 490.7
  2. ↑ John 2:13-21.
  3. ↑ GRM 53.3-4
  4. ↑ GRM 54.8
  5. ↑ GRM 55.3
  6. ↑ GRM 434.2
  7. ↑ GRM 440.2
  8. ↑ GRM 441.1
  9. ↑ GRM 412.3
  10. ↑ GRM 441.1
  11. ↑ GRM 363.2-4
  12. ↑ John 11:16
  13. ↑ Matthew 7:13-14
  14. ↑ Luke 13:23-35
  15. ↑ GRM 363.6-7
  16. ↑ GRM 566.3
  17. ↑ John 11:16
  18. ↑ GRM 547.6
  19. ↑ GRM 589.9
  20. ↑ GRM 602
  21. ↑ GRM 608.5
  22. ↑ GRM 628.6
  23. ↑ GRM 629.2-4
  24. ↑ John 20:26-29.
  25. ↑ GRM 600
  26. ↑ GRM 638.16-23
  27. ↑ GRM 640
  28. ↑ GRM 649
  29. ↑ GRM 545.6
  30. ↑ GRM 195.4
  31. ↑ GRM 132.7
  32. ↑ GRM 218.2
  33. ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, III, §1.1.
  34. ↑ Saint Gregory of Tours, To the Glory of the Martyrs.
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