St. Thomas’ connections to Madras!

St. Thomas’ connections to Madras!

--Ventriloquist Shanthakumar--

Soon after our Holy Land trip in 2017, our Church, viz. St. Thomas English Church, Chennai arranged for a visit in May, 2017 to 3 important places connected with St. Thomas of the first century.  I wondered how I had missed out on the visit to the local places where St. Thomas, a disciple of Jesus left imprints in 3 places. 

I seized the opportunity by giving my name and joined the team of around 30 congregation members.  We started our journey in a mini-bus and three cars.  Our first stop was only 30 buildings away from our Church on the same side of Santhome Road near the beach.

1. St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica:

This is also known as Santhome Church and National Shrine of Saint Thomas.  It is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica in Santhome, in the city of Chennai (formerly Madras), India.

It was built in the 16^th century by Portuguese explorers, over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.  In 1893, the Church designed in New-Gothic style was rebuilt and accorded the status of Cathedral by the British.  It was designed in New-Gothic style. 

This Church is one of the only three Churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus, the other two being St. Peter’s Basilica over St. Peter’s tomb in Vatican City and Santiago-de-Compostela-Cathedral over St. James’ tomb in Galicia, Spain.

The calm and comforting interior of this Basilica has an aura of peace to it, inviting all those who seek peace and tranquility.  The place was renovated and restored in December 2004.  Its close proximity to the ocean makes it one of the most beautiful churches of the world.  Christians believe that the tomb of St. Thomas is the womb of Christianity in India.

The Cathedral contains beautiful stained glass windows depicting the story of St. Thomas.  There are wooden plaques that depict scenes from the last days of Christ.  The stunning background of this altar is enriched with illuminating décor, which makes the sight even more alluring.  With a steeple of a height of 180 feet, the Cathedral is more than 125 years old.

Brief History:

St. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus is often called the Patron Saint of India for spreading Christianity in the country.  He arrived at Muziris in present day Kerala State in India from the Roman province of Judea in AD 52 and preached between AD 52 and AD 72, when he was martyred at St. Thomas Mount.

St. Thomas’ apostolic ministry in India took place specifically at Cranganore along the Malabar Coast from AD 52 to AD 68.  His journey through Kerala is said to have resulted in numerous conversions and churches. 

According to the tradition, the Apostle came to Kerala and found several Nambudhiri Brahmins (that is, Kerala Brahmins) bathing in a tank and throwing up handful of water as an offering to their sun-god. St. Thomas asked them whether they were able to throw the water up so that it could stay suspended in the air without falling back down, as a proof that their god had accepted it. The Brahmins replied this was impossible; the Apostle performed a miracle and the water remained in the air, proving that Christ had accepted the offering. This convinced the Brahmins, who accepted baptism from the Apostle in the same tank. Their temple was transformed into a Christian church.

In 63 AD, St. Thomas built Thiruvithamcode Arappally or Thomayar Kovil or St. Mary’s Orthdox Church in Kanyakumari District, also called Amalagiri church as named by the Chera King, Uthiyan Cheralathan.  It is about 2 km from Thuckalay and 20 km from Nagercoil.  It is believed to be the world’s oldest existing church structure.  It had been rebuilt in 17th and 20th century but the native style of the original church had been faithfully maintained.  According to a legend, the well near the Church is believed to have been dug by St. Thomas and has never dried up.  The heritage museum here has a small collection of artefacts, an ancient mill stone, several old coins and a set of gifts given by the Portguese.  This historic Church and the newly built St. Thomas International Pilgrim Centre now function under the Malankara Orthodox Cyrian Church.

After spending 16 years on the Malabar Coast, he travelled eastwards across the Deccan Plateau, arriving at Mylapore in AD 68.

It is believed that St. Thomas preached the word of God in Mylapore and Little Mount and performed several miracles, viz. casting out demons, curing lepers and sick people.  King Mahadeva was converted.  He received baptism and a part of his subjects too embraced the gospel.  This developed hatred and jealousy among the upper class and priests against St. Thomas and they wanted to kill him.

Later, St. Thomas was pierced with a lance at St. Thomas Mount while he was praying in front of a cross carved by him.  He became a martyr.  He died embracing the cross.

After St. Thomas was killed, his mortal remains were believed to be buried in the location over which the present day Santhome Cathedral Basilica stands.  Sometime in the 10^th century AD, a group of Nestorian Christians from Persia identified the Christian Village of Santhome and proceeded to build a church over the burial site of St. Thomas.

The Italian traveller described about his travels to Santhome in the year 1293 and about the miraculous healing powers of the sand from the tomb in his book, “The travels of Marco Polo.”  The book explains about credit card sized Relic Cards sold here, containing minute earth sample of the place where St. Thomas was killed.

This structure fell to ruins between the 14^th and 15^th centuries.  In 1522, the Portuguese moved the apostle’s remains to a new tomb of a church which attained the status of Cathedral in 1606.

There was 118 years of insecurity and uncertainty from the time the Golconda’s occupied Santhome in 1662 to 1780.  In 1893, Bishop of Mylapore resolved to build a new church with the tomb of the apostle in the centre.  The second small tower in the centre of the existing Cathedral marks the exact place where the apostle was buried.  The present church was completed in 1896.

Pope Pius XII honoured this Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras, raising it to the rank of Minor Basilica by an apostolic brief in 1956.  Massive followings and the immense devotion of people to a very ancient image of the Blessed Virgin known as “Our Lady of Mylapore” were among the motives that prompted the Pope to bestow this honour.

St. Thomas’ remains were shifted to Edessa in Asia Minor and later brought to be reposed in a silver casket inside the basilica of San Thommaso Apostolo in Ortona, Italy.  A sun dial from the old site is placed in the rear of the Basilica.

The Cathedral was declared a national shrine by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.  The statue of Virgin Mary enshrined with the Cathedral is believed to have come from Portugal.  This Basilica is the greatest symbol of multi-culture and religious harmony as people from all religions of the world visit the Church to seek solace and eternal peace. 

The Church also has an attached museum.

Museum and antiquities:

There is a small prayer hall and a museum built under the Church.  The sepulcher of St. Thomas is directly under the altar of the church.  The museum contains many historic artifacts along with a Mother Mary statue.

Originally Portuguese excavated the area and they unearthed a metal lance head and bones of the saint.  A rare piece of his small hand bone as well as the head of the lance that was used to attack him are said to be contained within the museum.

The museum preserves blood soaked earth, the great apostle’s fingerprint, an episcopal chair, a stone receptacle and wall paintings depicting the saint’s life and death.  It is filled with St. Thomas memorabilia including stones illuminating his deeds.  A short film about his life is played in the mini-theatre.

 

There is a legend associated with Santhome Basilica.  A huge log washed ashore was blocking the narrow mouth of the river that caused floods.  The army of the King could not dislodge the log despite their best efforts.    Hearing about the divine powers of St. Thomas, the King requested Thomas to help.  St. Thomas touched the log with the girdle of Virgin Mary and when the King’s men pulled the log, it came off without any difficulty.  The grateful King offered the place where the log was sighted to St. Thomas.  The latter constructed a small Chapel over there.

      My friend, Mr Daniel, the present Chairman of IMS, who lives behind CSI Santhome Tamil Church very near the shore, shared this information.  St. Thomas installed a pole behind Basilica and informed the people that no coastal flooding due to storm, hurricane, etc. would cross the pole.  As such, during the 2004 Tsunami, flooding took place in Inspector General's office and Foreshore Estate area but not in between.  The website of Sudha Pillai too talks about this Pole which is called Santhome Pole by the locals.

2.  Shrine of Apostle St. Thomas & Our Lady of Good Health:

Then we moved to a Church called Our Lady of Good Health.  It is situated only 500 metres away from Saidapet court in Chinnamalai.  This is the place where St. Thomas led a prayerful life in solitude and preached to local crowds that gathered to hear the good news. 

Near the Church, there is a shrine of Apostle St. Thomas where we could visit a cave and a 2000-year-old, never-drying, miraculous stream of water dug by St. Thomas on a rock face.  When he was thirsty, he split the rocks and drank the refreshing water that gushed forth from the spring.

The cave is very cool even during summer.  We could also find a cross carved by St. Thomas.  The cave which can be accessed from the old Church is well preserved even today and used for prayer and meditation.

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On the other side of the cave is a window through which he is said to have fled to escape from the assailants.  At the front of this opening are the hand and the foot prints of St. Thomas etched on the rock.

The Portuguese realized the importance of this sacred place and in 1551 AD, built a Church in honour of Our Lady of Health.  This Church still exists after several renovations.

Recent developments in and around the Church include developing a large tract of land behind the Church as Holy Land.  The Stations of the Cross and a few stations of rosary are built in concrete with lot of statues.

Recently the Church was elevated to the status of a Shrine.  Now it is referred as “Shrine of Our Lady of Health.”  Masses are offered daily.  Every Sunday, separate mass is organized in Korean and English languages too.

3.  St. Thomas Mount:

Finally we moved to the top of St. Thomas Mount which is close to Guindy and Chennai International Airport.

It is believed that St. Thomas preached the word of God in Mylapore and Little Mount and performed several miracles, viz. casting out demons, curing lepers and sick people.  King Mahadeva was converted.  He received baptism and a part of his subjects too embraced the gospel.  This developed hatred and jealousy among the upper class and priests against St. Thomas and they wanted to kill him.

St. Thomas was pierced with a lance through his back at St. Thomas Mount while he was praying in front of a cross carved by him.  It was his usual place of prayer.  He became a martyr.  He died embracing the cross.

A shrine dedicated to “Our Lady of Expectation” was built in 1523 on top of the mount.  The altar of this shine was built on the spot where St. Thomas’ death traditionally believed to have occurred. 

At the northern foot of the mount, is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547.  A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the mount.  There are 14 Stations of the Cross erected on the way to the summit.  A road is available to reach the peak.

The church exhibits finger bone of St. Thomas, picture of Mary painted by St. Luke, etc.

Conclusion:

 Christianity has a strong foundation in India, the way to which is paved by Apostle St. Thomas.  There were about 10 lakh Christians when Vasco-da-Gama landed in India in 1492.   It increased to 2.40 crores as per Census 2001.

Thomas’ attachment to his Master was so deep and authentic that he dynamited his companions “Let us also go with Him and die with Him!”  Perhaps he envisaged accompanying his Master to the Mount of Calvary but his Master accompanied him to another Mount in Chennai to die for Him.

Thus the three punctuations of Thomas’ itinerary in the city of Madras—Little Mount, St. Thomas Mount and Santhome—became places of spiritual energy dominated by Churches and Christians in the years to come.

In 1972, Pope Paul VI declared St. Thomas as the Patron Apostle of India.  Government of India issued two stamps in commemoration of the Apostle St. Thomas, once in 1964 on the occasion of the first visit of Pope Paul VI to India and again in 1973 on the occasion of 19^th death centenary—72-1972.

 

--ooOoo--

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