In sanctum Thomam apostolum

On the holy apostle Thomas, and against the Arians, and on the man who usurped power in Thrace and was slain, himself an Arian. Obedient to the law of the Church, I have, as best I could, touched upon the subject; but overwhelmed by the magnitude of the theme, I am dizzy and constrained on all sides, uncertain how to approach the matter, what outlet to find for my discourse. Shall I proclaim Thomas as living? But the tomb proclaims his death. Shall I narrate him as dead? But I am refuted by the facts. He is both dead and immortal; he died as a man, and traverses the world as an angel; he suffered passion, and contends against passions; he lies below, and rejoices above. For nothing has been able to conceal him, no place has obliterated him; he illuminated the entire inhabited world. He received a tomb, but from every side he rises like the sun; the relics of the righteous man have conquered the earth, and have appeared more extensive than the whole creation; grace has sown him throughout the entire world. Every corner has a portion of Thomas; he has filled the whole world, and remains entire in each place; his glory has gone out into every land, and his trophies to the ends of the earth. How then shall I name him? A sun? But he is not refuted by night. A star? But day does not hide him. At every time he illumines creation, he drives away all darkness from the inhabited world. There is no longer night with him; darkness does not dim him; a river does not hinder him; the sea cannot hold him; the ocean acknowledges the man; barbarians honor Thomas; all nations today celebrate, and offer his voice, like a gift, to the Master.

My Lord and my God; my kinsman and my maker, my redeemer and my king. For these things Thomas taught; this inheritance he left to us as to children; as a treasure, nature holds the word; the whole race is fortified through this utterance; the saying has extended as far as the angels; angels hold this confession as an anchor; all creation carries the doctrine as a diadem. Only Arius is deprived of the word, only he falls from the inheritance, only he does not confess Christ as Lord with Thomas; he does not recognize him as God with him; he calls the master a slave, the radiance a creation, the genuine one a bastard, the creator a creature; he does not say Lord and God of the master, he does not endure the truth, he does not agree with Thomas, he does not follow what is right; and this while honoring his day, and celebrating with the whole world, and counting himself among the friends of Thomas. But wickedness does not steal virtue; the deceiver does not harmonize with the guide of truth. The shepherd knows the beast, the slinger knows the wolf, the helmsman knows the wave, the harbor knows the storm, the general knows the enemy, Thomas knows Arius, and he knows and pursues him. He does not accept the honor of the blasphemer, he does not enter the cave of murderers, he does not dwell with them; he turns away from a gathering of those who deny, he abhors a voice that fights against him, he hates a mouth speaking injustice against God, he shuns a tongue that does not call Christ Lord and God; and he cries out to him from the whole world, "Arius, why do you drag me down?

Why do you anoint my head with oil? Why do you celebrate my day, lawless one? I do not accept your blasphemous hymn; I do not agree with your vain faith; I do not recognize your lawless doctrine. Do not honor me by dishonoring the Creator; I do not accept honor that is the mother of dishonor. If you insult the Master, how will you serve me, the slave? If you do not hold my faith, how will you celebrate my memory? If you do not agree with me, how will you commune with my tomb? I was taught that Christ is Lord and God; I touched with my hand and found the truth; I was convinced by my own fingers; no one else suggested the doctrine to me, I do not have the miracle from hearsay, I did not believe those who said to me, "We have seen the Lord"; I fought with the apostles, I contradicted Peter when he tried to teach me; I said to him, "Man, why do you trouble me? Why do you give me words instead of deeds? Why do you command me to believe from words? If I do not see, I will not believe. As you saw, let me also see; as you were taught, let me be taught; as you learned, let me learn. What I am about to proclaim, I will behold, and I proclaim. No one reports from hearing; no one utters a doctrine from rumor; no one accepts me proclaiming your things. If I am asked, 'How did Christ rise?' I do not know what to say. If I say, 'Peter told me,' who will pay attention as to a trustworthy witness? Let me see, and I proclaim; let me learn, and I teach; let me be convinced, and I convince. Let me also say, 'Thomas the apostle, not from men, nor through men.'

As I was saying this, the Lord appeared and immediately resolved the conflict. And he says to me: “What has happened to you, Thomas? Why are you fighting with Peter? Why are you contending with your companions? Come, take the miracle by experience; learn the resurrection by deed; bring your hand and see the body. If you have room, grasp it; if you have clean fingers, touch the marks; if you believe, you will also attain; but if you contend, you do not find; if you disbelieve, you do not recognize; if you doubt, you do not hold the passible; if you have passion, you do not learn the impassible.” Hearing this, I cleansed my soul of disbelief; I put off my doubtful opinion; I took up a convinced mind; I touched the body rejoicing and trembling; I extended along with my fingers the eye of the soul as well, and I perceived two energies thereafter. I grasped and I saw; and with my hand I held a body, with my soul I contemplated God; and the outward I found wondrous, and the inward fearful; and what appeared was great, and what was held was a miracle. I cried out, then, astonished at what I had apprehended: “My Lord and my God!” For nowhere did I see a slave, nowhere did a humble form appear; and the kindred shone forth, and the divine flashed; and what was worn was exalted, and what wore it was glorified; and of two things understood, there was one person worshipped. These things I received by experience, these I grasped with my finger, these I contemplated with my soul. But you, Arius, from where were you taught blasphemy? From where did you learn what you proclaim? Did you palpate Christ as I did? Did you bring your hand? Did you examine the marks? Do your fingers bear witness for you? Did you hold the Lord? Into which hand?

into which you seized the treasures? Into which you plundered the apostles? Into which you received the spoils of the barbarian? Into which you held the wages of impiety? Into which you melted the vessels of the blood? Into this did you grope for Christ? May it not be. The Master is not so unjust, Christ is not so fallible, as to entrust his own flesh to you. You did not grasp the one you rejected; you did not grope for the one you hated; you did not search out the one you diminished. For if you had searched, you would not have humiliated; if you had examined well, you would not have so badly misinterpreted. Away, enjoy your wickedness, fall with your own allies. For now I have cast down one of your towers; for now I have freed Thrace from your tyranny; soon I will destroy you from every side; soon I will drive you from the inhabited world. Now I cut off your head; now I also free the West from your madness. Yes, blessed Thomas, fulfill the word in deed; follow your own voice; confirm the good beginning with the end. As you freed Thrace, free also the West. Let me hear that the robber has been cut off like the tyrant.

Crown the king with victory, award peace to the world, receive the sweat of those who have assembled, receive the city that beseeches you; the entire common age has sent you an embassy. Elders and youths fall prostrate at your tomb; virgins and young men embrace your body; infants, like sparrows, gaze at you with mouths agape; do not overlook such a spectacle; do not send our labors away empty; give us a worthy reward for our sweat. We ask nothing great of you; we ask for what you have; we seek what you give; we desire what you wish to see: the barbarian defeated, Arius driven out, the king crowned, the world turned around, Christ exalted, and from the whole inhabited world together hearing, "My Lord and my God," to whom are glory, honor, and power for ever and ever. Amen.