Father Martin Person Doubting Thomas Sermon, 1st Sunday After Easter in Russian Orthodox Church

Sermon on Apostle Thomas, Doubting Thomas, by Father Martin Person at Protection of Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church, on the first Sunday after the old calendar Easter, May 5, 2013. The Sermon goes into the nature the Doubt which Apostle felt after the Resurrection of Christ because he had seen the Lord while other kept telling him He had Risen from the Dead. Christ did appear to him and Thomas put his finger in his wound and fell to his knees to confess love and loyalty to God.

Saint Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus (meaning "Twin," or "Thomas" in Aramaic) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection after death when first told of it, followed by his confession of faith as both "My Lord and my God" on seeing and touching Jesus' tangible and physical wounded body in Gospel of Saint John 20:28. Traditionally he is said to have traveled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, traveling as far as India.

According to tradition, the Apostle reached Muziris, India in 52 AD and baptized several people who are today known as Saint Thomas Christians or Nasranis. The apocryphal text Acts of Thomas mentions that the apostle went from Palestine eastwards to a desert-like country where people were "Mazdei" (the followers of Ahura Mazda i.e. the Zoroastrians) and have Persian names.

After his murder and death by spear, the remaining relics of Saint Thomas the Apostle were enshrined as far as Mesopotamia in the 3rd century, and later moved to various places. In 1258 they were brought to Abruzzo, in Ortona, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle.[5] He is often regarded as the Patron Saint of India, and the name Thomas remains quite popular among Saint Thomas Christians of India.