St. Thomas the ApostleThe feast of St. Thomas is celebrated on July 3rd.
We haven’t been celebrating the feast days of the Church much lately, since we have been out of town, and then were busy daily with swimming lessons. I am hoping to change this, starting tomorrow, with the feast of St. Thomas.
In Thomas’ best known appearance in the New Testament, he doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to touch Jesus’ sacred wounds before being convinced. The above painting by Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, depicts this scene.
This story is the origin of the term Doubting Thomas. After seeing Jesus alive (the Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ’s wounds), Thomas professed his faith in Jesus, exclaiming “My Lord and my God!”; because of this, he is also called Thomas the Believer. His martyrdom for Christ was further testament of his faith.
Here are a few ideas for the day:
Prayer:
O Lord, we rejoice in the example of St. Thomas, Your Apostle. Grant that we may ever be helped by his prayers and imitate his faith with fervent devotion. Amen.
Food/Snacks:
- Finger Foods!!
- Make Thomasstriezeln (St. Thomas Fingers).
- Make Chaldean Coconut Cookies.
Reading:
- Listen to the “Saint of the Day“
- Read about St. Thomas the Apostle in Picture Book of Saints
- Read St. Thomas the Apostle in Saints for Young People Vol 2
- Read Pages 220-221 in the New Catholic Picture Bible
, Unbelieving Thomas.
- Read The Twelve Apostles
- Read The Twelve Apostles by Father Lovasik.
Craft:
- Color a picture of St. Thomas to add to our Liturgical Notebooks. We will be using the picture of St. Thomas from The Saints Coloring Book Volume 2
- Finger Paint… and maybe even make our own paint!
- Make Finger Puppets, or a St. Thomas Spoon Saint.
Copywork:
“My Lord and My God!”
Or this poem about St. Thomas (found online) for my older children:
These things did Thomas hold for real:
the warmth of blood, the chill of steel,
the grain of wood, the heft of stone,
the last frail twitch of blood and bone.His brittle certainties denied
that one could live when one had died,
until his fingers read like Braille
the markings of the spear and nail.May we, O God, by grace believe
and, in believing, still receive
the Christ who held His raw palms out
and beckoned Thomas from his doubt.~ author unknown
If any of you have any other ideas, please leave them in the comments, I’d love to hear them! I hope you all have a blessed day!
I assumed today is the Feast of St Irenaeus, a great Bishop and Martyr of the Church. Today is 3rd July.
There is more than one Saint honored today July 3. St. Irenaeus, St. Leo II, as well as St. Thomas. All three are great men of God and can be given veneration.
Yes, that is correct. Perhaps the blog owner will do a little feature or provide a link for further information on these great Saints of the Church.
Let us venerate these great Saints of the Church.
Therese,
May you and your family have a Blessed Fourth of July and weekend!!!
God Bless America!!!!!!!!!!!
Credo and Salve, Sancte Parens ~
There are actually at least 5 feasts that can be celebrated on July 3. In the old rite, St. Irenaeus was honored yesterday, as well as St. Heliodorus and St. Leo II. You may also want to know that traditional rites in the diocese of Brooklyn and Los Angeles Commemorate All Holy Popes on July 3. We are not fortunate enough to have the extraordinary rite offered in our area and here we honor St. Thomas. Yesterday, we also read to our children about St. Heliodorus who is on the traditional calendar for July 3.
We celebrate both calendars. St. Thomas happens to be one of the patron saints of one of my boys, hence the extra devotion.
God Bless!
Jessica
Have a good weekend.