John Chrysostom, On Holy Thomas the Apostle

On the holy apostle Thomas

On the holy apostle Thomas, and against the Arians, and on the one who was a tyrant in Thrace and was slain, who was himself an Arian.

59.497 Obeying the law of the Church, I have taken up, as far as possible, the pulpit;

but overcome by the magnitude of the subject, I am dizzy, and I am constrained from all sides, how I shall meet the matter, what way out I can find for my discourse. Shall I preach Thomas as living? But the tomb proclaims his death. Shall I recount him as dead? But I am refuted by the facts. He is both dead, and immortal; and he has died as a man, and he runs through the world as an angel; and he received suffering, and he fights against sufferings; 59.498 and he lies below, and rejoices above. For nothing was strong enough to hide him, no place has concealed him; he has enlightened the whole world. He received a tomb, but from all sides he rises like the sun; the relics of the just one have conquered the earth, and he appeared wider than all creation; grace has sown him throughout the whole world. Every corner has a part of Thomas, he has filled the whole world, 59.499 and he remains whole in his place; his glory has gone out into all the earth, and his trophies to the ends of the world. How then shall I name him? The sun? But he is not refuted by the night. A star? But the day does not hide him.

At all times he illumines creation, he drives away all darkness from the world. No longer is there night with him, darkness does not dim him, a river does not hinder him, the sea cannot hold him back, the ocean recognizes the man, barbarians honor Thomas; all the nations celebrate today, and offer his voice, as 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; nature holds this word as a treasure; the whole race is fortified by this voice; the word has extended even to the angels; angels hold this confession as an anchor; all creation wears the dogma as a diadem. Arius alone is deprived of the word, he alone falls from the inheritance, he alone does not confess Christ as Lord with Thomas; he does not know Him as God with him; he calls the Master a slave, the radiance a creature, the legitimate one a bastard, the creator a creation; 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 the just one; and this while honoring his day, and celebrating with the whole world, and enrolling himself with the friends of Thomas. But evil does not steal virtue; the deceiver does not harmonize with the guide of truth. The shepherd knows the wild beast, the slinger knows the wolf, the pilot knows the wave, the harbor knows the storm, the general knows the enemy, Thomas knows Arius, 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 an assembly of apostates, 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 pull 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 dogma."

In sanctum Thomam apostolum

Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Θωμᾶν τὸν ἀπόστολον, καὶ κατὰ Ἀρειανῶν, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ τυραννήσαντα καὶ ἀναιρεθέντα, καὶ αὐτὸν Ἀρειανόν.

59.497 Τῷ μὲν νόμῳ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πειθόμενος ἡψάμην, ὡς οἷόν τε, τοῦ βήματος·

τῷ δὲ μεγέθει τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἐκνικώμενος ἰλιγγιῶ, καὶ πανταχόθεν συνέχομαι, πῶς ἀπαντήσω τῷ πράγματι, ποίαν εὕρω τῷ λόγῳ διέξοδον. Ὡς ζῶντα κηρύξω τὸν Θωμᾶν; Ἀλλ' ὁ τάφος ἀνακηρύττει τὸν θάνατον. Ὡς νεκρὸν διηγήσομαι; Ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐλέγχομαι. Καὶ νεκρός ἐστι, καὶ ἀθάνατος· καὶ τέθνηκεν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ διατρέχει τὸν κόσμον ὡς ἄγγελος· καὶ πάθος ἐδέξατο, καὶ πάθεσι μά 59.498 χεται· καὶ κάτω κεῖται, καὶ ἄνω εὐφραίνεται. Οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἴσχυσεν ἀποκρύψαι, οὐδεὶς αὐτὸν ἠφάνισε τόπος· ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐφώτισεν. Ἔλαβε τάφον, ἀλλὰ πανταχόθεν ὡς ἥλιος ἀνατέλλει· ἐνίκησε τὴν γῆν τὰ λείψανα τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ πλατύτερος ἐφάνη τῆς κτίσεως ὅλης· ἔσπειρεν αὐτὸν ἡ χάρις εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον. Πᾶσα γωνία μέρος ἔχει τοῦ Θωμᾶ, πάντα τὸν κόσμον 59.499 ἐπλήρωσε, καὶ μένει κατὰ τόπον ὁλόκληρος· εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ τρόπαια αὐτοῦ. Πῶς οὖν αὐτὸν ὀνομάσω; Ἥλιον; Ἀλλ' ὑπὸ νυκτὸς οὐκ ἐλέγχεται. Ἀστέρα; Ἀλλἡμέρα τοῦτον οὐ κρύπτει.

Ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ καταυγάζει τὴν κτίσιν, πάντα ζόφον ἀπελαύνει τῆς οἰκουμένης. Οὐκ ἔτι νὺξ μετ' αὐτοῦ, σκότος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀμβλύνει, ποταμὸς οὐ κωλύει, θάλασσα κατέχειν οὐ δύναται, ὠκεανὸς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν ἄνδρα, βάρβαροι τιμῶσι τὸν Θωμᾶν· πάντα τὰ ἔθνη σήμερον ἑορτάζει, καὶ τὴν τούτου φωνὴν, καθάπερ τι δῶρον, τῷ ∆εσπότῃ προσφέρει. Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου· ὁ συγγενής μου καὶ ποιητής μου, ὁ λυτρωτής μου καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Θωμᾶς, τοῦτον ἡμῖν ὡς τέκνοις ἀφῆκε τὸν κλῆρον· ὡς θησαυρὸν ἡ φύσις κατέχει τὸν λόγον· ὅλον τὸ γένος διὰ ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς ὀχυροῦται· μέχρι τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐξετάθη τὸ ῥῆμα· ἄγγελοι ταύτην ὡς ἄγκυραν τὴν ὁμολογίαν κρατοῦσι· πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ὡς διάδημα περιφέρει τὸ δόγμα. Μόνος ὁ Ἄρειος ἀποστερεῖται τοῦ λόγου, μόνος ἐκεῖνος ἐκπίπτει τοῦ κλήρου, μόνος οὐχ ὁμολογεῖ Κύριον τὸν Χριστὸν μετὰ Θωμᾶ· οὐ γνωρίζει αὐτὸν Θεὸν μετ' αὐτοῦ· δοῦλον ἀποκαλεῖ τὸν ∆εσπότην, κτίσμα τὸ ἀπαύγασμα, νόθον τὸν γνήσιον, πλάσμα τὸν πλάστην· οὐ λέγει Κύριον καὶ Θεὸν τὸν ∆εσπότην, οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐ συντίθεται τῷ Θωμᾷ, οὐκ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ δικαίῳ· καὶ ταῦτα τιμῶν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ πανηγυρίζων μετὰ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης, καὶ συντάττων ἑαυτὸν τοῖς φίλοις τοῦ Θωμᾶ. Ἀλλ' οὐ κλέπτει τὴν ἀρετὴν ἡ κακία· οὐ συναρμόζει τῷ ὁδηγῷ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ πλάνος. Οἶδεν ὁ ποιμὴν τὸ θηρίον, οἶδεν ὁ σφενδονίτης τὸν λύκον, οἶδεν ὁ κυβερνήτης τὸ κῦμα, οἶδεν ὁ λιμὴν τὸν χειμῶνα, οἶδεν ὁ στρατηγὸς τὸν πολέμιον, οἶδεν ὁ Θωμᾶς τὸν Ἄρειον, οἶδε καὶ διώκει αὐτόν. Οὐ δέχεται τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ βλασφήμου, οὐκ εἰσέρχεται παρὰ τὸ σπήλαιον τῶν φονέων, οὐ συναυλίζεται μετ' ἐκείνων· ἀποστρέφεται σύνοδον ἀθετούντων, βδελύσσεται φωνὴν αὐτῷ μαχομένην, μισεῖ στόμα κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλοῦν ἀδικίαν, ἐκτρέπεται γλῶτταν Κύριον καὶ Θεὸν τὸν Χριστὸν μὴ καλοῦσαν· καὶ βοᾷ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης, Ἄρειε, τί με καθέλκεις; τί λιπαίνεις ἐλαίῳ τὴν κεφαλήν μου; τί μου τὴν ἡμέραν ἑορτάζεις, παράνομε; Οὐ δέχομαί σου τὸν βλάσφημον ὕμνον· οὐ συμφωνῶ τῇ ματαίᾳ σου πίστει· οὐ γνωρίζω σου τὸ παράνομον δόγμα.