Social Life & Apostolic Traditions: More About Saint Thomas

Beginning today we will run a series of articles by Chev. Prof. George Menachery related to the realities of South Indian social life and apostolic traditions as reflected in certain hymns of Ephrem.

Information regarding the apostolic and sub-apostolic age did not escape the general havoc unleashed by the Mahomedan and Mongolian hordes in the East, but something could be recovered, thanks to a careful search in the Syriac records that existed in the far eastern churches and monasteries.

Also Read:
Understanding Apostle Thomas’ Miracles and Martyrdom in India
Apostle Thomas’ India Sojourn Via The Arabian Sea Route

Many of the later researchers in the field depended heavily on the efforts of A. E. Medlycott and others, although they often failed to acknowledge their indebtedness to these sources. Scholars like Medlycott, in the 19th and 20th centuries, devoted their efforts towards recovering from Syrian sources whatever cast a gleam of light upon the Indian Apostolate of Saint Thomas. They had to follow up on every clue obtained and collect every scrap of information recovered from the treasure house of the East, and reset it in its proper place. Today, we have results which we believe to be worthy of serious attention. Their long and patient research succeeded in providing new light on a subject that appears to have become more and more mired in doubt, mainly due to contentious discussions.

In this paper, ‘Realities of South Indian Social Life and Apostolic Traditions as Reflected in Certain Hymns of Ephrem’, we study only the four hymns quoted by Medlycott in the second chapter of his work India and the Apostle Thomas (1). The four Madrashas or hymns of Ephraem quoted partially by Medlycott, omitting irrelevant strophes and stanzas (irrelevant for our purpose, that is), establish certain points as matters of history with reference to India and the Indian Apostolate of Thomas, in spite of the limitations imposed by poetical language. The four hymns of Ephraem quoted are:

One: «(Thus) howled the devil» No. 42 of Carmina Nisibena, Ed. Bickell (S. Ephraemi Syri, Carmina Nisibena, Lipsiae, 1866). (2) This consists of ten strophes and is composed in the form of Greek and Latin odes, with a ‘refrain’ to be sung after each strophe, meant by Ephraem to be sung in public services by the faithful in the church, adding the witness and assent of the whole Church to what is contained in the hymns. Only the first three strophes have been translated.

Two: «On Thomas the Apostle», also from a madrasha, or Hymn of St. Ephraem published by the learned Syriac scholar, Monsignor Lamy, of the University of Louvain, in his S. Ephraemi Syri Hymni et Sermones, four volumes in quarto. (3) Of the seventeen strophes or stanzas, only the last seven are used here.

Three: «On Thomas the Apostle» is from another hymn given in the same Breviary, vol. vi. p. 635, taken from col. 704 of Monsignor Lamy’s fourth volume. Of the eight stanzas, two are omitted.

4) The fourth quotation from St. Ephraem «On Thomas the Apostle» also comes from the Breviary, vol. vi. p. 638. In Monsignor Lamy’s fourth volume, it is found in col. 706. (It consists of six strophes; only three are used here).

Before discussing the contents in detail, here are the four hymns, one after another, omitting the portions mentioned above:

Hymn 1

(Thus) howled the devil:

i

‘(Thus) howled the devil: into what land shall I fly from the just? 1

‘I stirred up Death the Apostles to slay, that by their death I might escape their blows.

‘But harder still am I now stricken: the Apostle I slew in India has overtaken me in Edessa; here and there he is all himself.

‘There went I, and there was he: here and there to my grief I find him.’

ii

‘The merchant brought the bones: nay, rather! they brought him.

‘Lo, the mutual gain! 5

‘What profit were they to me, while theirs was the mutual gain? Both brought me loss.

‘Who will show me the casket of Iscariot, whence courage I derived? ‘But the casket of Thomas is slaying me, for a hidden power there residing, tortures me.’

iii

‘With profit Moses, the elect, in faith transported bones. 9

‘If then so great a Prophet held that help from bones could be obtained, rightly did the merchant believe the same, and rightly a merchant he styled himself.

‘The merchant has made a profit, has become great and rules.

‘His treasury has greatly impoverished me, for to Edessa it is open, and the great city by his aid is enriched.’

Hymn 2

On Thomas the Apostle (I)

xi

‘Blessed art thou, Thomas, the Twin, in thy deeds! twin is thy spiritual power; nor one thy power, nor one thy name: 1

‘But many and signal are they; renowned is thy name among the Apostles.

‘From my lowly state thee I haste to sing.

xii

‘Blessed art thou, O Light, like the lamp, the sun amidst darkness hath placed; the earth darkened with sacrifices’ fumes to illuminate 4

‘A land of people dark fell to thy lot that these in white robes thou shouldest clothe and cleanse by baptism: a tainted land Thomas has purified.

xiii

‘Blessed art thou, like unto the solar ray from the great orb; thy grateful dawn India’s painful darkness doth dispel.6

‘Thou the great lamp, one among the Twelve, with oil from the Cross replenished, India’s dark night flooded with light.

xiv

‘Blessed art thou whom the Great King hath sent, that India to his One-Begotten thou shouldest espouse; above snow and linen white, thou the dark bride didst make fair.8

‘Blessed art thou, who the unkempt hast adorned, that having become beautiful and radiant, to her Spouse she might advance.

xv

‘Blessed art thou, who hast faith in the bride, whom from heathenism, from demons’ errors, and from enslavement to sacrifices thou didst rescue. 10

‘Her with saving bath thou cleansest, the sunburnt thou hast made fair, the Cross of Light her darkened shades effacing.

xvi

‘Blessed art thou, O merchant, a treasure who broughtest where so greatly it was needed; thou the wise man, who to secure the great pearl, of thy riches all else thou givest; 12

‘The finder it enriches and ennobles: indeed thou art the merchant who the world endowest!

xvii

‘Blessed art thou, O Thrice-Blessed City! that hast acquired this pearl, none greater doth India yield; 14

‘Blessed art thou, worthy to possess the priceless gem! Praise to thee, O Gracious Son, Who thus Thy adorers dost enrich!’

Hymn 3

On Thomas the Apostle (II)

i

‘Thomas, whence thy lineage, 1

That so illustrious thou shouldst become?

A merchant thy bones convey;

A pontiff assigns thee a feast;

A King a shrine erects.

ii

The bones the merchant hath brought, 6

Over them an outward watch he kept,

They from within guard over him keep.

Since on divers trades he embarked

Nothing so priceless did he acquire.

iii

In his several journeys to India, 11

And thence on his returns,

All riches, which there he found,

Dirt in his eyes he did repute

When to thy [sacred] bones compared.

………………

vi

Neither promised nor hoped for, 16

One thing more did he [the creator] give.

Lo, in India thy wonders,

In our land thy triumph,

Everywhere thy festival.

vii

Wonders during life thou performest, 21

These, after death, thou still continuest:

Under great bodily fatigue

In one region only didst thou heal.

Now, everywhere, without labour thou dost cure.

viii

As thou wast taught [by the Lord], 26

With the sign of the Cross and oil thou didst heal;

But now, without speech, demons thou expellest;

Without speech human ills thou curest;

Without prayer the dead do arise.’

Hymn 4

On Thomas the Apostle (III)

i

The One-Begotten his Apostles chose, 1

Among them Thomas, whom he sent

To baptize peoples perverse, in darkness steeped.

A dark night then India’s land enveloped,

Like the sun’s ray Thomas did dart forth;

There he dawned, and her illumined.

ii

What dweller on earth was ever seen, 7

But Thomas, the Lord’s Apostle,

On earth designing and a dwelling in Heaven erecting?

Or on earth who so wise was found

Here of his genius essaying

What in Heaven a crowning secures?

v

The client of Thomas needs not men his praises to sing: 13

Great is the crowd of his martyred followers.

Lo, his Bones, his Passion, his Work proclaim;

His Miracles, him yet alive assert;

His Deeds the rough Indian convinced.

Who dares doubt the truth of his Relics?’

To be continued…


Chev. Prof. George Menachery is a professor, anthropologist, indologist, historian of Syro Malabar Church and history of Kerala. He is the editor of the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India and the Indian Church History Classics. Prof. Menachery is also the recipient of the ‘Order of Saint Gregory the Great’, known as the title of “Chevalier”.