Today is the Feast of Saint Thomas, the Apostle.
Saint Thomas is especially interesting because in spreading the Gospel he left the Mediterranean area completely and established churches thousands of miles away on the Malabar Coast in south-west India. He is also believed to have preached the Gospel in China and possibly Indonesia. There is even a tradition that he travelled to South America and preached in Paraguay. Saint Thomas, famous as “doubting Thomas” therefore seems to have travelled the furthest of all the Apostles in preaching the Good News of Jesus.
For lots more information on Saint Thomas, see the Wikipedia entry.
The Collect for St. Thomas is…
Almighty and eternal God,
who, for the firmer foundation of our faith,
allowed your holy apostle Thomas to doubt the resurrection of your Son
till word and sight convinced him:
grant to us, who have not seen, that we also may believe
and so confess Christ as our Lord and our God;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
There is still a large Christian community in South West India. Here is an Indian film about the churches Thomas established there…