Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/30

18 was the apostle of the Indies, who carried the torch of faith into the remote regions where he suffered martyrdom. Some writers have affirmed that he prosecuted his apostolical labours as far even as China; and the mission and the martyrdom of St. Thomas in the Indies have been alluded to in all the martyrologies, and in the ancient liturgies, which form the most pure and authentic source of Christian tradition.

In the Syriac Jacobite service for the festival of St. Thomas, the third of July, we read the following words :—"Thomas, whose memory we this day celebrate, having been sent to India by the Lord, was sold for a slave. He formed the plan of an excellent palace, of which God elevated the summit to heaven. He was afterwards, after the example of the Lord, pierced with a lance; and with the title of apostle, he obtained the crown of the martyr." It is evident these words allude to some of the most striking features of the legend, as related by Abdias.

The Nestorians chant in the Vesper service for St. Thomas's day, "Thanks be to thy preaching, Thomas, the Indians have breathed the perfume of spiritual life, and after renouncing the customs of the heathens, have seen chastity flourish among them." In the nocturnal part of the same service, we find these words:— "Thomas undertook the voyage to India in order to overthrow the temples of demons, and extirpate the licentiousness which prevailed among both men and women. The Indians, who, on account of the excessive heat of the country, had been accustomed to go entirely naked, learned from seeing Thomas clothed, the value of modesty and reserve."