On July 3 the church honours the feast of St Thomas the Apostle, the patron saint of India. Fr Anson leads us in a beautiful prayer of intercession, spoken in his native language Malayalam. This is the language of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. Let us join together in faith, seeking St Thomas’ powerful guidance and protection. The English translation can be found below.
Transcript
Introduction
Today, the universal Catholic Church is joyfully celebrating the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle. For the Church in India, this is a day of great festivity, because Saint Thomas is especially honoured as the Apostle of India. Even though we are now far from India, we are still children of India. Therefore, on this feast day of Saint Thomas the Apostle of India, let us come together and pray — for ourselves and for all people — seeking the intercession of Saint Thomas. I invite you to join with me in saying this prayer.
Prayer
O God, who blessed us by giving us Saint Thomas the Apostle as the Apostle of India, we adore You. We praise You. Holy Thomas the Apostle, who inspired courage in your fellow disciples by saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him,” and who was crowned with the glory of martyrdom — grant us all the graces we need for apostolic works and a life of faithful dedication. Grant us the grace to grow in the love of God and in faith, by imitating the saint who proclaimed his belief in the risen Christ, saying, “My Lord and my God.” Nurture us in brotherly and sisterly love, and grant us the inner strength to face any crisis with courage. Amen.