St Thomas the Anchorite
Relic
Category
Background
St Thomas was born around the 4th century, in a village called Shenshif, north of Akhmim in Upper Egypt, to two pious parents, who raised him in the fear of God. He led a quiet, peaceable life renouncing the vanities of the world and its lusts. He longed for monasticism and dedicated his life to constant prayer and contemplation.
He left his home and headed towards the wilderness, where he lived in a cave in the mount of Shenshif. There, he led an ascetic life following the example of St Antony’s solitary monasticism.
In his cave in the mountain, he practiced his spiritual exercises, and he loved praying and praising with his euphonious voice. He was strict in his asceticism to the point that he only ate once a week. He memorised many parts of the Holy Bible, fulfilling its commandments and living out the Bible with joy.
Although he shunned attention and loved solitude, he never stopped any of the fathers from meeting with him to benefit from his spiritual insight.
St Thomas lived a life of praising God. Once, while he was praising using the Psalms, he noticed three men in white garments behind him, singing with an angelic voice. St Thomas rejoiced and went on praising with them all night. He later found out that they were monks from the monastery of St Shenouda, the Archimandrite. St Shenouda was the head of his monastery. He was a great leader and is upheld as one of the greatest pillars of monasticism in the Coptic church to this day. He would visit Saint Thomas often, traversing the region from his monastery in the Western mount, to the cell of St Thomas in the Eastern mount, in order to enjoy his company.
The meetings of St Thomas and St Shenouda were stamped with a spiritual fragrance that exhibited their love for our Lord Jesus Christ. They lived a heavenly life on earth as they spent their time offering praises to God.
In the final visit, St Thomas said to St Shenouda,
This is the last visit. I shall soon leave you and the Lord informed me that you shall follow me a few days later.
Saint Shenouda asked him for a sign. So Saint Thomas said to him,
At the time that my soul departs from my body, the large rock that you sit on outside your cell will split in half like a book that you open.”
Back in his cell, St Shenouda kept pondering what St Thomas had announced to him. A few days later, St Shenouda was praying in front of his cell when he noticed that the rock on which he used to sit had split in two.
As he looked up towards heaven, he saw the Archangel Raphael approaching him saying:
Peace be with you, the bosom friend of God and the beloved of St Thomas. The Lord has sent me to carry you to the body of St Thomas, that we may wrap it and place it in the earth.
St Shenouda felt comforted, and he followed Archangel Raphael through the night. Upon entering the cave of St Thomas, St Shenouda saw our Lord Jesus Christ and His angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, as well as David the prophet. After the consolation bestowed upon all who were in attendance, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven with His angels carrying the spirit of St Thomas.
