St. Thomas of Syria, for Christ’s sake the fool

In the VI century in the Syrian Antioch there was an incident that the locals regarded as a manifestation of the gift of foresight in the wandering monk. The monk Thomas, who collected alms for the monastery in Caesarea of Cappadocia, faced aggression from the church economist Anastasius and uttered the words that came true the next day.

Thomas was one of the fools — people who voluntarily assumed the form of madmen for the sake of humility and refusal of worldly recognition. He came to Antioch on the affairs of the monastery, where he performed the obedience of the collector of donations. Anastasius, irritated by persistent requests, struck the monk in the face. The witnesses began to reproach the offender, but Thomas stopped them with the phrase: «From now on, neither I will accept anything from Anastasius, nor Anastasius will be able to give me anything.»

The words were prophetic. Less than a day passed and both the applicant and the petitioner died. The monk died on his way back, in the suburbs of Daphne, within the walls of the church of St. Euphemia. He was buried without honors, on a parish for homeless strangers.

Further events forced to reconsider the attitude towards the deceased. After a while, an unknown woman’s body was tried at the same place, but the coffin was pushed out of the soil twice. The townspeople considered it a sign of the reluctance of the deceased to share the grave. The incident was reported to the Patriarch of Antioch Domnus. By his order, the remains of Thomas were exhumed and transferred to the city, placing in the tomb with the relics of other revered saints.

Later, an epidemic broke out in Antioch. According to legend, a prayer address to Thomas stopped the spread of the infection. Numerous healings were recorded at the burial, which led to the growth of popular reverence. The faithful built a small church dedicated to the ascetic. His life path became an example of radical renunciation of social norms, where external inadequacy of behavior masked inner austerity.