Semnenenenliaaaiee 
1923.] St. Thomas and San Thomé, Mylapore. 189 
of the Saint was kept opened the tomb of the Apostle, and, 
placing inside, in the hands of the Saint’s body, a severed dry 
vine-shoot, elosed the tomb. The next day, the feast of St. 
Thomas, w ‘hen the Bishop returned to the tomb and looked in, 
he was greatly astonished to find that the dry vine-shoot which 
he had ‘left in the Saint’s hand had became green and bore 
a bunch of grapes. He plucked the bunch and extracted the 
uice from the fruits. The purified wine thus obtained was 
just sufficient for the Mass of that day. al those who heard 
the Mass were filled with incredible joy.” 
ter long research I succeeded in apie: ee allusion 
to ihe same story. Raulin, holding that par homas’ 
body was found by the Portaguese, says that fe does not feel 
moved by the story of - Peter de Natalibus in his Catalogus 
Sanctorum, Bk. 6, ch. 43. The story notwithstanding, he 
Maintains that the bo dy may have been partly at Mylapore. 
-Peter de Natalibus relates the following: Yearly, on the eve of 
St. Thomas’ feast, the Archbishop of Edessa, while intoning the 
antiphon at the Magnificat : O Thoma Didyme, _ opened the tomb, 
or the silver casket (loculus) hanging from silver chains,? and 
placed into the Apostle’s hand a dry vine-stock. The next day, 
to the astonishment of all, " was found green and covere 
with a fresh bunch of grapes.* 

! This was found in a Tamil work Viyashakishamai puthunmai [Thurs- 
day miracles}, a oe Catholic carl Press ¥ Pot d ed., 1902, p. 164, 
racle. Did n ather de Rossi, S.J., anslate his seein of 
teteadles.. for caver day - the week ‘ot a ahatis composed and 
sities oa in Euro 
Kurseong has translated for us, says nothin n. 
ri td Mar John in the same work or a poset editions or vidas 
of the 
he Nestovians in toh ia a no wae ne St. Thomas on December 
21. A Latin writer, however, reading about the —— feast, would 
naturally vere ert iat to oe feast of remit ber 21, the Roman Mar- 
Ema mere = i commemorating on July 3 the inanation of St. Thomas’ 
relics to on 
A és eaks of barefaced fictions about Prester John by er . 
* The dive: loculus and the silver chains may be a touch of Edessan 
archaeology, as we have showa’ in this cha apter; but any sabeak of is 
St. Thomas legends or nett have sandwiched it into his story. And w A 
gi i 
th the 
‘tomb’? Have we not sth a plan dieny et of the tomb of Mylapore with 
what t early writers ne of the relies at - 
§ Cf. Raulin, Historia Ecclesiae Malabaricae, Romae, 1745, hdl 
For a short se of the story see Vies des Saints . _ par le R. 
dancira, Trad. par )’ Abbé E. Darras, 2¢ ed., Paris, 1857 (Déc. 21), p. 269 
