St thomas basilica information
Answers
Answer:
Portuguese Era
Santhome Church built by Portuguese in 1523
In 1521, the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay-Bassein sent missionaries to Madras (Chennai) seeking the tomb of the famed Thomas the Apostle, which had become neglected or was maintained nominally by Muslims, they decided to rebuild the shrine over the tomb of the apostle. With the order and funding of King John III of Portugal they started building the church. In 1523, the structure was consecrated as a church, and Portuguese Padroado priests resumed the daily celebration of Liturgy (Holy Mass) at the site.
In 1545, St Francis Xavier visited the shrine and lived for about one year in the Presbytery of the Santhome Church before he left for his mission in Ilha Formosa, Portuguese name for the Chinese island of Taiwan. When he lived in Santhome Church he regularly prayed in front of a statue of the Virgin Mother Mary and celebrated Holy Mass, he also prayed regularly at the tomb bearing the relics of St Thomas.
Explanation:
San Thome Church, is known as St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Thomas, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Santhome, in the city of Chennai (Madras), India. It was built in 1523 by Portuguese explorers, over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.[3] In 1896, it was rebuilt by the British. The British style church still stands today. It was designed as Neo-Gothic style, favoured by British architects in the late 19th century. This church is one of the only three known churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus, the other two being St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain.History of St. Thomas the Apostle
According to Bible Saint Thomas was born in Judea the Roman province. He was one of the twelve disciple of Jesus. He was the one who touched the wound of Jesus after he was risen from his death. Later on in AD 52 he came to Kerala, India to preach about Jesus later on he moved to present-day Chennai. In AD 72 he was killed in St. Thomas Mount and he was buried in Mylapore (presently Santhome) by his disciples and they built a small structural building (church) to mark his tomb.
Later on the tomb of St. Thomas was respected and maintained by Muslims and they called the tomb as "Bothuma" (House of Thomas). Centuries later, it became an abandoned structure although many pilgrims came to visit the tomb from East and Kerala. In 1327 Marco Polo visited this church and confirmed the tomb of St. Thomas.