Legendary bleeding cross at St. Thomas’ church

The narrow road wound its way uphill, past houses bearing names like
Rose Cottage, many camouflaged by the exuberant greenery in their
gardens. The ambience was straight out of a hill station. We were in
the city to explore the story of St. Thomas, one of the 12 disciples
of Jesus, who is said to have come to Kerala in 52 AD and then moved
to Chennai where he eventually died in 72 AD.

Our exploration of the apostle’s Chennai connection began where he
died, at St. Thomas Mount. The peripatetic Italian, Marco Polo, who
visited Chennai in the 1290s, recounts the story Church brethren told
him of how the saint was killed when a hunter aiming at some peacocks
accidentally hit the apostle. At the summit is the Church of the
Expectation of the Blessed Virgin, a simple church that is devoid of
ostentation, but rich in myth and legend.

It was first built by Armenians and rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1521
and again in 1547. The Armenian influence is evident in the 14
beautiful paintings (dating to the 1700s) of Jesus and the apostles
that line the walls. You can also see many Armenian inscriptions in
and around the church.

The altar here is believed to mark the spot where St. Thomas fell. The
cross embedded in the wall behind the altar has an interesting
story. It was unearthed by the Portuguese during excavations here.

The large granite slab bears a cross and an inscription on top, and
once had red stains on it. This is the famous bleeding cross, which
has been reported to sweat blood several times between 1556 and 1704.

Tradition has it that it was fashioned by St. Thomas himself and that
he died holding it. But controversy and doubts seem essential
ingredients of all stories associated with Doubting Thomas. The
strange lettering inscribed on the cross definitely added to its aura
of mystery. Although it was first assumed to relate to St. Thomas, in
the late 1800s, historians realised the inscription was actually in
Pahlavi and, somewhat anti-climactically, had nothing to do with
St. Thomas, but recorded only the name of the person who fashioned the
cross.

Next to the bleeding cross is a beautiful oil painting on wood of the
Madonna with baby Jesus, which according to legend was brought to
India by the apostle himself and was painted by Luke the
evangelist. Our next stop was the stately Santhome Cathedral Basilica,
near Marina beach, built over the spot where St. Thomas was buried.

The church’s fortunes seem to have waxed and waned through the
centuries for, although a magnificent church stood here in the 1200s,
by the 1500s it was languishing. The Portuguese rebuilt it in the
1600s. In 1893, this building was demolished and the church in its
present form came up and was consecrated in 1896. Today’s cathedral is
a grand Gothic edifice, complete with soaring towers and spires. Light
streams in through exquisite stained glass windows in the clerestory.

One set of three large stained glass windows depicting the episode
where Jesus appears to Doubting Thomas, was made in Germany in the
1870s. At the very heart of the church, in the basement, is the
apostle’s crypt and a tomb chapel. I learned that the soil around the
grave has always been renowned for its miraculous powers.

Meera Iyer

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