Thomas Sunday
On this feast, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared for the second time to His disciples after His Resurrection from the dead. The first appearance was in the evening on the same day of His Resurrection (John 20:19). However, Thomas was not with them (John 20:24). So He appeared again this second time on that Sunday to strengthen Thomas' faith (John 20:26).
Our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to establish for us that Sunday is the day of the Resurrection and should be the day that is consecrated for Him. Thus He appeared to Thomas with the rest of the disciples on the Sunday following His Resurrection. This is why the Church chose to make Thomas Sunday a feast and called it the "New Sunday". Sunday is also known as the "day of the Lord" in Greek (Kyriake), Coptic, and Latin (from which the French word for Sunday [dimanche] comes). This was the day when St. John the Evangelist saw the Revelation: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Rev 1:10).
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