Old St. Thomas Day and the winter solstice

Before the revision of the General Roman Calendar of 1969, December 21 was observed as the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Although it was moved to July 3 in order to avoid conflicting with Advent, we can borrow from some of the customs of the past to deepen our journey to Christmas.

St. Thomas is one of the twelve apostles who followed Christ. Tradition says he took the gospel to India and was martyred there. He is perhaps best known for questioning the veracity of Christ’s resurrection, as is told in the Gospel of John, until he could obtain proof with his own senses. This is the origin of the popular idiom “doubting Thomas.”

During the winter solstice, when length of daylight shortens to its utmost, it can be hard to believe that warmth and light will ever return. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe, the Lord tells us (John 20:29). On December 21, we hold fast to faith that summer is not gone forever; and the light of the Christ child is a guiding star to us all on Christmas Day.

Before his memorial was moved to July, Christians kept St. Thomas Day as a forerunner to Christmas, a taste of celebration during the last of Advent. A traditional rhyme goes:

St. Thomas day, St. Thomas gray,
The longest night and shortest day.

From the comfort of modernity, we forget how closely interwoven the Church calendar was with the agricultural year; winter was not just unpleasant but perilous. Food scarcity was common. Not everyone was looking forward to an upcoming feast. 

Enter Thomasmas, to make up the lacking. In England, people went “Thomasing” or “gooding” in their communities. Women and children in particular walked door to door asking for donations of money or food; this practice ensured that no one went without for Christmas.

If this sounds redundant to other begging practices, such as souling or clementing, we must keep in mind that the medieval Church took to heart Christ’s edict to care for widows and orphans, the least among them.

In parts of central Europe, the custom on St. Thomas Day was to scare away demons and evil spirits with screeching, banging, howling, and fearful costumes, much as All Hallows' Eve was kept in Ireland. (See Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs by Francis X. Weiser)

In Yorkshire, a custom called the riding of the sheriffs is carried on, allegedly, from ancient times. Francis Drake records in his Eboracum:

The sheriffs of the city of York have anciently used on St. Thomas's day the apostle before Yule [...] to offer at the mass; and when mass was done to make proclamation at the pillory of the Yule girthol.

The Yule-girth was the cessation of criminal courts during Christmastime, granting the king's peace to law-breakers: "thieves, dice-players, and all other unthrifty folk be welcome to the towne, whether they come late or early, at the reverence of the high feaste of Yule, til the twelve days be passed."

A procession of the sheriffs on horseback would follow with pageantry, music, and much celebration, inaugurating the threshold to the twelve days of Christmas.

Customs originating from St. Thomas’s day are still kept in parts of Europe, as we have seen. Adopting and adapting some of these customs can be a way to engage the senses on our own journey toward Christmas during the last stretch of Advent.

Here are some ideas, borrowed from Thomasmas, to make straight the paths for the Christ Child this Advent:

Whether or not we borrow from the old Christian observances of Thomasmas, we can counter the darkness and doubt by engaging the faith with all five senses. May we enter holistically, body and soul, into the joy and wonder of Christmastide!