It is a coincidence, if not something more, that puts the antiphon _O
Oriens!_ on the same day as the Feast of St. Thomas. It was on account
of St. Thomas' _doubt_ that the great principle was given to the Church:
"Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed." It is on
account of St. Thomas' _faith_ that countless Indulgences are granted
every day to the faithful who make use of his words: "My Lord and my
God" when their sight shows them nothing but a little Host elevated by a
priest. It was St. Thomas' _zeal_ which made him go to the Indies and
proclaim that the Orient had visited His people and that God had become
incarnate for men. "Thou didst make all the Indies shine with much
light" (Hymn of the Greek Church to St. Thomas), and that light was the
light of faith in Him Whom they had not seen. It is St. Thomas who comes
to-day to revive our flagging faith, to introduce us to the Babe of
Bethlehem and tell us that He is indeed the Orient though He is hiding
His light, to warn us to give no heed to temptations against the faith,
to tell us that when we are contemplating the humility and nothingness
of our God and the temptation comes to us, as it did to him to say:
Unless I see for myself, "I will not believe," to remember the words of
the Master: "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."
O blessed Saint Thomas! who art now in the land of light and vision,
intercede for us that we may be as little children, believing all we are
told and quietly waiting till the day dawn and the Orient arises in all
His majesty and strength, _preparing_ as a giant to run His course, but
for the moment hiding everything under the form of a helpless babe. We
do not ask for sight but for the light which will lead us to Him, the
light of faith, so that when we see Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and
lying in a manger we may cry out with you: "My Lord and My God."