Quoted in part below is from The Free Dictionary By Farlex [1]:
The Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, established in the twelfth century, originally fell on December 21, the day of the winter solstice. Folk customs attached to the saint's day, therefore, reflected both the occurrence of the solstice and the closeness of Christmas.... [T]he Roman Catholic Church has since moved St. Thomas's [Feast] Day to July 3,...
Catholic Culture quotes Pope Gregory I on Saint Thomas the Apostle [2]:
In the Breviary lessons Pope St. Gregory the Great makes the following reflections: "Thomas' unbelief has benefited our faith more than the belief of the other disciples; it is because he attained faith through physical touch that we are confirmed in the faith beyond all doubt. Indeed, the Lord permitted the apostle to doubt after the resurrection; but He did not abandon him in doubt. By his doubt and by his touching the sacred wounds the apostle became a witness to the truth of the resurrection. Thomas touched and cried out: My Lord and my God! And Jesus said to him: Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed. Now if Thomas saw and touched the Savior, why did Jesus say: Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed? Because he saw something other than what he believed. For no mortal man can see divinity. Thomas saw the Man Christ and acknowledged His divinity with the words: My Lord and my God. Faith therefore followed upon seeing."
Quoted from Wikipedia without hyperlinks and references, on the death of Saint Thomas the Apostle [3]:
According to Syrian Christian tradition, Saint Thomas was allegedly martyred at St.Thomas Mount in Chennai on 3 July in AD 72, and his body was interred in Mylapore. Ephrem the Syrian states that the Apostle was killed in India, and that his relics were taken then to Edessa. This is the earliest known record of his death.The records of Barbosa from early 16th century witness that the tomb was then maintained by a Muslim who kept a lamp burning there.[37] The San Thome Basilica Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India presently located at the tomb was first built in the 16th century by the Portuguese and rebuilt in the 19th century. St. Thomas Mount has been a revered site by Muslims, and Christians since at least the 16th century.
Wikipedia also mentioned that "[i]n 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona, in Abruzzo, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle."
[4] Ibid, quoted without hyperlinks and reference.
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