Every year on March 25, I will
remember Saint Dismas, the penitent thief. The thief whom Jesus forgave when
they were crucified and he went up to heaven.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitent_thief
Statue of St Dismas
(1750) in Březnice, Czech
Republic.
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The Good Thief
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Died
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c. 33
AD
Golgotha Hill outside Jerusalem |
Honored in
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Eastern
Orthodox Church
Catholic Church |
Feast
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March
25
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Attributes
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Wearing
a loincloth either holding his cross or being crucified; sometimes, standing
in Paradise
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Patronage
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prisoners,
especially condemned prisoners; undertakers; repentant thieves; Merizo,
Guam, San Dimas, Durango
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The Penitent
thief, also known as the Thief on the Cross or the Good Thief,
is an unnamed character mentioned in the Gospel of Luke who was crucified
alongside Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom, unlike his
companion the Impenitent thief. He is traditionally referred to as "St.
Dismas".
In
different Christian traditions different names have been given to the thief:
- In the Arabic First Infancy Gospel he is called Titus, and the impenitent thief Dumachus.
- In the Gospel of Nicodemus and Catholic tradition the name Dismas is given to the thief. He was never canonized by the Catholic Church but is venerated as a saint by local traditions as Saint Dismas (sometimes spelled "Dysmas" or in Spanish "Dimas"). The name Dismas for this thief may date back to the 4th century.
- In Coptic Orthodox tradition he is named Demas.
- In Codex Colbertinus he is named Zoatham.
- In Russian Orthodox tradition he is named Rach.
Gospel of Luke
The narrative
Two men were crucified at the same
time as Jesus, one on his right hand and one on his left (Matthew 27:38, Mark
15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18), which Mark interprets as fulfillment of the
prophecy of Isaiah 53:12. According to Matthew, both of the "thieves"
mocked Jesus (Matthew 27:44); Luke however, mentions that
39 Now one of the
criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah?
Save yourself and us." 40 The other, however, rebuking him,
said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same
condemnation? 41 And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the
sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing
criminal." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom." 43 He replied to him, "Amen, I
say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." 23:39-43
Today... in paradise
Main
article: Paradise
The phrase
translated "today... in paradise" in Luke 23:43 ("Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ
ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, σήμερον μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ") is
disputed in a minority of versions and commentaries. The Greek manuscripts are
without punctuation, so attribution of the adverb "today" to the verb
"be", as "be in paradise today" (the majority view), or the
verb "say", as "today I say" (the minority view), is
dependent on analysis of word order conventions in Koine Greek. The majority of
ancient Bible translations also follow the majority view, with only the Aramaic
Curetonian Gospels offering significant testimony to the minority view.
Saint
Thomas Aquinas: "The words of The Lord (This
day....in paradise) must therefore be understood not of an earthly or corporeal
paradise, but of that spiritual paradise in which all may be, said to be, who
are in the enjoyment of the divine glory. Hence to place, the thief went up
with Christ to heaven, that he might be with Christ, as it was said to him:
"Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise"; but as to reward, he was in
Paradise, for he there tasted and enjoyed the divinity of Christ, together with
the other saints."
Russian Orthodox icon of The Good
Thief in Paradise (Moscow School, c. 1560).
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Christian traditions
Unnamed
Augustine of Hippo does not name the
thief, but wonders if he might not have been baptized at some point.
According to tradition, the Good Thief
was crucified to Jesus' right hand and the other thief was crucified to his
left. For this reason, depictions of the crucifixion often show Jesus' head
inclined to his right, showing his acceptance of the Good Thief. In the Russian
Orthodox Church, both crucifixes and crosses are usually made with three bars:
the top one, representing the titulus (the inscription that Pontius
Pilate wrote and was nailed above Jesus' head); the longer crossbar on which
Jesus' hands were nailed; and a slanted bar at the bottom representing the
footrest to which Jesus' feet were nailed. The footrest is slanted, pointing up
towards the Good Thief, and pointing down towards the other.
According to St. John Chrysostom, the
thief dwelt in the desert and robbed or murdered anyone unlucky enough to cross
his path. According to Pope Saint Gregory the Great he "was guilty of
blood, even his brother's blood; (fratricide)".
The thief's conversion is sometimes
given as an example of the necessary steps one must take to arrive at salvation
through Christ: awareness of personal sin, repentance of sin, acceptance of
Christ and salvation's promise of eternal life. Further, the argument is
presented that baptism is not necessary for salvation since the thief had no
opportunity for it.
"Christ and the Thief" by Nikolai Ge.
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The name
Dismas
Only the Gospel of Luke describes one
of the thieves as penitent, and even that gospel doesn't name him. Luke's
unnamed penitent thief was later assigned the name Dismas in the Gospel of
Nicodemus, portions of which may be dated to the 4th century. The name
"Dismas" was adapted from a Greek word meaning "sunset" or
"death." The other thief's name is given as Gestas. In Jean Joseph Gaume's Life of
the Good Thief (Histoire Du Bon Larron French 1868, English 1882),
Saint Augustine said; the thief said to Jesus, the child: “O most blessed of
children, if ever a time should come when I shall crave Thy Mercy, remember me
and forget not what has passed this day." Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
saw the Holy Family "exhausted and helpless"; according to St.
Augustine and St. Peter Damian, the Holy Family met Dismas, in these
circumstances.
The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel
calls the two thieves Titus and Dumachus, and adds a tale about how Titus (the
good one) prevented the other thieves in his company from robbing Mary and Joseph
during their Flight into Egypt.
In the Russian tradition the Good
Thief's name is "Rakh" (Russian: Рах).
Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria (385–412)
wrote a Homily
on the Crucifixion and the Good Thief, which is a classic of Coptic
literature.
Commemoration
The Catholic Church remembers the Good
Thief on 25 March. In the Roman Martyrology, the following entry is given
"Commemoration of the Good Thief in Jerusalem who confessed Christ on the
cross and deserved to hear from Him these words, "This day thou shalt be
with me in Paradise.”
A number of towns, including San Dimas,
California, are named after him. There also exist parish churches named after
him, such as the Church of the Good Thief in Kingston, Ontario, Canada—built by
convicts at Kingston Penitentiary, Saint Dismas Church in Waukegan, Illinois
and the Church of St. Dismas, the Good
Thief a Roman Catholic church at the Clinton Correctional Facility in
Dannemora, New York.
Icon showing Christ (center) bringing Dismas
(left) into Paradise.
At the right are the Gates of Paradise, guarded by a seraph (Solovetsky Monastery, 17th century).
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Art
In medieval art, St Dismas is often
depicted as accompanying Jesus in the Harrowing of Hell as related in 1 Peter
3:19–20 and the Apostles' Creed (though neither text mentions the thief).
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, one of
the hymns of Good Friday is entitled, The Good Thief (or The Wise
Thief, Church Slavonic: Razboinika blagorazumnago), and speaks of
how Christ granted Dismas Paradise. There are several compositions of this hymn
which are used in the Russian Orthodox Church and form one of the highlights of
the Matins service on Good Friday.
In popular
culture
As part of Christ's story the good
thief often appears in cinematic portrayals though with varying degrees of
importance. He sometimes appears as just a background character whose presence
in the film is limited to his role in the Gospel of Luke, if that much. One
exception was Cecil B. Demille's 1927 film The King of Kings where his
fate is compared to Jesus'. While in one scene people are mourning for Jesus as
He is en route to Golgotha, in the next scene the very same people are throwing
garbage at the two thieves. Later, when all three men are crucified, the good
thief defends Jesus from Gestas' insults and asks to be forgiven for his own
crimes. Jesus forgives the good thief. Later when the two men are dead, Mary is
mourning at the foot of her Son's cross. She notices that at the foot of the
thief's cross is a disheveled old woman crying for him. The old woman says
"He was my son." The two mothers embrace and console each other. In
the 1961 film King of Kings, the two thieves, along with Barabbas, are
awaiting their fates. The two thieves are appalled when Barabbas compares
himself to them. They say "We're only thieves! You're a murderer!".
The Penitent thief is named Jobab in
the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.
The thief features also in Christian
popular music, as in Christian rock band Third Day's 1995 song
"Thief", and the name of the Christian rock band Dizmas. The thief
also is the narrator in Sydney Carter's controversial song "Friday
Morning".
Prayer of The Good Thief
Prayer to Saint Dismas: Glorious Saint Dismas, you alone of all the great Penitent
Saints were directly canonized by Christ Himself; you were assured of a place
in Heaven with Him "this day" because of the sincere confession of
your sins to Him in the tribunal of Calvary and your true sorrow for them as
you hung beside Him in that open confessional; you who by the direct sword
thrust of your love and repentance did open the Heart of Jesus in mercy and forgiveness
even before the centurion's spear tore it asunder; you whose face was closer to
that of Jesus in His last agony, to offer Him a word of comfort, closer even
than that of His Beloved Mother, Mary; you who knew so well how to pray, teach
me the words to say to Him to gain pardon and the grace of perseverance; and
you who are so close to Him now in Heaven, as you were during His last moments
on earth, pray to Him for me that I shall never again desert Him, but that at
the close of my life I may hear from Him the words He addressed to you:
"This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." Amen
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