The first Sunday after Easter is dedicated to St. Toma Apostle. This day also bears the name of Tomii Sunday, referring to the moment when Jesus is shown to the apostles.
Sunday Tomii Photo: Dexology
Sunday Tomii ends the illuminated week of the Resurrection. The holiday bears the name of the Apostle Toma, also called “Toma unbeliever”. It all started when Thomas, not being present at the first show of Jesus resurrected, could not believe without tangible proof.
“The Orthodox Church celebrates the second Sunday, after Easter, St. Apostle Toma. On this day, the Savior showed the disciples through the locked doors, for the second time after the resurrection. Because Toma did not believe in the resurrection of the Savior, Jesus was urged to reach the signs left on the body after His crucifixion. After this moment, Toma without a doubt confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and God, the reality of the Resurrection of the Lord being proved once again for those who could not believe”, Writes the ethnologist Sorin Mazilescu, on Facebook.
Traditions and customs
The holiday reminds all believers how important it is to believe in the Resurrection. On Sunday Tomii, the believers sanctify eggs and colacs, give the apple and honor the dead. The churches officiate the special service of Utrenia and the Holy Liturgy.
On this holiday, the believers mention those who have passed to the eternal. In this sense, people go to church with foods that will be sanctified. Later, it offers them for the souls of those who died.
Also, in some regions of the country, people are preparing meals in the cemetery or near the church, as on this day it is believed to be at the table with those who have left. After the job is completed, the women offer coles, red eggs and candles.
In contrast, in other parts, the priest sanctifies during the service of the collage and the eggs that people bring to the church. Then they are offered next to a flowing water to the children and the poor. In Banat, people put packages with food for the souls of those asleep on the rivers.
What is not done on this day
Many believers are accustomed to going to the cemetery and lit a candle, to speak a prayer and to extend a table with dishes at the head of the departed. It is said that the table stretched near the graves or the church brings luck to the families and health, as if the dead had enjoyed us with the resurrection.
Sunday Tomii comes with an unwritten command: we must stay quiet. On this day there is no general cleaning, no laundry is washed, not sewn. Also, the quarrels or the heated discussions are avoided.
