In
Consequence Of This Information, Don Duarte Sent Ernanuel De Faria, With
A Priest And A Mason To Repair This Chapel.
On digging about the
foundation on one side which threatened to fall, they found about a yard
below ground
A tomb-stone with an inscription implying "That when St
Thomas built this church the king of Meliapour gave him the duties of
all merchandize imported, which was the tenths[170]." Going still
deeper, they came to a hollow place between two stones, in which lay the
bones of a human body with the butt and head of a spear, which were
supposed to be the remains of the saint, as those of the king and
disciple were also found, but not so white. They placed the bones of
the saint in a China chest, and the other bones in another chest,
and hid both under the altar. On farther inquiry, it appeared by the
ancient records of the kingdom, that Saint Thomas had come to Meliapour
about 1500 years before, then in so flourishing a condition that it is
said by tradition to have contained 3300 stately churches in its
environs. It is farther said that Meliapour was then twelve leagues from
the coast, whereas its ruins are now close to the shore; and that the
saint had left a prediction, "That when the sea came up to the scite of
the city, a people should come from the west having the same religion
which he taught." That the saint had dragged a vast piece of timber from
the sea in a miraculous manner for the construction of his church, which
all the force of elephants and the art of men had been unable to move
when attempted for the use of the king.
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