| Saint Dismas | |
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| The Good Thief | |
| Died | c. The Last Judgment is a Mural by Michelangelo on the Altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all 33 A.D., Golgotha Hill outside Jerusalem |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | March 25 |
| Attributes | Wearing a loincloth and holding his cross; sometimes, standing in Paradise |
| Patronage | prisoners, especially condemned prisoners; undertakers; repentant thieves; Merizo, Guam |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Dismas (sometimes spelled Dysmas or only Dimas, or even Dumas), also known as the Good Thief or the Penitent Thief, is the apocryphal name given to one of the two "thieves" (Matthew 27:38) who was crucified alongside Jesus, repented of his sins, and asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom. In Criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person's Property without that person's freely-given Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)
The 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. Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means Isaiah (; Greek:, Ēsaiās; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa; "Salvation of/is YHWH " is According to Matthew, both of the "thieves" at first mocked Jesus (Matthew 27:44); Luke however, mentions only that one of the "thieves" mocked him (Luke 23:39). According to the Gospel of Luke 23:39-43:
[O]ne of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the " ♦ But the other answering rebuked him, saying, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? ♦ And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. " ♦ And he said unto Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. " ♦ And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. " (KJV)
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Thief or Rebel?
It should be noted that, regardless of pious legends that developed later on, the two men crucified alongside Christ were not thieves at all. A careful reading of the original Greek language texts of the Gospels show that the Evangelists record the men at Jesus' side as being "Lestoi" or rebels. Pontius Pilate was not sentencing them to death for mere theft but for sedition, the punishment for which was automatic execution so as to terrify people into submission. Thus the two men sent to death alongside Jesus were two of many anti-Roman Jews killed during Roman rule of the Iudaea Province and freedom fighters, not thieves. Kingdom of Judea redirects here For the 10th-6th century BCE kingdom see Kingdom of Judah Iudaea ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Freedom fighter is a term to describe those that engage in a struggle to achieve freedom for themselves or to free others in some matter However, Zealots and Sicarii rebels were seen by the people of their own time as boorish extremists causing more harm than good by angering Rome and even as indirectly responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple. Sicarii (Latin plural of Sicarius 'dagger-' or later contract- killer is a term applied in the decades immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD It was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War, followed by the fall of Masada in 73 The Second Temple (בית המקדש romanized 'Beit HaMikdash' meaning 'Holy House' was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem which stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE Modern political analysts have called them terrorists. This is a list of notable political scientists See the List of political theorists for those who study politics without using the Scientific method. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion Even though the historical "Dismas" was in fact not a thief, he still would have led a violent life (if a Zealot or Sicarii, would have lived a life of terror and assassination) that he was sorry to have led.
"Dismas?"
It should be noted that the man in question has no known name. In that the canonical Gospels were meant to be primarily a record of Jesus' life, none of the Evangelists, not even Luke who recorded the man's repentance, ever bothered learning his name. A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament From their point of view, he simply did not matter and if he did matter, it was only in relation to Jesus as Luke records. Even if they had wanted to, by the time the Gospels were written the Evangelists had no way of investigating the life of a nameless criminal.
Regardless, later embellishments of the story elaborated on the otherwise anonymous "good thief. " Dismas is his best known psuedonym and appears first in the twelfth century in the Gospel of Nicodemus. The Acts of Pilate (Latin Acta Pilati Greek Πράξεις Πιλάτου) is a book of the New Testament Pseudepigrapha The name of "Dismas" was adapted from a Greek word meaning "sunset" or "death. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly " The other thief's name is given as Gestas. Gestas, also spelled Gesmas, is the Apocryphal name (first appearing in the Gospel of Nicodemus) given to one of the two thieves who was crucified alongside The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel calls the two thieves Titus and Dumachus, and adds a tale about how Titus (Dismas) prevented the other thieves in his company from robbing Mary and Joseph during their Flight into Egypt. The Arabic Infancy Gospel is one of the texts found in the New Testament apocrypha concerning the infancy of Jesus Joseph "of the House of David " ( Hebrew יוֹסֵף also known as Saint Joseph, Joseph the Betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth The flight into Egypt describes an event in the Gospel of Matthew ( in which Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary and Jesus In the Russian tradition the Good Thief's name is Rakh (Russian: Рах). Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
Theological significance
Though never canonized by the church, "Dismas" carries the distinction of being the only human to be canonized by Jesus himself, if by 'canonized' one means the formal recognition of a person's place in heaven. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) According to tradition, the Good Thief was crucified to Jesus' right hand, and the other thief was crucified to his left. Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a technical theological term used in some Christian traditions primarily in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox For this reason, depictions of the crucifixion often show Jesus' head inclined to his right, showing his acceptance of the Good Thief. Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from 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. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one fixed to a cross" is a cross with a representation of Jesus ' body or corpus Titulus Crucis (Latin for "Title of the Cross" also known as ogium is a relic kept in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome The footrest is slanted, pointing up towards the Good Thief, and pointing down towards the other.
The biblical account of the repentant thief is foundational to the teaching of the church regarding Baptism of desire, whereby one who desires baptism, but is prevented by circumstances beyond his control from actually being baptized, may be saved by the grace and mercy of God. Baptism of desire ( Latin Baptismus Flaminis) is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church explaining that those who desire Baptism, but are In Christianity, baptism ( Greek, "immersing" "performing Ablutions " is the ritual act with the use of water by which one is admitted Traditionalist Catholics who argue that the Church has never taught Baptism of Desire say that the Dismas died and was saved under the Old Law, not under the New Law in which all must be baptized. Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics, or people who identify as Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical
Legacy
Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria (385-412) wrote a Homily on the Crucifixion and the Good Thief, which is a classic of Coptic literature. Theophilus of Alexandria (died 412 was Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt from 385 to 412
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, one of the most moving 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. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Good Friday, also called Holy Friday or Great Friday, is the Friday preceding Easter Sunday ("Pascha" Church Slavonic (also Church Slavic, Old Bulgarian) is the Liturgical language of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox There are several moving 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. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure Matins (also known as Orthros or Oútrenya in Eastern Churches) is the early morning or night Prayer service in the Roman Catholic
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). Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place over 1000 years of Art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed (Quicumque vult, which states that
A number of towns, including San Dimas, California, are named after him, and the Christian rock band Dizmas named themselves after the "good thief" in recognition of his decision on the Cross to follow Christ. San Dimas is a city located in Los Angeles County California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Dizmas is a Christian rock band from Lancaster in Southern California. There also exist parish churches named after him, such as the Church of the Good Thief in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. A parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a Parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page
As part of Christ's story Dismas often appears in cinimatic portrayals though with varying degrees of importace. He sometimes appears as just a background character whose presence in the film is limited to his role in Luke's Gospel, if that much. One exception was Cecil B. Demille's 1927 The King of Kings where his fate is compared to Jesus'. Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The King of Kings ( 1927) is a Silent film directed by Cecil B 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 as Dismas and Gestas, the "bad thief. " Later when all three men are crucified, Dismas defends Jesus from Gestas' insults and asks to be forgiven for his own crimes. Jesus forgives Dismas. 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 Dismas' cross is a disshiveled old woman crying for Dismas. The old woman says "He was my son. " The two mothers embrace and console each other.
In 1961's King of Kings, Dismas and Gestas, along with Barrabas, are awaiting their fates. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the 1927 Cecil B DeMille film see The King of Kings King of Kings ( 1961) is a American Motion In the Christian narrative of the Passion of Jesus, Barabbas, according to some texts Jesus bar-Abbas, ( Aramaic Dismas and Gestas are appalled when Barrabbas compares himself to them. They say "We're only thieves! You're a murderer!" (He and Gestas say this regardless of the fact that there is every chance that the real "Dismas" was just as violent as Barrabas and no mere thief. This is ironic considering that this King of Kings emphasized the political climate of first century Israel. )
A major part of Dismas' legacy is one of pennance. Though a rebel and perhaps even a terrorist and not a thief, the fact that he did live a wicked life and was sorry for that life means that the traditional moral drawn from his story is still intact. Symbolic of this it is very common for prison chapels to be dedicated to Saint Dismas, since he represents not only the epitome of a repentant malefactor, but also God's willingness to forgive even at the last moment. A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of A chapel is a holy place or area of Worship for Christians, which may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a College, a This is meant to convey that with the love of God, it is never too late.
See also
External links
- Patron Saints: Dismas
- The Wise Thief hymn from Eastern Orthodox Good Friday service (in English)
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