Saint Dismas

*Saint Dismas*
Confessor
Born	?
Died	ca. AD 33, Golgotha Hill outside Jerusalem
Venerated in	All Christianity
Feast	March 25
Attributes	Cross
Patronage	Criminals, prisoners, undertakers

Saint Dismas (sometimes spelled Dysmas or Dimas or even Dumas), also known as the Good Thief, is the apocryphal name given to one of the thieves who was crucified alongside Christ according to the Gospel of Luke 23:39-43:

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us."

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."

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)

The name of "Dismas" for this person, unnamed in the canonical Gospel itself, appears first in the twelfth century in the Gospel of Nicodemus. The name of "Dismas" was adapted from a Greek word meaning "sunset" or "death." The other thief's name is given as Gestas.

The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel calls the two thieves Titus and Dumachus, and adds a tale about how Titus (Dismas) prevented other thieves in his company from robbing Mary and Joseph on their flight into Egypt.

In medieval art, St Dismas is often depicted as accompanying Jesus in the Harrowing of Hell as related in the Apostles' Creed.

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See also