SAINT DISMAS THE GOOD THIEF

St. Dismas
Dismas the Good Thief

Feast day: March 25
1st century.

All that is known of Dismas is that he is the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary. The other thief is known as Gestas. A completely unsubstantiated myth from the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy that enjoyed great popularity in the West during the Middle Ages had two thieves who held up the Holy Family on the way to Egypt. Dismas bought off Gestas with forty drachmas to leave them unmolested, whereupon the Infant predicted that they would be crucified with Him in Jerusalem, and that Dismas would accompany Him to Paradise. His feast day is March 25th.


 The Good Thief, who was crucified with Christ on Calvary, was given the name Dismas; the other thief is known as Gestas (Luke 23:39-42). A popular myth during the Middle Ages in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy said that the two thieves held up the Holy Family on their flight into Egypt. In this tale, Dismas bought off Gestas with forty drachmas to leave them unmolested, whereupon the Infant Jesus predicted that they would be crucified with him in Jerusalem and that Dismas would accompany him to paradise.

Tradition assumes that because Jesus told Dismas: "Today you will be with me in Paradise," his salvation was assured and he could therefore be invoked as a saint. Because so little is known of Saint Dismas--not even his name, which means "dying"--perhaps the Mass for his feast can give us some insights.

Introit: Psalm 130:6: "My soul waited for the Lord, more than the night watchmen wait for the dawn." Psalm 121:1, "I rejoiced when I heard them say, 'Let us go up to the house of the Lord.'"

Reading from Ezekiel 33:11-12: "I am living says the Lord. It is not the death of the sinner that I want. What I want is that he be converted, and that he live. Be converted, be converted, change your way of life! And why would I condemn you to die? Let the prophet say to his people: 'The just are just in vain, for it is not his justice which will save him, if one day he sin. And it is not for his sin that the sinner will be judged, if one day he is converted.'"

Gospel from Luke 23:39-43 [RSV]: "One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, `Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!' But the other rebuked him, saying, `Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.' And he said, `Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' And he said to him, `Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'"

Communion antiphon: "Happy is he who sees his debts paid, and whose sins are forgiven! Happy is the man whom the Lord does not punish as he deserves, and who does not try to defraud him" "Psalm 31:1-2"

In art, Dismas is represented as carrying his cross immediately behind Christ in pictures of the Harrowing of Hell. He may also be shown  crucified at Christ's right hand, or  naked, holding his cross, often with his hand on his heart to signify penitence. Dismas is the patron of criminals, condemned men, and thieves .