Devotion to Saint Jude

Saint Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Savior. Saint Jude was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is not the same person as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. He is an author of an epistle in the New Testament.

Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world after His resurrection. Little else is known of his life. Legend claims that he visited Beirut and Edessa; possibly martyred with St. Simon in Persia.

An interesting legend told about Saint Jude: King Abagaro of Edessa, who suffered from leprosy, sent word to Jesus asking Him to come and cure him. With his request, we are told, the King sent an artist to return with a picture of the Master. Impressed with his great faith, Our Lord pressed His image on a cloth and gave it to St. Jude to bring to the King of Edessa and cure him. The King was cured and together with most of his subjects was converted to Christianity. St. Jude is shown, traditionally, as carrying the image of Jesus in his hand. This represents the imprint of the Divine Countenance that was entrusted to him by Our Lord.

This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. Tradition tells us that he was clubbed, possibly into insensibility, and his head was then shattered with a broad ax. Both Saint Peter's in Rome and Saint Sernin in Toulouse claim his remains.

Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases and his feast day, along with Saint Simon the Apostle, is October 28.

A Chapel to Saint Jude was built in the Shrine and a perpetual novena was begun on February 18, 1960 and continues today on Thursday evenings before the 6:30pm Mass. Saint Jude's statue is now located in a place of honor in the Shrine next to the Statue of Good Saint Anne. Each October a nine-day novena is prayed in preparation for his feast day.

Novena Prayer to Saint Jude

O glorious apostle St. Jude, the Church honors and invokes you as the Patron of Hopeless Cases. We humbly beseech you earnestly, to guard those who, in the hour of misery, have put in you their trust.

Come to the help of all those who invoke you; hear their prayers. Through your powerful intercession grant them the favor requested and finally, everlasting life with God.

In return, we promise ever to remember your favors and make you known as the Patron of Difficult and Hopeless Cases. Amen.

St. Jude, pray for us.

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