St. Jude Thaddaeus

Much of the life of St. Jude Thaddeus in covered in shroud. Most people think that Judas Thaddeus and Judas Iscariot are the same person, in fact they are very much not alike. St. Jude was a very good and loving apostle, very faithful to Jesus. One account even says that Jesus sent Jude on a mission to cure the king of Edessa. He took a cloth to the king and when the king wiped his face with it, Jesus' image appeared on the cloth and the king was cured. The other, Judas Iscariot, was not faithful.

(St. Jude)

Jude was a very quiet person some accounts say and the only time he said something in the bible was John 14:22 when he said "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?" St. Jude is called the patron of hopeless cases. This may in fact be rooted in tradition that he was a close relative of Jesus and that in childhood they were playmates. There is a Judas mentioned in Matthew 13:55 where it states "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?" Some have taken this to be St. Jude in question. Some others say he is the brother of James the Less. St. Jude evangelized people in many places during his life, and he sailed to many corners of the globe. An apocryphal account says that he evangelized in Persia, and there he was shot to death by arrows. He was buried in Rome and his feast day is October 28.

(This is a picture of St. Jude's symbol as it appears in our church, on the wall, behind the altar. It is the Lower-left most symbol.)

St. Jude's apostolic symbol is the ship. The symbol was chosen for him because he was a missionary thought to be a fisherman. To the left is a picture of Jude's symbol in our church behind the altar, on the wall, with all the other apostolic symbols. St. Jude traveled to many places to evangelize and preach and took many trips in ships so the most logical symbol would be the ship. A prayer to St. Jude is: Most holy Apostle, Saint Jude, friend of Jesus, I place myself in your care at this difficult time. Pray for me; help me know that I need not face my troubles alone. Please join me in my need, asking God to send me consolation in my sorrow, courage in my fear, and healing in the midst of my suffering. Ask our loving God to fill me with the grace to accept whatever lies ahead for me and my loved ones, and to strengthen my faith in God's healing power. Thank you, Saint Jude, for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe, and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me. Amen. Click here for another prayer to St. Jude