St Jude Thaddaeus (aka St Judas), was a brother of St James the Less, and a relative of Jesus. St Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.According to tradition, Saint Jude preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya. He is also said to have visited Beirut and Edessa, though the emissary of latter mission is also identified as Thaddeus of Edessa, one of the Seventy. Jude is reported as suffering martyrdom together with Simon the Zealot in Persia. The 14th century writer Nicephorus Callistus wrote that St. Jude was the bridegroom at the wedding at Cana.
Legend says, St. Jude was a son of Clopas, the brother of St. Joseph and his mother Mary, is the sister of the Virgin Mary. St. Jude is therefore the cousin of Jesus. Tradition has it that St. Jude's father, Clopas, was murdered because of his forthright and outspoken devotion to the risen Christ.
Because he has a similar name as the traitor, Judas Iscariot, people were confused between the two apostles and were apprehensive about venerating St. Jude for the first few centuries AD. However, for the last 700 hundreds of years or so, St. Jude has been venerated by the Church as patron Saint for desperate cases.
St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, betokening the legend of the Image of Edessa. Additionally, St. Jude is often depicted with a flame above his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles.
According to legend King Abgar of Edessa (a city located in what is now southeast Turkey) asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abgar's great faith, Jesus pressed his face into a cloth and gave it to St. Jude to take to Abgar. Upon seeing Jesus' image, The King was cured and he converted to Christianity along with most of the people under his rule.
He is believed to have been martyred in Persia or Syria around 65 A.D. The axe or club that he is often shown holding in pictures symbolizes the way in which he was killed. After his death his body was brought back to Rome and was placed in a crypt beneath St. Peter's Basilica which is visited by many devotees until this day.
Devotion to Saint Jude began again in earnest in the 19th century, starting in Italy and Spain, spreading to South America, and finally to the U.S. (starting in the area around Chicago) owing to the influence of the Claretians and the Dominicans in the 1920s. Novena prayers to St. Jude helped millions of people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe, deal with the pressures caused by the Great Depression, World War II, and the changing workplace and family life.
St. Jude's feast day is October 28th (Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church) and June 19th (Eastern Orthodox Church).
A novena to St. Jude is said for 9 consecutive days:
Prayer
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Most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honours and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of.
Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.
Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that
I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise, O blessed Saint Jude, to be mindful of this great favour, to always honour you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.
"Saint Jude, Hope for the hopeless, Pray for me"
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[You should then follow your St. Jude prayer by saying 3 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary, and 3 Gloria prayers.]
Millions of people around the world have claimed to be assisted by Apostle St. Jude. Pray in confidence to this great Apostle and friend of Jesus for his intercession.
Read testimonials of prayers answered here and here. You'd be able to find many more testimonies attributed to St. Jude, online. I have also personally benefited many times from the intercession of St. Jude.
Please post your comments.
8 comments:
Thank you St. Jude for all your prayers. Your powerful intercession has helped me through the twists and turns of life. I will always be mindful of your help all these years and will continue to encourage devotion to you.
A novena to St. Jude simply worked a miracle for me. I'm a single mom. I lost my job almost year ago. I tried finding jobs but there were either no open positions or I was not called back after interviews. I was desperate as I had 2 children to raise. I prayed to St. Jude everyday for 1 month and landed a job at a small company with a much reduced salary compared to what I was paid before. But something was better than nothin. Then I persisted with a novena to St. Jude asking him for something better. And within two weeks I was offered a job by my previous employer at a higher salary than my previous salary holding a more senior position as the previous person holding that post left the company to become a housewife. Coincidence ? I don't think so because she (my predecessor) has worked and built a career in the company for over 15 years and is well liked by the bosses. Nobody expected her to leave the company so suddenly. I thank St. Jude for this opportunity.
I began praying to St. Jude last year when in the midst of seemingly insurmountable financial difficulties that were bringing me to the brink of despair. The situation has now completely reversed itself and I feel much more confident about life in general. I am now concerned over some health issues, which I am now placing in the hands of St. Jude. I feel that my spiritual sickness is having an effect on my physical body, and am hopeful that through St. Jude's intercession, I will be healed on both counts.
St. Jude, thank you for your intercession.
Pray for me St. Jude, apostle and relative of Christ. Patron of difficult and hopeless cases, please help me.
St. Jude thank you for helping me find a job and relocate to Australia.
Dear, St. Jude, I would like to thank you for answering my prayers once again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me to pass my Bar Exam. I could not have done it without the help of our Almighty God or without your help. I would like to share with the world that I have prayed your novena and my prayers were answered. I am very blessed. Please continue to protect us, keep us safe, and keep us away from any kind of danger.
Thank you St. Jude for interceding for me. I just started your novena but I am positive that you will help to heal my marriage. It's my first time doing a novena but from all the messages that I have seen I am confident that you will mend the broken pieces of my marriage back together.
I got into some problem and was charged in court. I wanted to pray the jabez prayer so the judge would be lenient and fine me instead of give me a prison sentence. I have a wife and 3 kids to support. My attorney said in my case the usual minimum sentence would be a year in prison. I prayed to st. jude and to my surprise, the judged fined me a moderate sum and i was let off with a warning. My attorney was shocked. He said in his whole legal career he has not seen a case like mine where the sentence was reduced to a fine and warning only. He said I was a very very lucky person.But I told him it was Jesus through the prayers of St. Jude who helped me. Thank you Jesus and thank you St. Jude.
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