St. Jude

The name “Jude” means “giver of joy,” while the name Thaddeus means “generous and kind” and as such, Saint Jude is one of the most well-known saints today. Saint Jude was one of the 12 Apostles.

Saint Jude’s faith in God and his refusal to give up hope in the face of untold hardships and persecutions from unbelievers, while spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, are just a few of the things we know about his remarkable life on earth.

To the new believers of his time, the New Testament’s Letter of Jude was an exhortation and encouragement for the Christian community. By clinging to their faith in Christ, Saint Jude assured believers that they would arise victorious from their seemingly hopeless struggle.

Even in our time, we’ve known the pain and suffering that comes from daily hardships in life. From the quiet desperation of the loss of a beloved parent, husband, or wife to the anxiety of ill health and the financial burdens that accompany it, to the loneliness of a child leaving the home, or a friend who’s gone off to fight in a war somewhere, each of us has known suffering.

In times such as these, Saint Jude is one of the “great cloud of witnesses” spoken of in the Bible, that we can turn to for encouragement and support.

Saint Jude, known as Thaddeus, was a brother of Saint James the Less, and a relative of Our Savior. Saint Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. As the patron saint of desperate cases, Saint Jude likely gets this title because of this letter that was addressed to the desperate cases.

The letter of Jude encourages Christians to persevere in difficult circumstances by staying close to God and clinging to their Faith in Jesus.

In verses 20 and 21, Saint Jude writes, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads us to eternal life.”

The New Testament’s Letter of Jude was addressed to recent converts in the Eastern churches who suffered under persecution. In verses 12 and 13, Saint Jude warns these churches against teachers of the day who were “like waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in last autumn, twice dead and uprooted. They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering starts for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.”

Ancient writers tell us that Jude preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syeria, Mesopotamia, and Libya. He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaitans, and Gnostics.

Saint Jude is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then the subject to Persia. The final conversion of the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century.

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 Saint Jude visited Beirut and Edessa, and he was possibly martyred with Saint Simon in Persia.

According to “The Passion of Simon and Jude’s (a non-biblical story), Saint Jude journeyed to Mesopotamia, became a leader of the Church in the East, and traveled to Libya, Turkey, and Persia, preaching and converting people to Christianity. He is occasionally credited with helping to form the Church in Armenia.

According to tradition, around A.D. 65 Saint Jude died a martyr’s death (in Persia or Syria) when he was clubbed to death and beheaded. This explains the ax or club frequently occurring in artistic renderings of Saint Jude, as a symbol of his martyrdom.

Additionally, Saint Jude is traditionally shown carrying Jesus’ image close to his chest. The origin of this symbol is from a story of King Abgar of Edessa. Jesus was asked by the King to cure his leprosy. An artist was sent to draw the face of Jesus and return the rendering to the king. Jesus was so impressed with this King’s faith, the story goes, that he pressed his face into a cloth and gave it to Jude, whom Jesus asked to present the cloth to the King. When the King saw the image of Jesus, he was instantly cured of his leprosy and became a follower of Jesus.

A flame is frequently shown surrounding the head of Saint Jude because he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles at Pentecost.

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.

Today, Saint Jude is honored as the Patron Saint of hopeless cases. His Feast day, which he shares with Saint Simon, is October 2th, and his relics are enshrined in Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome.

“To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, Power, and authority from ages past, now, and fore ages to come. Ament” (Jude 24-25).