The Apostle Jude Thaddeus
One of the twelve apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. A cousin of the Saviour according to the flesh, son of Alphaeus (Cleophas) and Mary, a kinswoman of the Most Holy Mother of God. Brother of the apostle James the Less. In the Gospel he is remembered as the one who asked at the Last Supper: “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
ORIGIN AND CALLING
Saint Jude was born in Galilee, in the town of Cana. His father Alphaeus was a brother of Saint Joseph the Betrothed, and his mother Mary was a kinswoman of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Thus Jude was a close relative of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his youth Jude worked the land, like most Galileans. When the Lord Jesus Christ began to preach the Gospel, Jude left everything and followed Him. The Saviour chose him as one of the twelve apostles, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.
THE MISSION AFTER PENTECOST
After the descent of the Holy Spirit and the dispersion of the apostles throughout the world, Saint Jude preached the Gospel in Palestine, Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. According to an ancient tradition he also reached Edessa, where he healed King Abgar of leprosy — an episode that other sources attribute to Thaddeus of Edessa, one of the Seventy disciples.
In the course of his apostolic ministry, Saint Jude composed a catholic epistle, preserved in the canon of the New Testament. In this short but profound letter he warns the faithful against false teachers and exhorts them to hold fast to the faith handed down by the apostles.
THE MARTYRDOM
According to tradition, Saint Jude suffered martyrdom in Persia or Armenia together with the holy apostle Simon the Zealot, around the year 70. He was killed by pagan priests, beaten with clubs and struck on the head with an axe — from which comes his iconographic attribute: the axe or club.
The relics of the holy apostle Jude Thaddeus were later translated to Rome and laid in the Basilica of Saint Peter, where they rest to this day beside the relics of the holy apostle Simon.
PATRON OF DESPERATE CAUSES
Special veneration of Saint Jude as an intercessor in the most difficult cases arose in Europe as early as the Middle Ages, but reached its greatest spread in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, thanks to the graces obtained through his intercession.
Why Saint Jude in particular? Saint Bridget of Sweden and Saint Teresa of Ávila testified that in their revelations the Lord promised special care for the prayers of this apostle — precisely because many confused his name with that of Judas Iscariot and were ashamed to invoke him. The Lord wished to exalt this forgotten servant of His and granted him a special power to help in cases where no human hope remains.
Today Saint Jude Thaddeus is venerated throughout the world. People turn to him in the most desperate situations — grave illnesses, family troubles, financial crises, the loss of all hope. And the novena in his honour has for over a century remained the best-known form of prayer imploring his intercession.