Feast Day: October 28
Patron
of Desperate Cases
St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus,
was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. 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. 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, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have
suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. The final conversion of
the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century of our era.
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. 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 is October 28. Saint Jude is not the same person as Judas Iscariot
who betrayed Our Lord and despaired because of his great sin and lack of trust in God's
mercy.
|
