Celebrate the Feast of St Jude Thaddeus on October 28.
St Jude Thaddeus
He is one of the twelve apostles, the primary disciples of Jesus who worked as missionaries to spread the gospel around the world.
St Jude was born in Galilee, Judaea under the Roman Empire. In some Catholic traditions, he is the brother of Jesus.
In Leonardo Da Vinci’s legendary painting The Last Supper, St Jude Thaddeus is the second from the right.
According to tradition St Jude was at the Pentecost (the Jewish harvest festival Shavout, the Feast of Weeks), the fiftieth day after Easter when the apostles and other followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit. Some consider this moment to be the beginning of the Christian church.
St Jude was martyred in Syria with the apostle Simon the Zealot with an ax. That is why St Jude is often depicted with an ax.
After his death, St Jude’s bones were entombed in the left transept of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Other traditions put his final resting place in Armenia.
St Jude Thaddeus in New York City
New York City has a hospital and a shrine dedicated to St Jude.
St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
220 East 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
(between Second & Third Ave)
Murray Hill, Manhattan
The Hospital is named for St Jude Thaddeus.
Dominican Shrine of Saint Jude
There is a shrine of St Jude in the Saint Catherine of Siena Church.
Saint Catherine of Siena Church and Priory
414 East 82nd St, New York, NY 10028
(between First Avenue and York)
Upper East Side, Manhattan
A Personal Testimony
I respect that this may or may not make any sense, but this is my story.
Faith is believing in what you can’t see. Occasionally in life, things happen that are miraculous. It is hard to deny your own experience.
Once upon a time, I loved a woman like I never loved anyone in my life. We had broken up and my lost love broke me too. My love refused to speak to me or see me, and spoke badly of me to all who knew us.
Talking with a friend about the impossibility of us getting back together, my friend suggested that I pray to St Jude Thaddeus, the Catholic saint of desperate situations or lost causes.
She explained that being confused with Judas Iscariot, fewer people pray to St Jude Thaddeus. Being less busy, St Jude is willing and able to help in situations that seem impossible.
I wasn’t raised in this tradition, but in August I began to pray anyway. Much to my surprise, in early October my love agreed to see me one last time to say goodbye forever.
The day of our goodbyes was a cloudy and chilly day. While sitting in a restaurant on the lake in Central Park, suddenly the sun came out and our song came on the radio.
We were both surprised, but understood the meaning of the moment. She asked if I knew what she was thinking. I answered that I did. From there, we slowly renewed our love and eventually got back together.
I never expected that, but it happened. I understand that it sounds completely irrational, but God is my witness.
In gratitude, I pray to St Jude every day. This story is my testimony. I will never forget how St Jude helped me in a moment when all seemed lost.
The complement to the story is, “be careful what you wish for.”