Saint of the Day Online - Jude the Apostle

Saint of the day online, Saturday, October 28, 2017

Saint Name: St Jude the Apostle
Place: Galilee, Judaea, Roman Empire
Birth: 1st century AD
Death: 1st century AD
Feast: October 28
Shrine:Saint Peter's, Rome, Reims, Toulouse, France

St Jude, also known as Judas Thaddaeus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James, Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus.

He is sometimes identified with Jude, the brother of Jesus, but is clearly distinguished from Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus prior to his crucifixion. Judas Thaddaeus became known as Jude after early translators of the New Testament from Greek into English sought to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and subsequently abbreviated his forename. Most versions of the New Testament in languages other than English and French refer to Judas and Jude by the same name.

Biblical scholars agree St. Jude was a son of Clopas and his mother Mary was the Virgin Mary's cousin. 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.

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.

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 and could have been martyred with St. Simon in Persia.

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. Though Saint Gregory the Illuminator has been credited as the "Apostle to the Armenians," the Apostles Jude and Bartholomew are believed to have brought Christianity to Armenia, where Jude was rumored to have later been martyred.

There is some debate about where Jude died, though most Biblical scholars agree he was martyred. He is believed to have been martyred either in Armenia or Beirut. Following his death, St. Jude's body was brought to Rome and left in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica. Today his bones can be found in the left transept of St. Peter's Basilica under the main altar of St. Joseph in a tomb he shares with the remains of the apostle Simon the Zealot.
Pilgrims came to St. Jude's grave to pray and many reported a powerful intercession, leading to the title, "The Saint for the Hopeless and the Despaired." Two Saints, St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Bernard, had visions from God asking them to accept St. Jude as "The Patron Saint of the Impossible."

Roman Catholics invoke St. Jude when 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.

The Chicago Police Department and Clube de Regatas do Flamengo - the Rio de Janeiro soccer team - have made Saint Jude their patron saint and there are several hospitals who have also accepted him as their patron saint, including the well-known children's hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

There have also been several sites across the world dedicated to the Apostle Jude, including shrines and churches. The National Shrine of Saint Jude was founded in 1955 and can be found in England.

There are two mentions of Jude in the New Testament: Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13.

When Jude was mentioned in the Bible, it was often in relation to James (Jude of James) which is traditionally interpreted to mean "Jude, brother of James" as in the King James version of Luke 6:16; however, "Jude, son of James" appears in Protestant translations such as the NIV, NIRV, and the New King James Version. The same discrepancy occurs in Acts 1:13.