- "But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit."
- Jude 1:20
How many times have we prayed to Saint Jude Thaddeus for a special intercession? He is considered the saint of "desperate cases" and "lost causes."
Saint Jude is differentiated from Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus by adding Thaddeus after his name. He was the son of Cleophas who died a martyr, and Mary who stood at the foot of the cross and anointed Jesus' body after his death. Jude was the brother of Saint James the Lesser. He was the nephew of Mary and Joseph. Saint Jude may have been a fisherman. He was one of Jesus' apostles. Saint Jude wrote the epistle named for him. He preached in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia.
The tradition for his patronage of lost causes came from the confusion between him and Judas Iscariot for not understanding the difference between the two names, they didn't pray to Jude's help and devotion to him became something of a lost cause.
His name, Thaddeus, means sweetness or gentleness of character. He was beaten to death with a club and then beheaded postmortem in the 1st century. His relics are at Saint Peter's Basilica, and two towns in France.
PRAYER
St. Jude, glorious Apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many, but the true Church invokes you universally as the Patron of things despaired of; pray for me, that finally I may receive the consolations and the succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request), and that I may bless God with the Elect throughout Eternity. Amen.
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