Their story
Jude, also called Thaddeus, was one of the Twelve whom Jesus chose. The Gospels tell us almost nothing about him. At the Last Supper he asks one question (John 14:22): why Jesus will show himself to the disciples “and not to the world.” Jesus answers that he and the Father will come and make their home with anyone who loves him and keeps his word.
Luke calls him “Judas of James” (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). The short Letter of Jude in the New Testament has traditionally been credited to him, though scholars debate whether it is the same Jude. Western tradition, followed by the Roman Martyrology (the Church's official list of saints for each day), says that he preached with the apostle Simon in Persia and that both were martyred there. That is why the Western Church keeps them together on October 28. The details of his travels and death come from later accounts and are not certain.
People want to follow Jude because he is the apostle who was nearly forgotten. For centuries he was rarely invoked. Then, the story goes, desperate people turned to him because he was neglected, and found him faithful. He stands for loyalty that does not need to be noticed.
Three things you might not know
He shares his feast day with St. Simon, his traditional missionary partner.
Entertainer Danny Thomas, broke and struggling, prayed to St. Jude in a Detroit church: “Show me my way in life, and I will build you a shrine.” That shrine became St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, opened in Memphis in 1962.
Art often shows him with a medallion of Jesus' face on his chest, linked to the legend of the Image of Edessa.
The novena
Nine days · one intention
A novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, modeled on the nine days the apostles and Mary prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost (Acts 1–2). Pray this each day:
Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor who delivered thy beloved Master into the hands of His enemies has caused thee to be forgotten by many, but the Church honors and invokes thee universally as the patron of hopeless cases, of things despaired of. Pray for me who am so miserable; make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolations and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly (here make your request), and that I may bless God with thee and all the elect forever. I promise thee, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and I will never cease to honor thee as my special and powerful patron, and to do all in my power to encourage devotion to thee. Amen.
