Praying to Saint Jude

Saint Jude is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ; at times he is called Lebbaeaus, Judas Thaddeus or Jude of James. At times, he is associated with Jesus’ brother Jude but is clearly differentiated from Judas Iscariot, another disciple of Jesus who betrayed him.

Requesting petitions for the following:            

• Addictions.
• Helping get out of Jail.
• Feast: 28-Oct
• Day: Sunday
• Candle/Emblem: Red, white, and green. Medal and a staff
• Matters concerning: For impossible or hopeless cases, help against drug addictions, and to get out of jail.

Iconography of Saint jude

The traditional artists depict Saint Jude as carrying an image of Jesus Christ in his hand while holding the picture close to his chest, which is an image of  Edessa that was recorded in the apocryphal communication between Abgar and Jesus that was written ion  the Eusebius’ in a story that has been titled “History of ecclesiastica”. Further, Eusebius elaborates to us that the king of Edessa at the time named Abga had sent a letter to Jesus requesting him to offer him cure for his illness.

To send the letter, he used his messengers that were led by a man named Hannan who also used to overlook his archives, it is then said that the letter assured Jesus a safe refuge. This envoy is then said to have made a painting that was similar to Jesus appearance so that Abgar would be assured that they met him. Abgar the king then saw the image of Jesus imprinted on the cloth and was very happy, he placed it in palace.

After the crucifixion of Jesus, Saint Jude was sent to cure king Abgar by Apostle Thomas. On getting there Jude said prayers that miraculously healed the king.  This amazed the king and also improved his faith to a big extent that he and several other people in the palace got converted to Christianity.

Saint Jude is always depicted as having a flame on his forehead, this is believed to indication for his presence at the Pentecost, the time he is said to have received the Holy Spirit alongside the other apostles.

Veneration of Saint Jude

The Dominicans started their work in the current Armenia a short while after their establishment in 1216. At this time, it was quite challenging as most of the follower of the church in the raea had already become devoted to saint Jude through two main churches namely the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Christians.

The devotions were very steady until the 8th century when the ruler started persecuting Christians therefore forcing them to flee. The citizens of the area started getting devoted to Saint Jude in the 19th century, it started in Spain and Italy and spread rapidly to South America and the United States in the Chicago area, the spread was attributed to the Dominicans and Claretians.

Saint Jude has acquired fame and devotion to a great extent and many institutions have made him their patron saint, for instance the police department in the city of Chicago and a popular Brazilian club are just a few of those. In hospitals and clubs he is considered the patron saint especially by people in desperate situations, in Memphis, he is the patron saint of an hospital that deals with children research, this hospital has assisted several children from the time it was formed back in the year 1962.