Luke 6:12-16

Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, spending the night in communion with God. At daybreak he called his disciples and selected twelve of them to be his apostles: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

Saint Simon the Zealot

This apostle, Saint Simon the Zealot, shares the feast with Saint Jude Thaddeus because it is believed both were sent to Persia where they were martyred for the faith in the first century. St. Simon was referred to as the Cananean in Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 and called the Zealot because of his great zeal in upholding the Jewish Law. (cf. Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13) Cananean means "Zelotes" in Greek and therefore gives credence to this concept. It was also necessary to give him a title to distinguish him from Saint Simon Peter who Jesus constantly addressed as Simon in Sacred Scripture. After the Council of Jerusalem after Jesus' Ascension, Simon went to Egypt where he preached the Gospel there and then on to Carthage, up into Spain where James had been and even into Britain. Sailing back through the Mediterranean he returned to Jerusalem where he joined Jude on missionary journeys east to Syria, Mesopotamia and into Persia which is today Iran. Historians report that he was sawed in half and left to the beasts to devour. He is often depicted in art holding the instrument of his martyrdom. Again the eastern church differs in the account of this apostle, where his feast is celebrated on May 10, maintaining he died peacefully at Edessa on October 28, but because of the nature of his mission and the people he was ministering to, it is highly unlikely he escaped the crown of martyrdom. This fact was confirmed by Church scholar and historian Saint Fortunatus, bishop of Poitier in the 6th Century.

Saint Jude

The saint known as the Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases, Saint Jude Thaddeus was a cousin of Jesus since he was the nephew of the Blessed Mother and her chaste spouse St. Joseph. Jude was also the brother of Saint James the Less, a fellow apostle as pointed out in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. In Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 Jude is called only Thaddeus. Yet they are both the same man. In fact, most likely Jude was a boyhood companion of Jesus, for his and James' father was Cleophas who died a martyr and whose wife was Mary of Cleophas, who stood at the foot of the cross (Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40).
Both Jude and James left everything behind to follow Jesus, so taken were they with their childhood Friend Who had planted the seeds of a lasting vocation to follow Him. After the Council of Jerusalem, he left for Edessa where tradition tells that he healed the king of Edessa of leprosy by holding up a shield of Christ and proclaiming the Name of Jesus over the pagan ruler. Jude was instilled with special gifts of the Holy Spirit including ordering the demons to leave the pagan idols in many of the temples he visited.

Once they were gone, the idol images toppled to the ground, smashing in pieces. It was a sign to all that Jude's God was the One True God. It is believed Jude returned to Jerusalem and then returned to Syria with Saint Simon. While it is believed Simon died in the city of Suanis, Persia, some believe Jude suffered martyrdom in Beirut which is today Lebanon. Jude wrote his Epistle warning Christian converts of the dangers of heresy and immorality some time between 62 and 67 A.D. after the death of his blood brother St. James who had been the Bishop of Jerusalem and before the death of Saint Peter, for Peter referred toJude's Epistle in his own Second Epistle (2 Peter 2:6, 10-18; 3:2-3). Some accounts relate Jude was crucified on the cross as an example to all, but most hold to the tradition that he was clubbed to death and beheaded. He is often depicted holding the face of Jesus and a club, the instrument of his martyrdom. In some illustrations a flame protrudes from his forward representing the power of the Holy Spirit.




Prayer to Saint Jude



Glorious Saint Jude Thaddeus, by those sublime  privileges with which you were adorned in your  lifetime, namely, your relationship with our Lord  Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and your  vocation to be an Apostle, and by that glory  which now is yours in Heaven as the reward of  your apostolic labors and your martyrdom, obtain  for me from the Giver of every good and perfect  gift all the graces of which I stand in need:  (Mention your request here)    



May I treasure up in my heart the divinely  inspired doctrines that you have given us in your  Epistle: to build my edifice of holiness upon our  most holy faith, by praying for the grace of the  Holy Spirit- to keep myself in the love of God,  looking for the mercy of Jesus Chri unto eternal  fife; to strive by all means to help those who go astray.  May I thus praise the glory and majesty, the  dominion and power of Him Who is able to keep  me without sin and to present me spotless with  great joy at the coming of our Divine Savior, the  Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Consecration to Saint Jude



Saint Jude, Apostle of Christ and glorious  martyr, I desire to honor you with a special  devotion. I choose you as my patron and  protector. To you I entrust my soul and my body,  all my spiritual and temporal interests, as well as  those of my family. To you I consecrate my mind  so that in all things it may be enlightened by faith;  my heart so that you may keep it pure and fill it  with love for Jesus and Mary; my will so that,  like yours, it may always be one with the Will of God.



I beg you to help me to master my evil  inclinations and temptations and to avoid all  occasions of sin. Obtain for me the grace of  never offending God, of fulfilling faithfully all the  duties of my state of life, and of practicing all  those virtues that are needful for my salvation.  Pray for me, my holy patron and helper, so that,  being inspired by your example and assisted by  your prayers, I may live a holy life, die a happy  death, and attain to the glory of Heaven, there to  love and thank God forever. Amen.