St. Jude of Thaddaeus, Patron of Desperate Cases

ST. JUDE PRAYER
St. Jude, glorious apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the person (who betrayed our Lord) 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, who is so miserable; pray for me, that I may finally receive the consolations and the succour of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (ADD YOUR PERSONAL REQUEST HERE), and that I may bless God with the Elect Throughout Eternity.

I was raised catholic by very liberal (religiously) parents - my father would go to church often but never made me go with him. I went to catholic high school and a catholic university. Yet I cannot make peace with the church as an institution.
My father's favorite saint - and of most of Brazil - is St. Jude and he even built a church for him in the little town where he was born and just moved back to.
Desperate causes.
In desperate moments, I find myself lighting a candle to St. Jude...

Memorial: 28 October (Roman Church); 19 June (Eastern Church)

Profile: Son of Cleophas, who died a martyr, and Mary who stood at the foot of the Cross, and who annointed Christ's body after death. Brother of Saint James the Lesser; nephew of Mary and Joseph; blood relative of Jesus Christ, and reported to look a lot like him. May have been a fisherman.

Writer of canonical letter. Preached in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia with Saint Simon. Healer. Exorcist. Could exorcise pagan idols, which caused the demons to flee and the statues to crumble.

His patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by many early Christians between Jude and Judas; not understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude's help, and devotion to him became something of a lost cause.

Died: beaten to death with a club, then beheaded post-mortem in 1st century Persia; relics at Saint Peter's, Rome, at Rheims, and at Toulouse, France

Patronage: desperate situations, forgotten causes, hospital workers, hospitals, impossible causes, lost causes, diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida

more information