St. Jude: Patron of Impossible Causes

Far left: St. Simon. Middle and right: St. Jude.

Today is the feast of the apostles Sts. Simon and Jude, who were among the twelve best friends of Jesus during His earthly ministry, and thus peculiarly suited as examples and intercessors for us in taking up our cross and following Christ.

St. Simon the Zealot, called so because of his enthusiasm (some traditions say he was also a member of the Zealot party of Jews), evangelized in Egypt and Mesopotamia after Jesus’s ascension and was martyred. I am going to focus more specifically on St. Jude Thaddeus, who is considered the Patron of Impossible Causes. Goodness knows there seem to be many “impossible” situations in our modern world which need heavenly intervention.

St. Jude or Judas Thaddeus was the son of Cleophas (see Luke 24, the Road to Emmaus) and the second Mary who stood at the foot of Jesus’s cross (John 19:25, “Mary of Cleophas”), and was thus a cousin of Jesus’s. Tradition says Jude even looked like his cousin Jesus. After Jesus’s Ascension, Jude wrote the Epistle of Jude included in the New Testament and preached the Gospel in Syria, Persia, and Mesopotamia with Simon. Jude was a healer, and also an exorcist, particularly of idols, from which he would drive the demons fooling pagan worshippers. Martyred by being clubbed and beheaded. Below is the explanation for the depictions of Jude wearing an image of Christ’s face:

This recalls one of his miracles during his work spreading the Word of God. King Abagar of Edessa asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abagar's great faith, Jesus pressed His face on a cloth, leaving the image of His face on it. He gave the cloth to St. Jude, who took the image to Abagar and cured him.

Jude became the patron of lost or impossible causes because his name, Judas, was the same as that of the traitor apostle Judas Iscariot, causing some early Christians to confuse the two and leave off praying for Jude’s intercession with God. Another reason for Jude’s patronage of lost causes is that his brief New Testament letter emphasizes perseverance in the face of temptations and lies. For instance: “These are murmurers, full of complaints, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaketh proud things, admiring persons for gain's sake. But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses.” (Jude 16-18)

As we look around at a world descending increasingly into chaos, war, and tyranny, we must rely on God as our salvation and pray for God’s intervention, including by asking for the prayers of God’s saints. Below is a prayer to St. Jude, part of the St. Jude Chaplet, through which we can ask for his intercession, because the “prayer of a just man availeth much” (James 5:16):

“Saint 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 I may receive the consolations and the succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly for ... [Mention your petitions now] … and that I may bless God with all the Saints throughout eternity. Amen.”

Sts. Simon and Jude, pray for us!