St.
Jude Through History St. Jude was once the "forgotten" saint; his name almost lost in history. Today he is honoured with hospitals, schools, community groups, even golf tournaments- in any way that one could honour an individual, it would seem. He is said to be the intercessor for people in the most dire situations- the "Patron Saint of the Hopeless", with countless people crediting him with answered prayers. What happened? Who Was St. Jude? We know that they were relatives of Christ; "brother" or "brethren" used to describe the relationship between the them. Though it is remotely possible that it may mean that they were brothers or step-brothers in the literal sense, this word was used to represent any close relative, especially cousins. It is generally believed that his father, Cleophas and St. Joseph were brothers. Mary, his mother and Mary, mother of Jesus, were also closely related- possibly sisters, though is seems unlikely that two sisters would both be given the same name. As with "brethren" the designation of "sister" also represented a close relative. Thus, the two Marys may well have been cousins. Another, more controversial, possibility exists: that Sts. Jude, Simon, and James were the sons of a widowed St. Joseph. And that Mary became their step-mother. In this case, they truly were step-brothers of Jesus.
St. Jude's
Role In The Church St. Jude went on to preach in in Judea, Samaria, Ideumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. Many believe that he is the author of a letter to the Church of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. Some others feel that, though his name is attached to this epistle, he is not the actual author. In about A.D. 62 he returned to Jerusalem for the election of his brother, St. Simon, as the second Bishop of Jerusalem, succeeding St. James, as recorded in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History While in Armenia he was beaten unconscious and then beheaded by authorities who took exception to the progression of Christianity in that part of the world. His relics rest beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Devotion to St. Jude began sometime in the Middle Ages, when is not entirely certain. Indeed, he was almost forgotten. Quite possibly due to the undeserved connection with Judas Iscariot, he became the saint that people turned to when they had exhausted all others. Further, even in Scripture, St Jude always seems to be darting in and out of the Gospels, always in the background. There is another factor, my own theory. In the middle ages, the few Bibles in existence were owned by the Church or by the very wealthy. Frequently it was the only book a wealthy family could afford. Further, most people were illiterate. And unless they could read Latin, they could not read the Bible. Thus, St. Jude probably received very little attention, indeed. Then, early in the twentieth century, devotion to him began to snowball in to what we see today. Perhaps because it was a time of great despair, of wars, epidemics, and economic depression. Perhaps because the Bible was readily available in all the languages of the world and literacy rates were rising every day. I think that it may be combination of these factors.
Conclusions Can we draw any? The important points that we know to be true:
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