St. Jude Thaddeus of Mendiola - The Hope of Desperate cases
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| St. Jude Thaddeus of Mendiola, Manila |
St. Jude Thaddeus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and apparently his cousin, who was invoked as the Advocate for desperate cases, next to St. Rita of Cascia of the Augustinian Order. His intercession is sought after by his devotees over the years from students of different universities to people from different professions and they keep the Thursday novena practice by heart for they attest for the miracles that he wrought to his devotees that the devotion, though relatively new, was so popular over the years.
The image
The image of St. Jude Thaddeus that is venerated in the Shrine is that of the Disciple wearing a green and red robes, holding a parchment that alludes his Epistle in the New Testament and a club which by tradition, he was martyred by clubbing. Images of St. Jude often include a flame around his head, which represent his presence at Pentecost, when he accepted the Holy Spirit alongside the other apostles. Another attribute is St. Jude holding an image of Christ, in the Image of Edessa. The image is often decorated with flower offerings from sampaguita garlands, stems of roses and other flowers and petition and thanksgiving letters are also seen in his base which proves the numerous petitions that were answered through his intercession.
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| St. Jude Thaddeus |
St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Savior. Biblical scholars agree St. Jude was a son of Clopas and his mother Mary was the Virgin Mary's cousin.
Saint Jude is not the same person as Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Our Lord and despaired because of his great sin and lack of trust in God's mercy. St. Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world after His resurrection. For this reason, he was later called as "Jude Thaddeus" to avoid confusion with Judas Iscariot, the Traitor.
Little else is known of his life. Legend claims that he visited Beirut and Edessa and could have been martyred with St. Simon in Persia. Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.
He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. Though Saint Gregory the Illuminator has been credited as the "Apostle to the Armenians," the Apostles Jude and Bartholomew are believed to have brought Christianity to Armenia, where Jude was rumored to have later been martyred. There was a debate about where Jude died, though most Biblical scholars agree he was martyred. He is believed to have been martyred either in Armenia or Beirut.
Following his death, St. Jude's body was brought to Rome and left in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica. Today his bones can be found in the left transept of St. Peter's Basilica under the main altar of St. Joseph in a tomb he shares with the remains of the apostle Simon the Zealot.
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| St. Jude Thaddeus healing King Agbar with the Mandylion of Edessa |
His Feast day is celebrated every October 28, along with St. Simon the Zealot.
The Holy Mandylion of Edessa
St. Jude, in tradition was linked the famed According to tradition, King Abgar of Edessa wrote a letter to our Lord Jesus Christ, asking Christ to cure him, little did he know that Jesus was already ascended into heaven when he made his request.. King Abgar received an letter in reply from Jesus declining the invitation, but promising a future visit by St. Jude and he made a visit bringing with him the Holy Mandylion bearing the Holy Face of Jesus. He preached to the King and upon contacting the image of the Holy Face, King Agbar was healed and permitted St. Jude to preach and convert his people to Christianity.
The beginnings of the devotionThe weekly novena to St. Jude started in June 1959 in the Parish of the Holy Spirit, the former name of the Shrine which is initially intended for the Chinese community, and has been held every Thursday since then for several miracles were reported through his intercession. The devotion spread over the years and has become very popular in Metro Manila. Devotees come from far and wide including students, board examination reviewees, office workers, parish and others with all kinds of requests and seemingly hopeless problems.
Thursday is always a busy day, with preaching, confessions, and counselling forming an important part of the work. Masses and novenas are scheduled hourly throughout the day from early morning until evening. Huge crowds overflow the church into the church grounds every Thursday.
The Shrine
The current shrine in his honor was originally intended for the Chinese community in Manila. In 1954, Archbishop Rufino Cardinal Santos obtained from the Roman Consistorial Congregation to the faculty to erect three more parishes for the Chinese. One of these was St. Jude Parish.
On October 13, 1954, Father Provincial Hermann Kondring, SVD appointed Fr. Henry Windges, SVD as the first parish priest of the Espiritu Santo Chinese Parish, as the parish was known initially. In January 1955, the parish set up its first rectory by renting part of the premises of a former hospital (now St. Jude Catholic School) in San Miguel, Manila. The next month, Cardinal Santos made St. Jude Thaddeus the patron saint of the parish as proposed by Father Provincial Herman Kondring, SVD.
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| The National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus in Mendiola, Manila |
While remaining a personal parish for the Chinese and Chinese Filipinos, St. Jude Parish became also a territorial parish on June 20, 1986 and took overseas adjacent to the parish church composed of four barangays that were formerly under the jurisdiction of San Miguel Parish. With the popularity of the devotion to St. Jude to the Parish, the church was conferred the title of Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Jude on June 21, 1994.
During the term of Rev. Fr. Roland Aquino, SVD as parish priest and shrine rector, in February 2010, the shrine was elevated as national shrine through a decree of establishment issued by the CBCP President and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar. The elevation of the status of the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus into national shrine was unanimously approved by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) during its 100th plenary assembly on January 23 of the same year.
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| Devotees flocking the miraculous image of St. Jude Thaddeus |
The devotion to the Apostle and cousin of Our Lord Jesus continues to be strong and relevant up to this day. Thousands of devotees continue to flock his shrine everyday, especially on Thursdays from morning until the wee hours of the evening to ask for his assistance in one's desperate cause. Others who won't be able to visit his shrine organized Novenas in his honor to their own local parishes and chapels which only shows the strong impact of the devotion in out times.
In spite of all the advances that our society has made, we find themselves under incredible stress and have difficulty coping at one time or another. Increasingly, people are finding that technology and other man-made innovations are not truly capable to provide comfort and hope when it is truly needed. Probably this was the reason that the people turn to St. Jude Thaddeus when they feel the most helpless and alone. St. Jude has proven to be a true friend and a beacon of hope to those who call on him--always willing to help and seek help no matter how desperate the need. And in today's tumultuous times, we need him more than ever.
St. Jude Thaddeus, pray for us and for all who invoke thy aid!
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