Who was St Jude?

Apostle and Martyr, First Century
Feast Day, with Saint Simon the Zealot as well as Jude, the Brother of the Lord: 28 October

Also known as Thaddeus, St Jude is one of the twelve apostles. Jude is generally thought to be the brother of another apostle, St James the Less, and the author of the Epistle of Jude in the New Testament.

Tradition has it that Jude preached the gospel with St Simon in Syria and Mesopotamia. He finally went to Persia where it is believed he was martyred with arrows or javelins, or on a cross.

There were communities who had Jude as their patron in the Middle Ages, but his popularity (and clear record of his history) suffered. The reason is simple enough: his name was too often confused with Judas Iscariot, Christ's betrayer. Because of this confusion, only the most desperate would pray that Jude intercede for them. Hence, by the nineteenth century, he had become popularly known as the Patron of Lost Causes or Desperate Situations.

The simple truth is that, because of this confusion with Iscariot, very little is now known for certain about Saint Jude. That being said, he is looked to as a powerful reminder of Christ's faithfulness to us in all things. Even in the most difficult circumstances that life can present, St Jude is seen as one who affirms for us that God is still present, still loving, still creating, still making all things new.

The boat, the symbol most often associated with St Jude, may also allude to his earlier life, or to Jude's voyages in his part in the mission of founding the early church. A ship is also a well-known symbol of the Christian Church; this is often reflected in obvious ways in church architecture.