Hey, Jude

December 4, 2001

A couple of times in my life I have come across dollar bills that had writing on them with respect to St. Jude.  The Dallas Morning News classified ads are filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of ads taken out in homage to St. Jude.

In my recent articles, I wrote about the cult of St. Germain (and the ascended Masters) and I wanted to see if this whole St. Jude thing was a cult as well.  St. Germain, as you may recall, could be traced to one of half a dozen persons canonized by the Roman Catholic church, but the St. Germain of the cult has no Biblical basis.

St. Jude, according to the Roman Catholic index of saints, is the Jude who authored the book of Jude in the New Testament.  This same Jude is also known as Thaddaeus, the brother of James the Lesser according to the Roman Catholic index.

(Jude 1:1 NIV)  Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:

As an apostle, Thaddaeus was listed this way in the Gospel of Matthew:

(Mat 10:2 KJV)  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;  (Mat 10:3 KJV) Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;  (Mat 10:4 KJV) Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Roman Catholic literature states that James and Thaddaeus (sons of Alphaeus) were first cousins to Jesus—that their mother and Jesus’ mother were cousins.  I cannot corroborate that in any non-Catholic text.

If this letter was indeed authored by the apostle Thaddaeus, then it is the only known record of him after the Gospels.  Even the Roman Catholic church admits to having very little information about Jude/Thaddaeus.  The earliest writings available are from the  second century and indicate that Jude had established a church in Libya. 

St. Paulinus, writing hundreds of years later, declared that Jude planted the faith in faraway Libya[i]

After which, he returned to Jerusalem to help his brother, James the Lesser:

According to Eusebius[ii], he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.[iii]

Roman Catholic tradition holds that Jude and Simeon ( his brother, James the Lesser) were martyred in Persia.

[Jude] and St. Simon suffered martyrdom at Suanis, a city of Persia, where they had gone as missionaries.[iv]

Other traditions about Jude include this one:

According to tradition, King Abagaro of Edessa, who suffered from leprosy, sent word to Jesus asking him to come and cure him. The King also sent an artist to return with a picture of Jesus. Impressed with his great faith, our Lord pressed His image on a cloth and gave it to Saint Jude to bring to the King and cure him.[v]  

The Roman Catholic index of saints describes Jude as the patron saint of desperate causes.  He is usually depicted as holding a picture of Jesus—usually as a pendant.

But how did Jude come to be the patron saint of “desperate causes?”

This most likely comes from the 14^th century Princess Bridget of Sweden:

Jesus inspired devotion to St. Jude when he directed St. Bridget of Sweden to turn to St. Jude with great faith and confidence. In accordance with his surname, Thaddeus (which means generous, courageous, kind), Our Lord said, "He will show himself most willing to give help."

I presume that this “message” from Jesus was either a vision or in prayer.  I cannot attest to the authenticity of the account.  I personally doubt that it was authentic.

Nonetheless, it is this account, and upon the context of the epistle of Jude, that the idea of enduring desperate causes arises.  The epistle of Jude stresses endurance through persecution.

Catholic prayers and prayer guides instruct the individual to pray to St. Jude for cases that seem hopeless and that:

…by praying to St. Jude, God can work incredible wonders in the lives of people who have felt the desperation and hopelessness that life sometimes throws our way.[vi]

Indeed, all of the classified ads and scribblings on dollar bills that I have seen advocate prayer to St. Jude.

Aside from my issues with prayer to saints, I would not say that devotion to St. Jude constitutes a cult.  Certainly not on the order of St. Germain and the ascended Masters.

The person of Jude is biblical and historical.  However, accounts of his life seem to be more tradition that fact.

As for prayer to saints, the whole idea of the holy of holies in the temple was that man could not approach God.  When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two, signifying that man could now approach God, but only through Jesus.

(John 14:6 KJV)  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I can only imagine that Jesus stressed “I” in this passage.  And if this is true, then Jesus himself is our only intercessor.  If we pray to saints are we assuming that Jesus is too busy to hear us personally?  Is it not Jesus that bore our sins?  Is Jesus not the Bridegroom?

The idea of praying to saints is most certainly a doctrinal issue.  I believe that prayer is a form of worship and should only be directed to God the father, Jesus the son, or the Holy Spirit.  Each of these is one in the same of God and only He is worthy of worship.

I believe that we can draw inspiration, encouragement and reassurance from the saints—both those canonized by the Roman Catholic Church and those whose lives demonstrate true devotion to God.  But my savior, healer, and king is Jesus.

Only Jesus.