IN desperate circumstances, the faithful have always turned to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes. An Apostle and martyr, this powerful saint is invoked in cases of extreme need, illness, poverty and when circumstances seem hopeless. Devotees claim that St. Jude has obtained remedies and comfort, as well as answers to their prayers.
For many Filipinos, St. Jude has always been a part of their lives. The proof is the large following the saint has in Manila, where the shrine is located.
In San Francisco, St. Jude’s Shrine is housed at St. Dominic’s Church. Fr. Martin Walsh, OP, outgoing Director, noted that when St. Dominic’s Church was dedicated in 1928, it was the Filipino National Church of San Francisco.
“It happened by kind of coincidence,” said Fr. Walsh. “In 1922, there was a small Filipino community here in San Francisco, and those days were very difficult for Filipinos—there was discrimination and all sorts of things—and a delegation came to St. Dominic.” So in July 1922 Dolores del Rosario brought to the attention of the Fathers at St. Dominic’s the spiritual needs of the Filipino Catholics in San Francisco. Since then, the church has been home to many Filipino religious organizations, clergies and devotees.
Last year, the St. Jude Shrine Apostolate marked its 75th year, which was founded in October 1935.
“He (St. Jude) has certainly worked miracles going back to the time of Jesus,” said Fr. Walsh. Eusebius, an early Christian historian, wrote about how King Agbar of Edessa, afflicted with an incurable disease, sent a messenger to Jesus asking to be cured. After Jesus’ ascencion, Thaddeus, namely Addai and also called Thaddeus of Edessa, was sent and carried an image of Jesus. King Agbar was cured when St. Jude arrived in Edessa and preached the Gospel through that area.
St. Jude’s miracle has been written in early history by Eusebius in the 300s in many traditions in Edessa, Armenia, Iraq and Turkey. The Saint’s body was brought to Edessa, which was for many years, was the Shrine of St. Jude. Just before the Moslem invasion in the 700s, the body was removed to Constantinople. But when the Moslems arrived, they believed that St. Jude was still buried under the Church. So the Church was converted to a mosque. Still, centuries after, many Christians venerate the place as St. Jude’s Church and Shrine.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Liz Trotta wrote in her book, Jude: A Pilgrimage to the Saint of Last Resort, about the fall of Edessa to its Islamic conquerors, which was renamed Urfa.
“Five centuries after Edessa’s fall, Islam owned the East. Public displays of the Cross were banned. Church bells were silenced. Edessa passed to new Islamic conquerors, the Turks who would change its name to Urfa and fold the former jewel of the Christian Church into the Ottoman Empire.”
The story of St. Jude is a long and interesting one, and for those who pray to him, it is suggested that one read through his life and miracles.
Stedman Matthew, Chief Administrative Officer of the Shrine, shares that devotees write them about their prayers being answered by St. Jude. With 12,000 members in their mailing list from all over the world, Matthew explains that most of the members are from the United States. And with the current global economic crisis, the number of people who turn to St. Jude has probably risen.
Although Matthew agrees to this observation, he also however gives another view about it. “He’s always there in the back of people’s minds,” he said. “Whether or not you’re a Catholic, you know about St. Jude. I have friends who do not go to Church, and they know of St. Jude.”
The first St. Jude Shrine was in Chicago, and somehow during the Depression, the Dominican friars here expressed that they also wanted a shrine in San Francisco.
Through the years, we would see newspaper advertisements with “Thank You, St. Jude” notices. These were expressions of gratitude, messages of faith and devotion, and sometimes, testimonies of prayers answered.
However, we should understand how one should pray to St. Jude. Fr. Tommy Hayes, OP wrote, “There is a mistake that is sometimes made in our prayer of petition and that is to confuse or distort the reason why we pray incessantly and repeatedly. Repetition is good, if it is properly understood and practiced. But to repeat without necessity, without reason, and without understanding is a distraction, indeed a perversion of prayer.”
In these trying times, we try to look for hope and more often than not, our faith will be tested. A devotion to St. Jude does not necessarily mean being given what you are asking for, but it is an opportunity to strengthen one’s faith.
St. Jude’s Feast Day is observed every October 28th. The Shrine and Relic can be found at St. Dominic’s Church, 2390 Bush St., San Francisco. St. Jude Masses are from Monday to Friday, 5:30pm (English) and Sunday 1:30pm (Spanish). The Blessing with St. Jude Relic is after the 5:30pm St. Jude weekday Masses.
For more information and/or donations to the St. Jude Shrine, log on to www.stjude-shrine.org.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Northern California Mar 4-10, 2011 SF Magazine pg. 2)
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