St. Jude Thaddeus

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catholic4Christ
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Catholic4Christ

Guest
I will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this Easter, and as such I have been looking around for a fitting Saint whose name I would like to take. Today I was reading about St. Jude. Previously I knew little about him, besides apparently being an Apostle and the “patron saint of lost causes.” I learned a little more today, but have some questions for anyone who would like to help me out. Bear with me here…

It seems historically that this particular Jude (one of multiple Judes) was often identified with a St. Thaddeus (also not the only Thaddeus), though this amalgamation has never been a 100% certainty. Is there an “official” Catholic position on this, or is this an unofficial “tradition” (lower-case t)?

I have found out very little about St. Jude using the name Thaddeus beyond the differing lists of apostles in the Gospels. Are there any stories, legends, or beliefs about the saint in the “guise” of Thaddeus that I should know about before choosing him?

Is this Thaddeus the same as or distinct from Thaddeus of Edessa?

I plan on reading the Epistle of Jude for a good look into the saint’s mind. Is the traditional attribution of the Epistle of Jude to Jude Thaddeus accurate, questionable, or unlikely?

I have read differing opinions regarding Jude’s relationship to Christ and James the Just. Is there a Catholic position on this? Is St. Jude a “brother of the Lord?” (keep in mind that I am in no way questioning St. Mary’s perpetual virginity, I know about the word adelphos, I’ve taken a few years of Greek. I just want to know if St. Jude could be considered a “relative”)

If anything else is relevant, I sure would appreciate it! Thanks! 🙂
 
The St. Jude you are thinking of is traditionally known as St. Jude Thaddeus. This is to distiguish him from Judas Iscariot. Sometimes he is known only as St. Taddeo or St. Jude. He was an apostle, and a martyr. He was known as a cousin of Christ. In biblical times, many languages didn’t have a word for cousin, so he would have been called a “brother,” meaning close kin.

Believe me, if Jude was one of Jesus’ brothers, He would have left the care of The Blessed Mother to Jude, rather than to St. John (who may also have been a cousin).

St. Jude is a wonderful saint. I chose him to be my son’s patron and namesake.

Hope this helps.
 
Peggy_in_Burien said:
He was known as a cousin of Christ. In biblical times, many languages didn’t have a word for cousin, so he would have been called a “brother,” meaning close kin.

Believe me, if Jude was one of Jesus’ brothers, He would have left the care of The Blessed Mother to Jude, rather than to St. John (who may also have been a cousin).
Click to expand...
Believe me, no need to convince me about the multiple meanings of Jesus’ “brothers.” I was just trying to see whether Jude was a step-brother or cousin.

You say he was Christ’s cousin, so St. Jude is considered the son of the Blessed Virgin’s sister?
Peggy_in_Burien said:
St. Jude is a wonderful saint. I chose him to be my son’s patron and namesake.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
It does help, thanks a bunch! Besides being a good saint, I actually quite like the name itself. Good choice a good choice for your son’s namesake! 👍
 
Catholic4Christ said:
Believe me, no need to convince me about the multiple meanings of Jesus’ “brothers.” I was just trying to see whether Jude was a step-brother or cousin.

You say he was Christ’s cousin, so St. Jude is considered the son of the Blessed Virgin’s sister?

Could have been a son of one of St. Joseph’s brothers or sisters, too. One of the symbols in St. Jude’s iconology is a large “coin” with the profile of Jesus on it. Our good sisters told us that this was to show that he was “kin” to Jesus. The long stick he carries, I recently found out, represents the club that he was beaten to death with. I always thought it was a walking staff. He is usually in a green robe, and that represents that he was an apostle, along with the tounge of fire, representing the coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.

It does help, thanks a bunch! Besides being a good saint, I actually quite like the name itself. Good choice a good choice for your son’s namesake! 👍
Click to expand...
You’re welcome. I’m always happy to spred the news about St. Jude, he has been very special to me.
 
Jude, also known as Thaddeus was one of the twelve apostles. There is no difference in Greek or Aramaic between Jude and Judas and he was known as Thaddeus to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. It is not at all clear whether this is the same Jude as the one who wrote the Epistle.

The Epistles of Jude and James were written from the Church in Jerusalem before the fall of Jerusalem. This group were almost exclusively Jews and worshipped in the temple. They all described themselves as the “Brothers of the Lord”. Whether Jude was actually related to Jesus is not recorded. A possibility is that these Epistles were put together by the leaders of the Jerusalem Church and issued under the authority of the apostles Jude and James.

St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes (or hopeless cases). Only you can decide whether that’s appropriate in your case 😉
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top