Saint Jude

There is a group of saints that I hold in high regard and Saint Jude is definitely among them. He is the "Patron of Desperate Cases" and his feast day is celebrated on October 28th. As you read about him he is referred as Jude or Thaddeus but his name is Jude Thaddeus. An interesting fact about Jude is he is a cousin of Jesus who chose to lead a missionary life. Once again proving that God's choice in placing Jesus in Mary and Joseph's family was a wise decision. One of Saint Jude's contributions was the General Epistle of Jude in the Holy Bible.
Jude was a nephew to Mary and Joseph, cousin to Jesus. His father was Cleophas and he died as a martyr. His mother was called Mary, one of the other Mary's of the bible. This particular Mary was present when Jesus died at the cross and she was one of the women who anointed the body of Jesus afterwards. Jude's brother was one of the apostles called James the Less.Now during Jude's early years he must have known Jesus well since later on in his life he left all to be able to follow Jesus. I think its wonderful how his entire family was so involved in the faith.
After the resurrection it is believed that he became a traveling missionary sharing the Gospel all over Palestine and beyond. Saint Jude was given special powers by God. An example of this is how he cured the King of Edessa from leprosy in the name of Jesus. Another example is how he once ordered the devils in pagan idols to leave and the images fell to the ground breaking into pieces. Saint Jude and Saint Simon's last days were spent as missionaries preaching the Gospel in
in Persia. They suffered martyrdom there which consisted of having Saint Jude beaten to death with a club. His head was then severed fromhis body by an ax. Saint Jude's relics are commemorated in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.