Happy Feastday St Jude! (how often have I called on you)

St Jude the apostle and martyr is not, of course, to be confused with Judas Iscariot. He is the patron saint of impossible cases and a great saint to call on in times of dire need. He was a brother to James the Less and, hence, a cousin of Our Lord.
After the Ascension, he travelled throughout Mesopotamia carrying out Christ's mission of teaching and converting pagans to the Faith.
He was brutally clubbed to death and his head shattered by a large axe.

His broken body was eventually brought to Rome where it resides today in the crypt of St Peter's. He is usually depicted (as above) holding a club as the symbol of his martyrdom, an image of Our Blessed Lord and with a tongue of fire over his head in memory of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.


"But you, my dear friends, must use your holy faith as your foundation, and build on that, praying to the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves within  the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life. When there are some who have doubts, reassure them; when there are some to be saved from the fire, pull them out, but there are others to whom you must be kind with great caution, keeping your distance, even from outside clothing which is contaminated by vice.
Glory be to Him who can keep you from falling and bring you safe to His glorious presence, innocent and happy. To God, the only God who saved us through Jesus Christ our Lord, be the glory, authority, majesty and power  which He had before time began, now and forever. Amen.

(from the Epistle of St Jude)

NB: Also see the excellent thread on St Jude by Laurence England
on http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.com/