One of the original disciples of Jesus and the brother of St. James the Less. He is name-checked a bit in the Gospels, and also wrote an Epistle. More significantly, Jude is one of the few saints to feature in a hymn by the Beatles.

To avoid confusion with fellow disciple Judas Iscariot, Jude was also known as Simon — which caused further confusion as there already was one. But everyone called him Thaddeus and they muddled through.

Jude is possibly the author of the last Epistle of the New Testament, a letter which (among other things) stresses the importance of coping under pressure in tough, horrible, harsh situations. Perhaps to prove his point, he went preaching in Armenia (which was under Persian rule at the time). A tough crowd. He became a martyr at a stroke. A stroke of an axe, that is.

Now he’s the patron saint of lost causes, hospitals, desperate situations and people in despair. If you are in dire straits or terrible trouble, we suggest you sing Hey Jude until things get better.

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Article last revised on April 07, 2019 by the Godchecker data dwarves.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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