Saint Jude Thaddeus: The Gospel tells us that St. Jude was a brother of St. James the Less, also one of the Apostles. They are described in the Gospel of Matthew as the “brethren” of Jesus, probably cousins. St. Jude is sometimes confused with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, St. Jude traveled throughout Mesopotamia, Libya, and Persia with Saint Simon…… preaching and building up the foundations of the early Church. St. Jude died a martyr’s death for his unwavering faith.
After his martyrdom, the body of St. Jude was buried temporarily in Mesopotamia and then taken to Rome where he was interred in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome with the other Apostles. His forearm was incasesd in a silver reliquary for many centuries was located in Armenia. At the beginning of the 18th century, Armenian Dominican Missionaries left Armenia because of the Moslem persecution and brought the relic to Smyrna, Turkey. After another round of persecutions, the relic was given to the Dominicans in Turin, Italy.
In 1949, the Dominican Province of St. Peter Martyr in Turin presented the relic to the Dominican Shrine of Saint Jude in Chicago, Illinois on the 20th anniversary of their Shrine’s dedication to St. Jude, where it is on permanent display. It is reportedly the largest relic of an Apostle located outside of Europe.
Here is an interesting article from Chicago Catholic newspaper about the custodian of the relic. The picture on our site is from that article. Photo credit: Karen Callaway, Archdiocese of Chicago.
From time to time the relic is taken on tour for special events like Solemn Novenas, healing, and prayer services across the United States.
Such is the case in 2023, when the arm will be available for veneration in the U.S.A. from September 9 through November 6 in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and possibly more to be added. You can find the tour schedule here.
Note: there are two shrines to Saint Jude in Chicago…the other one is the National Shrine of Saint Jude.
