St. Jude Thaddeus the Apostle: His Life, Family and Travels
A man of several names
When the Gospels list the twelve apostles, Jude does not always go by the same name. Saint Luke calls him "Jude of James" (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). Saint Matthew and Saint Mark call him Thaddeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18). Saint John, to make sure no one confuses him with the betrayer, calls him "Judas, not the Iscariot" (John 14:22). The Church has always understood these to be one man, Saint Jude Thaddeus.
It is hard to imagine carrying the same name as Judas Iscariot. For centuries, it seems, many Christians simply passed him over. Perhaps that is part of why he is so close to the forgotten and the overlooked.
What does Thaddeus mean? No one is quite sure. Pope Benedict XVI noted that it may come from an Aramaic word for "breast," suggesting someone big hearted or magnanimous, or it may be a shortened form of a Greek name like Theodore, "gift of God." Either way, it suits him.
Family of the Lord
Saint Mark records that the people of Nazareth named "James and Joseph and Jude and Simon" among the "brethren" of Jesus (Mark 6:3), a word that in that time and place meant close kin. Tradition holds that Jude was a son of Clopas and of Mary of Clopas, the same Mary who stood at the foot of the cross (John 19:25). That would make him our Lord's cousin. The early historian Hegesippus, preserved by Eusebius, tells of the grandsons of Jude, "the brother of the Lord," who were hauled before the Emperor Domitian, showed him their calloused hands and were sent home as simple farmers.
The question at the Last Supper
Jude speaks only once in the Gospels. At the Last Supper he asked, "Lord, how is it, that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world?" And Jesus answered, "If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him" (John 14:22-23). More on this moment.
Carrying the Gospel (tradition)
After Pentecost, tradition says Jude went out to Judea, Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia, often traveling with Saint Simon the Zealot, which is why the two apostles share a feast day. An old story also ties him to King Abgar of Edessa, who was healed and brought to the faith, and to an image of our Lord's face. That is why Jude is so often shown holding a medallion bearing the face of Christ.
Back to Jerusalem (tradition)
In the year 62, Saint James the Less, the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and Jude's own brother, was martyred. The historian Eusebius records that the apostles and the relatives of the Lord who were still living gathered to choose his successor, and they chose Simeon, another son of Clopas. Tradition places Jude among them, returning from his travels to stand with his family and his Church.
Remembered in Armenia
The Armenian people honor Saint Thaddeus, together with Saint Bartholomew, as the first apostles to bring them the faith. Some Eastern accounts place Jude's martyrdom there, near Mount Ararat, in lands that were then part of the Persian world. An ancient monastery bearing his name still stands in northwestern Iran. More on devotion around the world.
His martyrdom (tradition)
Like nearly all of the apostles, Jude gave his life for Christ. Tradition places his death in Persia around the year 65, killed with a club or an axe, which you will often see in his statues and holy cards. His relics were later brought to Rome, and today they rest in Saint Peter's Basilica beneath an altar in the left transept, together with the relics of Saint Simon.