Also called St. Jude novena, novena to St. Jude Thaddeus, San Judas Tadeo novena, thanksgiving novena to St. Jude
Nine days of prayer asking Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Catholic patron of hopeless and difficult causes, to intercede in a desperate situation, traditionally ending with a public thank-you when the prayer is answered.
TraditionRoman Catholic popular devotion
RegionUnited States, Mexico, worldwide
Era20th century to present (devotion revived from the 19th century)
Moon◐ Any moon
DayAny
ElementSpirit
Difficulty●○○ Simple
Time10 to 15 minutes a day for nine days
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
The working
Choose nine days in a row. Many people time the novena to end on Jude's feast, October 28, but any nine days will do.
Set his image somewhere quiet and light the candle if you are using one. Never leave a flame burning when you leave the room.
Begin with the Sign of the Cross and state your intention plainly, in your own words: the problem, and the help you are asking for.
Read the Saint Jude novena prayer from your card or shrine leaflet, asking him to intercede with God in this difficult case.
Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be. Many printed versions ask for three of each.
Repeat the same prayer at about the same time each day for all nine days. If you miss a day, most priests will tell you to simply carry on.
When help comes, give thanks publicly, as the tradition asks: a note in a newspaper or parish bulletin, a story sent to a shrine, or telling others about Saint Jude.
Take care: Keep candles in a glass holder on a heat-proof surface and never leave them burning unattended. A novena is a prayer, not a guarantee; keep seeking practical, medical or legal help alongside it.
Versions across time and place
i
The newspaper thanksgiving novena
Catholic North America and Britain · 20th century to present
Short printed versions of the novena end with the line that publication must be promised. Devotees who feel their prayer was answered pay for a small classified notice thanking Saint Jude, sometimes printing the prayer and signing only with initials. These notices still appear in local papers and spread the prayer to new readers.
Recorded in: Classified notices such as those in the Bangor Daily News; Robert A. Orsi, Thank You, St. Jude (Yale, 1996)
ii
The Solemn Novena at the National Shrine, Chicago
Claretian missionaries, South Chicago · 1929 onward
Claretian priest Fr. James Tort began public devotions at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for steelworker families facing hard times, holding the first Solemn Novena on February 17, 1929. The novena that ended on October 28 that year drew more than a thousand people who stood outside. The devotion spread across the United States through the Depression and the Second World War.
Recorded in: National Shrine of St. Jude, History of the Shrine
iii
San Judas Tadeo on the 28th
Mexican popular Catholicism · Present day
In Mexico City the church of San Hipólito fills with devotees on the 28th of every month, and above all on October 28. Many carry their own statues of San Judas to be blessed, and those whose prayers were answered keep their promises by handing out sweets, bracelets or small gifts to other pilgrims.
Recorded in: Reporting and ethnographic studies of San Hipólito church, Mexico City
History
Jude, also called Thaddeus, was one of the twelve apostles. Medieval devotion to him was strongest in Armenia, where the Dominicans who arrived after 1216 found Catholics and Orthodox Christians already honoring him. Because his name sounded like that of Judas Iscariot, Western Catholics long prayed to him less often, and a popular explanation holds that this made him the saint of last resort, the one you turn to when everything else has failed.
His modern fame grew in Italy and Spain in the 19th century, then reached the Americas. The Claretians founded the National Shrine of Saint Jude in Chicago in 1929, and the devotion spread among working families during the Depression. Historian Robert Orsi studied the women who prayed at the shrine in Thank You, St. Jude (1996). The entertainer Danny Thomas credited Saint Jude in his career and founded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis in 1962.
Sources
Thank You, St. Jude: Women's Devotion to the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes · Robert A. Orsi, 1996
