National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus – Chicago, Il

National Shrine of St. Jude

Claretian Fr. James Tort founded the National Shrine of St. Jude in 1929 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Chicago.

Fr. Tort was pastor of the parish and had been sent there by the Claretians to organize the construction of the church for a parish in need of hope and support.

Many of his parishioners were laborers in the nearby steel mills, which were drastically cutting back their work forces in the late 1920s.

Fr. Tort had a strong devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hope and hopeless or difficult causes, who was relatively unknown to the general Catholic population at that time.

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Night after night, however, he asked St. Jude for his intercession to help the workers of the parish. In an effort to lift the spirits of his parishioners, Fr. Tort began regular devotions to St. Jude, including the first Solemn Novena which was held on February 17, 1929.

The congregation at Our Lady of Guadalupe showed such great response to the devotion to St. Jude that an overflow crowd attended services on the final night of a Solemn Novena that ended on the Feast of St. Jude, October 28, 1929. More than 1,000 people stood outside the church to hear the service.

Word of the devotions to St. Jude gradually spread from that tiny corner of Chicago to other parts of the country. During the Great Depression and World War II, thousands attended novenas at the National Shrine, and the devotion to the Patron of Hope grew throughout the country.

To this day, the Claretians maintain the National Shrine of St. Jude, which receives petitions of need and gratitude from thousands of St. Jude devotees each year. These special intentions are delivered to the altar of St. Jude at the National Shrine, where the Claretians remember them in their Masses and prayers.

The St. Jude League

The St. Jude League unites thousands of devotees in a community of prayer and hope. The League provides the path for petitions of need and gratitude to be delivered directly to the altar of St. Jude at the National Shrine each week. These petitions are remembered in the Masses and prayers of the Claretian Missionaries at the National Shrine.

The St. Jude League also provides members with materials for prayer and reflection that can help inspire and encourage their spiritual life. The League promotes the Solemn Novenas to St. Jude, which take place five times a year at the National Shrine, and many other opportunities for prayer.

The Story of Saint Jude Thaddeus

St. Jude is the Patron Saint of Hope and impossible causes and one of Jesus’ original twelve Apostles.

He preached the Gospel with great passion, often in the most difficult circumstances. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, he made profound differences in people’s lives as he offered them the Word of God.

Through his intercession to Jesus on our behalf, St. Jude takes us into his continuing care. He welcomes our prayers of gratitude to God, our petitions for strength and help, and offers hope for every intention.

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 traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand. This recalls one of his miracles during his work spreading the Word of God.

King Abagar of Edessa asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abagar’s great faith, Jesus pressed His face on a cloth, leaving the image of His face on it. He gave the cloth to St. Jude, who took the image to Abagar and cured him.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, St. Jude traveled throughout Mesopotamia, Libya, and Persia with St. Simon preaching and building up the foundations of the early Church.

St. Jude died a martyr’s death for his unwavering faith. His body was later brought to Rome and placed in a crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica.

After his death, many turned to St. Jude for his intercession in prayer. Jesus inspired the devotion to St. Jude for St. Bridget of Sweden when he directed her in a vision to turn to St. Jude with great faith and confidence.

In a vision, Christ told St. Bridget, “In accordance with his surname, Thaddeus, the amiable or loving, he will show himself most willing to give help.”

During the Middle Ages, St. Jude was widely venerated, but perhaps because of the confusion between his name and that of Judas Iscariot, he slipped into temporary obscurity.

In the early 20th century, St. Jude Thaddeus was relatively unknown to the general Catholic population in the US.

In 1929, the first devotional services to St. Jude were held by Claretian Fr. James Tort at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in southeast Chicago; before the year ended, the country’s only National Shrine of St. Jude would be firmly established.

Word of the devotions to St. Jude gradually spread from that tiny corner of Chicago to other parts of the country. During the Great Depression and World War II, thousands of men, women, and children attended novenas at the Shrine; devotion to the “patron saint of hopeless causes” spread throughout the country.

Today, millions of people around the world turn to St. Jude, the Patron of Hope, for his intercession and hope.