Saints Simon and Jude
Apostles
- Feast Day
- October 28
- Life
- d. 65
- Born
- Galilee
Saints Simon and Jude are listed together at the end of the apostolic catalogues of Matthew (10:4), Mark (3:18), and Luke (6:15-16) and Acts (1:13). Simon is surnamed the Cananaean (from the Aramaic root for zealous) or, in Luke, the Zealot, distinguishing him both from Simon Peter and from Simon, the brother of the Lord. Jude (Judas Thaddaeus) is identified by Luke as son of James and addressed at the Last Supper in John 14:22, where he asks: Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?
Tradition, attested in the East by the Apostolic History of Pseudo-Abdias and in the West by the Roman Martyrology, holds that the two apostles together evangelized Mesopotamia and Persia, where they were martyred, Simon by being sawed in half (or by crucifixion) and Jude by being clubbed and beheaded. Their joint commemoration in the Roman Calendar reflects the early association of their cult in Rome at the basilica of Saint Peter, where their relics are preserved beneath the altar of Saint Joseph.
Saint Jude is widely venerated as patron of impossible or desperate causes, an attribution that arose in the Middle Ages, perhaps because the similarity of his name to that of the betrayer Judas Iscariot caused him to be invoked only when no other intercessor would seem to suffice. The Letter of Jude in the New Testament is traditionally attributed to him.
The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, kept in red as for apostles, completes the cycle of apostolic feasts in the Roman Calendar before the November feasts of All Saints and the apostle Saint Andrew. The two stand together for the apostolic foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20) and for the universality of the Gospel mission to the ends of the earth.
Patronages
impossible causes (Jude) · lost causes (Jude) · tanners (Simon)
From Saints Simon and Jude
"Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?"
Catholic Churches Named After Saints Simon and Jude
10 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saints Simon and Jude's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- Ss Simon and Jude — Ulshaw Bridge, ENG
- Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude — Phoenix, AZ
- Ss. Simon and Jude Catholic Church — Gillespie, IL
- SS. Simon and Jude — Bethlehem, PA
- Saints Simon and Jude Church — West Chester, PA
- Saints Simon and Jude — Flandreau, SD
- Sts. Simon and Jude — Blairsville, PA
- Sts. Simon and Jude — Huntington Beach, CA
- Saints Simon and Jude Church — Pittsburgh, PA
- Saints Simon And Jude — West Jefferson, OH
Sources