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Prayer — Novenas

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Novena to St. Jude the Apostle

Our Favorite Novenas, 1897

The nine days before 28 October as an American manual gave them in 1897 — thirty years before the Claretian shrine made 'the saint of hopeless cases' a household name — with the litany and the prayer 'Glorious apostle, martyr and relative of Jesus'.

The Prayer
English · Original
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity, now and forever. Amen.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious and blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary.

St. Jude, pray for us, and for all who invoke thy aid.

LITANY OF ST. JUDE (for private devotion)
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ Jesus, hear us. Christ Jesus, graciously hear us.
St. Jude, relative of Jesus and Mary, pray for us.
St. Jude, while on earth deemed worthy to see Jesus and Mary and to enjoy their holy company, pray for us.
St. Jude, raised to the dignity of an apostle, pray for us.
St. Jude, who hadst the honour to behold thy divine Master humble Himself to wash thy feet, pray for us.
St. Jude, who at the Last Supper didst receive the Holy Eucharist from the hands of Jesus Christ, pray for us.
St. Jude, who after the profound grief which the death of thy beloved Master caused thee hadst the consolation to behold Him risen from the dead, and to assist at His glorious ascension, pray for us.
St. Jude, who wast filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst preach the Gospel in Persia, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst convert many peoples to the faith, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst perform wonderful miracles by the power of the Holy Ghost, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst restore an idolatrous king to life, both of soul and body, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst impose silence on demons and confound their oracles, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst foretell to a weak prince an honourable peace with his powerful enemy, pray for us.
St. Jude, who didst take from deadly serpents the power of injuring men, pray for us.
St. Jude, who, disregarding the threats of the impious, didst courageously preach the doctrines of our faith, pray for us.
St. Jude, who, tied to a cross and pierced with arrows, didst gloriously die for the love of thy divine Master, pray for us.
Blessed apostle, with confidence we invoke thee. (Three times.)
That by thy intercession both the priests and people of the Church may obtain an ardent zeal for the faith of Jesus Christ, we beseech thee, hear us.
That the Sovereign Pontiff and all Christian rulers may maintain that peace, union, and strength necessary to overcome their enemies, we beseech thee, hear us.
That all unbelievers and heathens may be converted to the true faith, we beseech thee, hear us.
That faith, hope, and charity may increase in our hearts, we beseech thee, hear us.
That we may be delivered from all evil thoughts and from all the snares of the devil, we beseech thee, hear us.
Vouchsafe to aid and protect all those who honour thee, we beseech thee, hear us.
Vouchsafe to preserve us from sin and from the occasions of sin, we beseech thee, hear us.
Vouchsafe to defend us at the hour of death, and from the fury of the devil and his evil spirits, we beseech thee, hear us.
Pray for us, that before death we may expiate all our sins by sincere repentance and the worthy reception of the holy sacraments, we beseech thee, hear us.
Pray for us, that we may appease the Divine Justice and obtain a favourable judgment, we beseech thee, hear us.
Pray for us, that we may be admitted into the company of the blessed, to rejoice in the presence of our God forever, we beseech thee, graciously hear us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.
St. Jude, pray for us, and for all who invoke thy aid.

PRAYER
Glorious apostle, martyr and relative of Jesus, St. Jude Thaddeus, who didst spread the true faith in the midst of the most barbarous and distant nations, who didst win to the obedience of Jesus Christ many tribes and peoples by the power of His holy word, grant, I beseech thee, that from this day I may renounce every sinful habit; that I may be preserved from all evil thoughts; that I may always obtain thy assistance, particularly in every affair of danger or difficulty (here name it); and that in the end I may safely reach that heavenly country where, with thee, I will adore the Most Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen.
When the Prayer is Said

19–27 October before the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude; in cases judged hopeless; on Thursdays at his shrines.

History & Background

Jude Thaddeus, the apostle who asked at the Last Supper why the Lord would show Himself to the disciples and not to the world (John 14:22), was for centuries the least invoked of the Twelve, because his name was so close to the traitor's. His modern fame as patron of desperate causes dates from the Claretians' National Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago, opened in 1929 in the first months of the Depression, and the prayers used there are under copyright. This novena is older: it is the form printed in Our Favorite Novenas in 1897, with a litany that rehearses the apostle's life from the washing of the feet to his death in Persia, 'tied to a cross and pierced with arrows'.

Nothing in it promises that the novena 'never fails'; that phrase, which appears on countless leaflets, has no standing, as the Novenas page of this site explains. The litany was 'for private devotion only', as all litanies outside the six approved for public use were.

A novena is nine consecutive days (or nine consecutive weeks of one fixed day) of the same prayer for the same intention; a day missed breaks it, and it is begun again. Confession and Communion during the nine days, or on the last, were the ordinary conditions for the plenary indulgence.

Related Saints
St. Jude Thaddeus
early 1st century – 1st century, traditionally Persia or Beirut
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