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November 3, 2023By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
A relic of St. Jude the Apostle, on a nine-month U.S. pilgrimage, is scheduled to stop at one parish in the Worcester Diocese – Sacred Heart of Jesus in Webster.
During this month commemorating all saints and all souls, this relic of the “Apostle of the Impossible” is to be available for veneration in Sacred Heart Church from 1-9 p.m. Nov. 16, except during a 6 p.m. Mass in the saint’s honor.
The website apostleoftheimpossible.com says this is the first time the arm of St. Jude Thaddeus has left Italy. It is on a pilgrimage that began in September and concludes in May.
“One of the Church’s most beloved saints, Saint Jude is the one to whom people turn when they are desperate and have tried everything else,” the website says. “The arm of the saint … was separated from the greater portion of his remains several centuries ago and placed in a simple wooden reliquary carved in the shape of an upright arm in the gesture of imparting a blessing.”
St. Jude Thaddeus was the son of Mary of Cleophas, the Blessed Mother’s sister, who was at Jesus’ cross, the website says. He evangelized Judea, Mesopotamia and Persia, where he faced martyrdom.
Bringing the relic on this pilgrimage is Father Carlos Martins, director of the Vatican-sponsored Treasures of the Church ministry. He is a member of the Companions of the Cross, and is based in Detroit, Michigan.
“Treasures of the Church is a ministry of evangelization … to give people an experience of the living God through an encounter with the relics of his saints,” says the website treasuresofthechurch.com. “The veneration of relics is a communion with the heroes of our Christian faith, asking for their powerful intercession. Many people have reported outstanding blessings and conversions through this ministry, and many have reported healings. …
“The ministry travels throughout the world by invitation. To date, it has been hosted in over 200 dioceses in various countries.”
In an instruction for hosting the St. Jude relic, Father Martins says huge crowds usually attend such events.
Pilgrims can venerate the St. Jude relic, touching devotional objects and personal photos to the reliquary display case to produce third-class relics and to invoke St. Jude’s intercession, he explains. Those who venerate the relic and those who cannot come, if they meet certain conditions, can receive a plenary indulgence for themselves, a deceased person or the dead in general.
Pilgrims can also view catechetical banners and a painting of St. Jude, and buy religious items, including a St. Jude book and prayer card and a video about relics.
Proceeds of sales and collections fund the restoration of the shrine in Rome which houses the reliquary, and help with costs of conducting the tour, Father Martins said.
Asked how Sacred Heart found out about the relic’s pilgrimage, the pastor, Father Adam Reid, said, “I had originally seen it in the Free Press.” (The Sept. 15, 2023, edition of The Catholic Free Press included a story about this from the Our Sunday Visitor news service.)
“Not long after that I was reached out to by Father Carlos Martins,” Father Reid said. “He asked if I would be open to hosting the relic here.”
When Sacred Heart hosted Father Martins and a display of numerous relics in 2021, “that was extremely well received, one of the bigger events we had here,” Father Reid said.
He said that at that time he asked Father Martins to look at relics of the cross of Christ and of St. Anne, Jesus’ grandmother, found in a safe.
“These were in storage here for many years. … They were lost to recent history,” he said.
Asked if having the St. Jude relic come is exciting, Father Reid said, “Very much so.”
“This is part of our larger parish renewal effort,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for the parish [and any visitors] to be drawn closer to Christ through the apostle Jude.”
