Thursday, November 1, 2007

'Lost Causes' Super-Hero

Cause Way Thursday
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St. Jude is the Patron Saint of lost causes. His feast day is October 28 , and would normally have been celebrated 4 days ago - but it was a Sunday this year.

St. Jude is best known as one of the twelve Apostles of Christ and for The Epistle of Jude, the second to last book in the New Testament (See Jude). He spent a lot of time travelling and preaching the Christian Gospel to the non-believers in Judea, Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. We don't know for certain where or how he was martyred, but legend has it that he was clubbed to death in Armenia (then part of Persia).

St. Jude is one of the apostles who received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. His body is currently in crypt in St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome.
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Danny Thomas (January 6, 1912 - February 6, 1991) was an American nightclub comedianactor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy. Known as a generous philanthropist, Thomas founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962. The hospital has treated thousands of children for childhood cancers. In 1996, two of its researchers won the Nobel Prize for medicine for their research on the immune system of children. Danny Thomas and his wife (who died in 2000) are interred in a crypt in a mausoleum on the grounds of the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

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PRAYERS TO ST. JUDE

Special Request
S
t. Jude, glorious apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many. But the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of difficult and desperate cases. Pray for me who am so miserable. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege accorded to you to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly -- (here make your request) -- and that I may praise God with you and all the elect throughout all eternity.


I
promise you, 0 blessed JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor. I will honor you as my special and powerful patron and encourage devotion to you.

S
t. Jude, pray for us and for all who honor and invoke your aid.

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P
rayer in Marital Difficulty

S
aint Jude, we have problems with our marriage. Beg Almighty God to give us the light to see ourselves and each other as we really are. Help us to grow daily in self-knowledge and mutual love, while at the same time developing our potential to love and be loved. Help us, Saint Jude, to see and root out every manifestation of selfishness and childish self seeking -- those hidden enemies of love and maturity. Thus learning to love and being filled with love, we may complement each other the remaining days of married life.

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P
rayer of an Alcoholic

Saint Jude help me in this sickness which is spiritual, psychological and physical. Strengthen my weak faith, no matter what may befall me. Teach me to be patient and serene in the midst of troubles. Saint Jude, help me so that nothing will upset me or weaken my determination to stay sober and abstain from alcoholic drink.

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P
rayer in Mental Sickness

C
ompassionate Saint Jude, you have restored health and soundness of mind to so many through the Power of God, see me -- (or here mention the person afflicted) -- in this suffering. Confident of your powerful intercession, I beg you to ask Jesus, the merciful Healer of the sick to restore me -- (name of person) -- that helped by His love I -- (he, she) -- may experience once more that great gift of mental health.

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P
rayer in Financial Need

S
aint Jude, assist us in our present financial worry. Since these difficult financial circumstances have come into our lives, we are in dire want and economic embarrassment, being unable to meet our honest debts. Saint Jude, you know only too well, we are not asking for wealth, if the possession of it is not in accordance with the holy will of God. We beg you only for that immediate assistance which will enable us to meet and satisfy our pressing obligations. We plead with you, Dear Jude, to obtain for us the financial assistance we so urgently need in our present financial difficulty.

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P
rayer in Physical Sickness

S
aint Jude, I have not the strength to pray as I ought. Nothing is able to give me any relief. My courage is faltering, impatience and loneliness are clouding my mind and my heart. Obtain for me, Saint Jude, the courage and resignation to accept all these trials from the hand of God with faith and patience. If it is for the good of my soul, grant that I may recover my former health so that I may be of assistance to others.

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P
rayer for a Drug Addict

D
ear Saint Jude, drug addiction has caused a terrible upset in my family. The victim of this self-inflicted sickness has lost all sense of true reality - the reality of love as well as the reality of life. Beg Almighty God to make this addict aware that true euphoria can only be found in heaven and not with chemical dependence.

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P
rayer at the Death of a Loved One

S
aint Jude, you know the loneliness of my heart since God took (name of person) to his eternal reward. Make me realize taking (name of person) from me was not for my harm,but that I might look for (him/her ) always in your presence.

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P
rayer for a Happy Death

O
h, my Lord and Saviour, support me in that hour in the strong arms of Your Sacraments, and by the fresh fragrance of Your consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me, and Your own Body be my food, and Your Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet Mother Mary breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and my glorious Saints ... smile upon me; that in them all and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverance, and die, as I desire to live, in Your faith, in Your Church, in Your service, and in Your love. Amen. --
Cardinal Newman

M
ay he support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done! Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last! --
Cardinal Newman
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P
rayer for Thanksgiving

(To be said when a favor has been granted)

O Most sweet Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the unutterable heavenly praise with which the Most Holy Trinity extols Itself and which flows upon Your Sacred Humanity, upon Mary, upon all the angels and saints, I praise, glorify and bless You for all the graces and privileges You have bestowed upon your chosen apostle and intimate friend, Jude Thaddeus. I pray You for the sake of his merits, grant me Your grace, and through his intercession come to my aid in all my needs, but especially at the hour of my death deign to strengthen me against the rage of my enemies. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, three times.
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E
ven if you're not a regular intercessor, when you get down and out you're probably willing to ask anybody you can think of for help. Here's one to whom you can definitely turn: St Jude - patron of lost causes.

Go ahead ... talk to him - what have you got to lose.
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3 comments:

Adrienne said...

My friend in St. Paul, MN, just mentioned St. Jude this morning in an email. I will be sure and send her here.

My Mother was also a big St. Jude fan. Thanks, too, for the wonderful prayers.

Off to Mass (morning and evening, today)

Fr. V said...

I was not aware of all of these prayers. Thanks Uncle Jim.

A few Clevelanders said to say hi!

uncle jim said...

Likewise, I was not familiar with all these prayers - what would we do without the www?

"Hi!" back at y'all.

I've heard from a few of them already. We're looking forward to the next trip through.

Last weekend we were there in Cleveland. This weekend I'll be in Memphis TN for a nephew's transitional diaconate ordination. Oh Happy day.