Desperation -- and St. Jude

If you've been following these moodlings for a while, you'll know that I have lots of struggles with the Catholic church -- its patriarchal system that can't see its own misogyny, its archaic black and white thinking on so many contemporary issues, its unwillingness to change, its lack of understanding when it comes to the LGBTQ2S+ community... I could go on.

But there are many things about it that I love, too, and the Communion of Saints is one of them. I think of all the small s saints on my list of family and friends who have died (up to these past All Saints'/All Souls' feast days my list has 225 names on it), and I definitely have favourites among the capital S saints who have been officially recognized as such. The idea of all these folks surrounding me and amplifying my prayers is a definite comfort.

Lately, I've gone a step further in my appreciation of one particular saint. St. Jude Thaddeus was one of Christ's disciples, and in some literature, is thought to be Jesus' step-brother, born before Joseph took Mary as his partner. I've heard it said that because St. Jude and Judas Iscariot, Christ's betrayer, had the same name, St. Jude's determination to not be confused with the other guy means that he goes out of his way to assist people in dire straights.

I turned to St. Jude in desperation last week because one of my kids has recently been struggling with a lot of pain from complications after an important surgery. I've never been one to manage praying a novena, because so many of them are written in overly wordy archaic language that drives me up a wall, and I generally don't have the stick-to-it-iveness to get through nine days of prayer. 

But in my desperation for Jay's well being, I decided to simplify and personalize a novena to St. Jude and pray it before bed every night for nine days. My partner prayed with me. And though Jay isn't out of the woods yet as far as complete healing goes, there's been a definite improvement that gives us hope.

Because old-fashioned St. Jude novenas generally carry a clause about spreading devotion to him through publishing his prayer for others to use, I am sharing my novena here. It's short and to the point, and it seems to have worked even though it doesn't have a Nihil Obstat (official approval) from any bishop.

In my understanding, novenas are formulaic prayers designed to assist us in seeking God's help through a saint's intervention... but I expect that God and St. Jude are just as happy when we use our own words. There's nothing to say we can't say/write our own novenas using words that work for us. What counts is just that we pray. 

So I leave this idea here, in case you have someone in mind who might benefit from nine days of prayer... and I add a prayer for those of us who find ourselves feeling desperate enough to try anything!

**Image borrowed from https://www.stjuderc.org/st-jude-novena.html

 

St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, patron saint of difficult cases, please intercede with God. With confidence in you, we ask for God to help with ...

St Jude, Apostle of Hope,

Pray for us, that we may grow in faith, hope, and love.

The Lord's Prayer

Hail Mary

Glory Be