St. Jude Novena: A Proposed Revision

“St Jude Thaddeus,” by Georges de la Tour, 1650

How are novenas effective? What does a novena actually do?

“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.” St. Teresa of Kolkata

We could think of a novena as a nine-day preparation to celebrate a liturgical feast. Like a “little Advent,” the novena could help to purify and convert our hearts so that we can find ourselves in the strongest possible position to receive the graces that Christ wants to offer us through the intercession of a particular saint. The Eucharist, as the source and summit of our faith life, provides the richest, most effective food for prayer life.

If we look at novenas in this way, perhaps the best texts for us to meditate on in the days leading up to the celebration of a particular liturgical Memorial or Solemnity would be those ancient prayers that the Church herself gives us through the Roman Missal and the Breviary. To compose a novena from these rich sources could offer us a powerful method for growing in love and holiness. Following this logic, we’d like to offer an alternative to the “traditional” Novena to St. Jude, one that is paradoxically more deeply rooted in Tradition because it is based on the Rites and liturgical prayers that the Church has ordained for the celebration of the saint’s feast day.

Day One (Beginning today): “Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men, including the holy apostle, St. Jude Thaddeus, to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of his divine mysteries” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
For you, eternal Shepherd,
do not desert your flock,
but through the blessed Apostles
watch over it and protect it always,
so that it may be governed
by those you have appointed shepherds,
like St. Jude Thaddeus, to lead it.
We glorify your name, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Two:  “Now the Lord bids his holy apostles, like St. Jude, to shine out like lamps and to cast out their light not only over the land of the Jews but over every country under the sun and over people scattered in all directions and settled in distant lands” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
For you have built your Church
to stand firm on apostolic foundations,
to be a lasting sign of your holiness on earth,
and, like St. Jude, offer all humanity your heavenly teaching.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Three: “That man has spoken truly who said: ‘No one takes honor upon himself, except the one who is called by God,’ for it was our Lord Jesus Christ who called his own disciples, including St. Jude, before all others to a most glorious apostolate” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
We humbly implore you in the Holy Spirit,
that what we do to honor the glorious passion
of the Apostle Jude
may keep us ever in your love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Four: “St Jude Thaddeus, along with Christ’s other disciples, became the pillar and mainstay of the truth” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
And may he who has endowed us
with the teaching and example of the Apostle Jude Thaddeus,
make us, under his protection,
witnesses to the truth before all.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Five: “Jesus said that he was sending his apostles, just as the Father had sent him. By these words he is making clear the dignity of the apostolate and the incomparable glory of the power given to them, but he is also giving them a hint about the methods they are to adopt in their apostolic mission” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
Through the intercession of the Apostle Jude Thaddeus,
may we inherit the eternal homeland,
for by his teaching we possess firmness of faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Six: “Christ interpreted the character of his mission to us in a variety of ways. Once he said: ‘I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’ And then at another time he said: ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him’” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
Christ says: ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word;
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him,
and make our home with him.’
We ask for this grace, just as St. Jude received it,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Seven: “For if Christ thought it necessary to send out St. Jude, along with his other intimate disciples in this fashion, just as the Father had sent him, then surely it was necessary that they whose mission was to be patterned on that of Jesus should see exactly why the Father had sent the Son” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
Father, you wanted your Son to be seen first by the apostles
after the resurrection from the dead;
we ask you to make us, just as you did for St. Jude,
his witnesses to the farthest corners of the world.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Eight: “Accordingly, in affirming that St Jude and the other apostles are sent by him just as he was sent by the Father, Christ sums up in a few words the approach they themselves should take to their ministry” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
You sent your Son to preach your good news to the poor.
Just as St. Jude did,
help us to preach this Gospel to every creature.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Day Nine: “From what Christ proclaimed, St Jude and the other disciples would gather that it was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealings never to do their own will but the will of him who sent them, and as far as possible to save the world by their teaching” (From a commentary on the gospel of John by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop).

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name,
graciously grant,
through the intercession of Saint Jude,
a holy man whom you chose in your own perfect love,
that the Church may constantly grow
by increase of the peoples who believe in you.
You sent your Son to sow the seed of unending life:
grant that we, following St. Jude’s example,
work at sowing the seed, may share the joy of the harvest.
You sent your Son to reconcile all to you through his blood:
help us all to work toward achieving this reconciliation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be