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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1082.jpg'> 
Towards Holy Year 2000: The Washing of the Apostles' Feet Scott 1082 (1998)</center>
 
From late 2023 through early 2024, the relic of Saint Jude, one of the Twelve Apostles, made its first visit to the United States. The pilgrimage tour, which started in September, 2023 and ran through May of 2024, included visits to over 100 cities.
 
Saint Jude, as one of the Apostles, served as one of Jesus’s closest collaborators. The term ‘Apostle’ comes from the Greek term meaning ‘one who is sent’. While Christ had many disciples or followers, the Apostles had a higher calling: to carry the message of Christ to the world. This authority was granted by Jesus, as noted in the Gospel of Mark:
<blockquote>"He appointed twelve whom he also named apostles that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." (Mark 3:14-15)
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Although his name is literally ‘Judas’, Saint Jude often referred to as Jude Thaddeus or simply the ‘nickname’ Jude to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, another Apostle and the infamous betrayer of Jesus. In Scripture (in the Gospel of John), we find the only sentence credited to Saint Jude. John writes:
<blockquote>"Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ (John 14:22)
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Note that John takes pains to unambiguously identify this ‘Judas’ as the holy Apostle we now call Jude, and not the betrayer.
 
Saint Jude was martyred around the year 65 AD, probably in what is now Beirut, Lebanon. His remains were transferred to Rome around 333 AD. A bone from the arm of the saint was separated from 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. This is the relic that was transmitted across the United States. An image of the relic can be seen by clicking on the "Apostle of the Impossible" reference link. The tour of the relic offered a unique opportunity for followers of Saint Jude to attend veneration events and present their petitions to the Saint known as the patron for lost causes. In Catholic tradition, relic veneration:
<blockquote>"is not worship [of saints] but a way to honor and draw near to the saints and to petition for their prayers since they are with God."
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The link to the website below (www.apostleoftheimpossible.com) provides further details of the tour, as well as additional insights into the history of Saint Jude.
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>Daniel Payne, Catholic News Agency, August 30, 2023, <a href='https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255230/ancient-relic-of-st-jude-the-apostle-to-tour-us-beginning-in-september'>Ancient relic of St. Jude the Apostle to tour US beginning in September</a> 
<li>Apostleoftheimpossible.com, <a href='https://apostleoftheimpossible.com/'>Saint Jude: The Apostle of the Impossible</a> 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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