Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

The Beauty of the Saints

Very Reverend Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding great joy, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.  Amen”:

Holy Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord.

Today July 2 (which is June 19 according to the Julian Calendar) we celebrate the memory of a wonderful Man of God, the Holy ApostleJude, who was – according to Orthodox hagiographical sources – the “stepbrother” of our Lord, being the son of Joseph and Salome, his wife, after whose repose Joseph was selected by God to be the Betrothed of Mary the Theotokos, and Guardian, for as long as he lived, of our Lord Jesus.  It is because of this that he is listed in the Church Calendar as “Brother of the Lord” as is his younger brother, James.

It is said that he himself did not use this honourable title because of his humility – for at a crucial moment he opposed his father’s (Joseph’s) decision to give a portion of his heritage to Mary’s Son and at that time James had said “Jesus is my Brother” and that he would share his portion with Jesus.  From that point on James was called “Brother of Jesus” and later “Brother of the Lord”.  Later Jude too came to believe in the Messiah Who was His stepbrother and was chosen by Him to be one of the Twelve Apostles. And the Church has given him, in the Church calendar, the title which he, in his humility, would not use: "Brother of the Lord"

Because he shared his name with Judas Iscariot St. Jude was also known by other names: Thaddaeus and Levi or Lebbaeus.  This was to differentiate him – a differentiation that became all the more important after Judas became the betrayer of the Lord.   Incidentally it is because of this sharing of names that Jude is often called by Western Christians “the Apostle of Impossible Causes”, because only when they were desperate would Christians turn for intercession to one who bore this name.

He was very active as an Apostle preaching the Gospel throughout Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Armenia.  In Edessa, the town of King Abgar to whom Jesus is said to have sent His image not-made-by-hands on a napkin, he supported the preaching and work of the other Thaddaeus of the Seventy.

When Jude preached throughout the regions around Ararat in Armenia he was captured by pagans, crucified on a cross and killed by being shot throughout with arrows.  It is because he and St. Bartholomew brought the Gospel to Armenia that the Church of Armenia is called the “Armenian Apostolic Church”.  The Lord Whom he in the days of his ignorance sought to deprive of an inheritance received Him with great love, warmth and generosity and gave him an eternal heritage in His Heavenly Kingdom.

St. Jude, patron of impossible causes, although at times it appears that our perfection and salvation is a matter impossible to attain, do pray for us to your Holy Brother, to strengthen and comfort us and finally, as you wrote in your Letter, to present us faultless before the presence of His eternal and inexpressible glory!  Amen. 

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