Saints of the Week

Saint Jude

Virtue: Hope

Feast: 28th October

Jude Thaddeus was a nephew of Mary and Joseph and a cousin of our Lord. he was the brother of the Apostle James the Less. His father was Cleophas, who died a martyr and his mother's name was Mary. She stood beneath the Cross when Jesus died and she later came to anoint the body of Jesus.

In his boyhood and youth, Jude must have known Jesus well. He left all to follow the Master. he is pictured with an image of our Lord because there is a tradition that in the Name of Jesus he cured the King of Edessa from leprosy.

God gave Jude a special power. When he ordered the devils in pagan idols to leave the images fell to the ground broken into pieces.

Jude suffered martyrdom with Simon in Persia, where they labored as missionaries. he was clubbed to death. his relics are now honored at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Jude is very popular as the Patron Saint of impossible cases.

Saint Charles Borromeo

Virtue: Humility

Feast Day: 4th November

Charles, of the noble family of Borromeo, was born in 1538 in a castle of Aron, in Italy.

 When Charles was only twenty-two, Pope Pius IV made him a Cardinal and the Archbishop of Milan.

Charles was a great teacher and writer. He helped the Church during the so-called Reformation. His great work was in the Council of Trent. He founded schools for the poor and seminaries for clerics, and through his community of Oblates, he trained his priests to holiness of life.

Charles also built hospitals where he served the sick himself. He was often seen taking part in public processions with a rope around his neck as a sign of penance. He gave away all he had and wore an old patched cloak. During a great plague, he was always with the sick and dying. He tried to feed 60,000 poor people every day.

Charles died at the age of forty-six in 1584. He is the patron of seminaries and those who teach catechism.