The saint of desperate cases

Samiyarmadam, is a small town on the route between Nagercoil and Marthandom. Every Thursday there will be lots of crowd in this small town. I have a good memory about this place. I use to travel with my mother to this place, I was very much interested to see the place and brunch at the restaurant near by. There is a church, on the way to the church, a small bridge, under that a small canal, the interesting part is, the canal is between running between two rocks at least 200 ft deep. Which makes it look like a canyon. Very nice to imagine now, I was scared then. Lots of people travel to Samiyarmadam to attend the special mass and novena at St. Jude's church on every Thursday.

Saint Jude Thadeus is one of the apostle of Jesus, very rarely mentioned in the Gospels. He is brother of Saint James and Saint Simeon. Moreover he is a cousin of Jesus. His father Cleophas has married to Mary, the sister of Blessed Virgin Mary. Because of his fearless confession of the Resurrection of Christ, Cleophas was put to death by the Jews and thus won the crown of martyrdom. The mother of our Apostle was Mary of Cleophas, who with Mary stood by the Cross of Jesus on Calvary. In his boyhood, Jude and his brothers must have been close companions of Jesus. It is believed that Jude was a farmer, before his call to the apostolate. Since he belonged to the tribe of Judah, which was devoted to farming. From the time Jude was chosen to be an Apostle, who mainly concentrated his ministry towards conversion of the Gentiles.

Jude or Judah Thadeus is the author of the shortest book in the New Testament "The Epistle of Jude". The book is written to specify or instruct the people who were spreading wrong teachings about Jesus. This book has only 25 verses, but one of strongest

St. Jude introduces himself as follows.

"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints...." (Jude 1-3)

He is one of most traveled apostle across Lebanon, Persia, Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia. Saint Jude along with Simon of Zealout were two apostles who introduced the redeemer to the Armenia. Saint Jude sacrificed his life like other apostles for the truth in Persia. It is believed that he was killed using a saw. In Persia, the two Apostles were continually thwarted in their work by two magicians named Zaroes and Arfaxat who tried to uphold the worship of idols. In the presence of the two holy Apostles, the idols refused to answer their false priests. When the Apostles, in the name of God, commanded the idols to speak, they were forced to acknowledge the Saints as the disciples of the true God. After that the Apostles helped the Prince of Baradach to avert the war with an army from India by predicting the ambassadors of Indian army will come for peace negotiation.

There are few non believers say JESUS was just a good magician. There is lots of difference between illusion and miracle. Illusion is done by trained professionals, does with the help of lots of other professionals. JESUS has done his miracles in front of many people, even the people who killed him has accepted this fact. Psalms 14:1 - Fools say to themselves "There is no God." They sin and commit evil deeds, none of them does what is right. Let the Lord bless them. John 6 :1-14 explains the miracle of five loaves to five thousand plus people, only magician can explain is it possible to do this illusion just like that?? John 7:38 let the one who believes in me drink Just as the scripture says, "From within him will flow rivers of living water.". Lord bless them.

In the early days St. Jude was wrongly referred as Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. He is known as Saint of desperate cases. He is like a last resort of a kind. St. Jude is known as miracle worker, catholic christian pray for the desperate cases through him. Every Thursday, the novena towards St.Jude has to be recited. My wife and my father-in-law experienced the blessings of Jesus through St. Jude.

Those who requires desperate requirements, feeling lonely or helplessness please do the Novena sincerely.

"Most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, The name of the traitor who delivered the beloved Master, into the hands of His enemies, has caused thee to be forgotten by many, But the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of.

Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.

Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request,with faith), and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. 

I promise, O blessed Saint Jude, to be mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to the Lord Jesus through thee. Amen."

You do not need to be a Catholic Christian to do this Novena. You will be blessed definitely

For more novena through St. Jude, you may visit http://www.stjudenovena.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcDnaogWvyY

The boy inspired my childhood

Saint Dominc Savio was a saint who died at the age of fourteen. The church has declared him saint even though he had a life of only few years. He never missed the morning mass, even during the very cold winter. I happened to read a book of St. Dominic Savio when I was a boy. He inspired me so much I started to follow him virtually. That made me to go to the seminary for the priesthood.
I saw his picture and started drawing his portraits. The first portrait I drew was that of St. Dominc. Then I drew Crucifixion of Lord Jesus. And after that I drew many more pictures from the catechism books. I wanted to become someone like St. Dominic Savio. Sometimes Lords plans are different and I had to travel a different path.
It is believed that St. Dominc Savio had two friends namely Jesus and Mary. That led me to read the book "Miracles of rosary". And the Rosary is a part of me, from my age of 13. Mother always reminds me about the passion of Christ whenever I make a sin.
St. Dominc Savio believed and followed that it is better to die than committing a sin. Each person has an evil and a good spirit within him. The more time we spend with Jesus and practice his teachings in our life, we can overcome the evil spirit within. Unfortunately our soul is weaker than the body, the flesh. We spend more time for the body than the soul. When we start spending time for the soul, we will stop committing sins. Then our life will turn towards the right path , that is the THE WAY and towards THE TRUTH.
St.Dominc Savio strongly believed in confession. Confession is a sacrament, a Christian must follow throughout his life. Unfortunately I did not follow this sacrament. I strongly believed I am a good person. I thought, I can talk to Jesus directly and can report my sins directly to him. Even though Jesus knew what I am and the sins I committed, I have never sincerely confessed the sins to Jesus. All the bigger crimes were back of the mind, which were never revealed to him. I had a chance to confess nearly after 10 years. I had prepared myself sincerely and confessed to the priest, considered as the representative of Jesus, and cried to him. I revealed to him each and every sin. I had cried for pardon and the priest promised, Jesus will forgiven my sins. The priest reminded me of John Ch.18, the passion of Christ. I felt very happy then and am very happy. I have decided to confess regularly for even the smallest of the sins. 
 1 Corinthians Ch.6,19-20 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body".
 St. Dominic Savio respected the mass and prayers in the church. He never missed the Sunday mass. If it is possible everybody must attend the mass every day. He spent most his time in church in prayer. Even at his very young age, he preferred prayers than playing games. He wanted to become a saint. He sincerely believed it can be achieved by everybody. A complete surrender of ourself to Jesus can make us a saint. Because it is God's will that every body should become a saint.
We do not have much details about Jesus's childhood. But he has shown St.Dominic Savio to us. The children can be guided with the example of St.Dominic Savio.

God bless you.