Connecting with St. Jude

By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger

IOWA CITY — More than 1,100 Catholics connected with St. Jude during a relic tour stop at St. Patrick Catholic Church earlier this month.

“He was my mom’s favorite saint,” said Bonnie Mattaliano of St. Mary Parish in Solon. “She always told us to pray to St. Jude.” Mattaliano feels similarly drawn to the saint and considered the Nov. 14 relic exhibition “a once in a lifetime chance to be so very close to this healer and comforter.”

St. Jude suffered martyrdom while ministering in Persia or Syria, according to Catholic tradition. Later, his remains were transferred to Rome and placed directly below the main altar of the left transept of St. Peter’s Basilica. A splintered piece of his arm was removed several centuries ago and placed in a wooden reliquary carved in the shape of a priestly arm, imparting a blessing.

This is the first exhibition tour of the relic in America. The Davenport Diocese was a late addition to the schedule; Father Carlos Martins, director of the Vatican ministry Treasures of the Church, called Father Thom Hennen, vicar general and rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, after another host canceled. “I immediately thought of St. Patrick’s and reached out to them to see if they would be willing,” Father Hennen recalled.

Father Troy Richmond, pastor of St. Patrick Parish, eagerly accepted the invitation. “I was first made aware of the powerful intercession of St. Jude some years ago,” he told The Catholic Messenger. An expectant mother at his parish went into labor with twins at 21 weeks. One of the babies died, but “through the intercession of St. Jude on behalf of the mother’s parents, she miraculously held the placenta for the twin baby son she gave birth to at 25 weeks.” The boy, whose middle name is Jude, came home after several months in neonatal intensive care and is now 19 years old. “Despite some small health challenges along the way, he is proof of how powerful the intercessory prayer of St. Jude really is.”

Public veneration of the relic began at 2 p.m. and paused for Mass at 7 p.m. Father Martins presided and gave an hour-long homily about St. Jude and the relic. He noted the close connection St. Jude may have had with his cousin, Jesus. Father Richmond and Father Steven Arisman, KHS, pastor of St. Francis Solanus Parish in Quincy, Illinois concelebrated. People from all over the area attended, said Father Guillermo Trevino, pastor of St. Joseph parishes in West Liberty and Columbus Junction.

“The Mass was a moving experience and made being in close proximity to the relic very personal, spiritual and reverent,” said Cheryl Schropp, St. Patrick Parish’s event coordinator. Public veneration resumed at 9 p.m. and ended an hour later.

Many visitors made third class relics by touching photos, prayer cards, rings, candles, rosaries and other items to the display glass, Schropp observed. “The moods of many were upbeat and emotional upon departing the church. It truly was a blessed event.”

Standing in front of the relic left Cynthia Gillham, a member of St. Patrick Parish, speechless. “I pray to St. Jude every morning and it brought me so much closer to him. I just keep pinching myself that I am so blessed and grateful to belong to a religion that has these kinds of things. It’s so great to be Catholic.”