St. Jude’s burial place is generally thought to be in Rome, but there are actually two other differing opinions. Some think his remains were preserved in a monastery on an island in Kyrgyzstan (neighbor of Afghanistan) until moved in the 1500’s to place unnamed. The other opinion holds that the remains were transferred to an even more remote location in the Pamir Mountains.
The more traditional view is St. Jude’s remains are in crypt
at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This magnificent structure
spans over 2 acres in Vatican City, and is considered to be the
largest church in the world. Within this church that holds 60,000
people and holds the remains of 91 popes is the best known shrine
of Saint Jude Thaddeus.
The south transept of the basilica has 3 altars. The main altar is dedicated to St. Joseph, Mary’s husband. Beneath this altar lie the remains of St. Jude Thaddeus. As we know, many millions from all parts of the world visit the Vatican each year and an uncountable number certainly visit this greatest shrine in the world dedicated to beloved St. Jude.
There is a St. Jude shrine in Koothattukulam, India that
has 2 items of special interest and has been experiencing an ever
rising number of visitors. Holy Mass is offered continuously all
day every Tuesday, and to mark dedication of the Masses, the world’s
largest bronze oil lamp of 1001 wicks is lit. St. Jude probably
looks for that glowing display each Tuesday. Also, this shrine
is one of the very few churches in the world to have an actual
relic of St. Jude. The relic is kept in a beautiful monstrance
for visitors to view.
Shrine of St. Jude , Baltimore MD
National Shrine of St. Jude
The largest shrine in the United States dedicated to St. Jude
is the Saint Jude Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland. The Archbishop
of Baltimore entrusted this shrine to the Pallottine order in
1917. Around the start of the 1940’s and WW II, regular novena
services were established as a result of more interest and more
devotion to St. Jude. The novenas began as simply a few neighborhoods
gathering for prayer and devotion. Today this shrine has evolved
as the nationwide center of St. Jude devotions and prayer focus.
This shrine has a St. Jude League feature that you might consider as an additional devotion to St. Jude. You can enroll yourself, someone else, even entire families. Both the living and the departed can be enrolled. Membership in the League provides significant prayers and remembrances:
• In one hundred annual Masses
• In monthly Novenas of Masses
• In the three Solemn Novenas each year
• In the four Perpetual Novena Services every Wednesday and the two every Sunday at the Shrine
• In the daily Mass offered on the tomb of St. Jude in St. Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City
St. Jude Shrine, Chicago, IL
There is also a beautiful Shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus in Chicago, originally created by William Marchant, O. P. of the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Albert the Great. Fr. William Marchant, O. P. had a personal devotion to St. Jude, so in 1929 he opened the small, simple shrine. Interest in devotions and prayers to St. Jude led 20 years later to a totally new shrine which we know today, which is maintained by Claretian Missionaries. The shrine is made of Italian marble and features St. Jude looking down upon the “Peoples of the World”.
St. Jude is very much modern, cutting edge and probably very
much a leader in terms of the future of prayer and devotion. The
newest shrine is shrineofsaintude.net. That‘s right, a shrine
that exists only on the web and is available to the whole world!
This shrine is very well presented with color pictures, animation,
and color text, both serious and funny entries. The shrine is
quite large and contains a lot of material. The basic theme throughout
is fortitude, steadfastness and endurance. The shrine is chock
full of testimonies about what St. Jude has done for others, prayers,
suggestions on increasing the prayer life, etc.
This type of shrine could well be a big part of future prayer
life as most denominations have fewer vocations and fewer ordained
people to lead services.
