St. Jude Thaddeus, the Patron Saint of the Hopeless

The National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus is just beside the office where I work right now but I only get to visit the place on Thursday not to pray the novena but to buy food which are sold beside it especially on novena days. I would often see a lot of students and other devotees who are probably going to take their board examination and go there on Thursdays to ask the intercession of St. Jude for help.

St. Jude Thaddeus was one of the 12 apostles and was named as such to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. "Thaddeus" is a Greek name, which means "great hearted one." Today, St. Jude is considered as the Patron Saint of the Hopeless or Impossible.

I never thought that one day, I will need his intercession after I was diagnosed with a kidney disease earlier this year. I now pray the novena in the office because I am too weak to bear the heat and mix with the throng of devotees who go there on Thursdays. My daughter, Angel, comes with me on Thursdays this summer vacation and meets her aunt and cousin and together they go for the novena.

I've researched a novena prayer to St. Jude Thaddeus on the internet and want to share it to Catholic believers. 

Visita Iglesia around the Philippines

Whenever we hear the term Visita Iglesia, we normally associate it with visiting a number of churches during the Holy Week, most especially on Maundy Thursdays.

This post refers to churches or shrines which we had visited during our travels. Visita Iglesia literally means church visits. They say that whatever you wish on the first time you visit a church will be granted. I am not sure if this is true but we do go to the church to thank God that we had arrived safely and for Him to protect us during our travels.

The churches are not arranged chronologically but on how the blogger loads them here, he he he. Here goes:

Although this church is near my wife's hometown of Pangil, this is the first time I had visited the place. We were able to visit the place to attend a church wedding. The San Pedro de Alcantara church in Paete, Laguna was built in the 17th century and may be one of the best preserved churches in Laguna.