the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Newark NJ, a bone from the arm of St. Jude, widely revered among Catholics as the patron saint of hopeless causes, will be on public display at seven parishes within the Archdiocese of Newark this December as part of the relic’s first tour outside Italy.
The ancient bone, encased in a centuries-old wooden vessel carved in the form of an arm bestowing a blessing, will make its initial appearance in northern New Jersey at the Church of the Assumption in Emerson on December 7. During this time, it will be available for public veneration from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. The relic will then move to St. Joseph Church in Oradell on December 8, St. Helen Church in Westfield on December 9, St. Leo’s Church in Elmwood Park on December 10, St. Stephen’s Church in Kearny on December 11, and Our Lady of the Lake Church in Verona on December 18. The veneration and Mass schedule for each site is available on the tour’s website.
“St. Jude is special to many Catholics because he’s the Apostle of the Impossible — people turn to him when they most need help,” said Father Joe Mancini, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church in Kearny, who will celebrate a Mass honoring St. Jude on December 11 at 7 p.m. “But not everyone can travel to Europe to venerate his relics in person, so it’s exciting that his arm bone is visiting the Archdiocese. This is a great opportunity for local Catholics to come together and grow in their faith.”
All who are suffering or know someone experiencing challenges are especially encouraged to pray before the relic because St. Jude is associated with healing and other miracles. Though visitors are restricted from physically touching the relic, they are encouraged to place personal items against the glass case surrounding the reliquary. This act transforms those objects into third-class relics. Visitors also may hold pictures of loved ones against the glass to symbolically entrust them to the saint’s care.
Treasures of the Church, a Michigan-based ministry that partners with the Vatican to make relics accessible to Catholics worldwide, facilitated the bone’s trip to the U.S. The Holy See specifically asked Treasures of the Church to provide the St. Jude relic for its latest exposition, aiming to bring healing to those still struggling in the aftermath of COVID-19. The ministry hopes the relic will bring comfort to all visitors.
“For 2,000 years, one saint has symbolized the unstoppable power of heavenly intercession,” said Father Carlos Martins, director of Treasures of the Church, which has brought the bone to parishes in Chicago, New York City, and many other locations since September. “Come and feel his transformative presence. Come and see what St. Jude has in store for you.”
St. Jude, who was Jesus’ first cousin, was one of the Twelve Apostles. Following Christ’s crucifixion, Jude preached the gospel throughout Mesopotamia until his martyrdom in approximately 65 A.D. Today, he is considered one of the Catholic Church’s most beloved saints, with numerous shrines and churches dedicated to him around the world. He is particularly popular among Americans due in part to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, which was created by actor Danny Thomas in gratitude for an intercession St. Jude made in his own life.
For more information on St. Jude’s U.S. relic tour, visit www.apostleoftheimpossible.com.
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So a bunch of old ladies can pray to some ancient dead dude’s arm bone but if I make a chair out of my deceased mother’s skeleton I’m a weird creep?
yes
The two are not mutually exclusive. Both creepy.
So your Anti-Catholicism is acceptable, but Antisemitism is not ?
To the first comment, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs however, many folks would say that is a sacrilegious comment. My thoughts only.
The first commenter would be canceled and shunned as an antisemite or islamophobe if their comment were about Islamic or Jewish practices, but they are accepted (or at most, mildly rebuked) since they are against Catholic practices.
Good point. First question we should ask ourselves is when did Jewish and Muslim interests start to outweigh Catholic ones in *this* country? What is this country about? Who is in charge here? How can two strains of the same Abrahamic mumbo jumbo virus take precedence over, if only nominally, a third one?
And shunned for making fun of people who genuflect before a bone, the provenance of which you know nothing of by the way? How do you know it’s the bone of a magical person St. Somebody and not Joe Nobody? Oh, someone said so. Got it. These are truly enlightened times.
But forget about pulling the innocent Jews and Muslims into this. There are plenty of divisions within your own religion that would consider veneration of relics pure idolatry. Uh oh! Never mind the Catholic wordplay on the subject, plenty of your own Christian brethren would deem such practices unsupported by scripture, at best, and silly superstitious distractions, at worst. So you see, there’s plenty of opportunities for shunning, and maybe even a little consensual stoning in the evening.
Are the bones in your own living body less miraculous than a dusty old sliver of St. Jude? Is a living dog better than a dead lion? There’s today’s daily meditation, sinner.
Implicit in this comment is the mockery of religious belief. As is typical, this bigotry is based on ignorance. As just one example, the provenance of this specific relic is actually well documented. “How do you know it’s the bone of a magical person St. Somebody and not Joe Nobody?” There is an answer to how this bone was preserved and how it was identified. Do a little research–or stay safely in your own snarky bigoted bubble.
The mockery is explicit.
The bigotry is not based on ignorance, but on hate.
Very good. Double plus very good. And it is also good that you are commanded to love thine enemies, are you not? Therefore I shall await your prayers.
Knowledge is indistinguishable from hate to those who are ignorant.
Goodnight Ridgewood.
Spoken like a true hateful ignorant Ant-Christian Bigot.
That first comment is so offensive! Shame on you.
Will there be rioting?
Outrage?
Will the governor set the AG on the first commenter?
Will she be canceled?
NO.
Since Christianity is the only religion allowed to be openly attacked by the hateful Democrats and Liberals who control education, the media and a large part of the government.