The Friends of St. Jude - Shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus

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The Friends of St. Jude
Voices of the St. Jude Shrine
Thank you for the wonderful Novenas and blessings!
Thank you for the inspiration that is the St. Jude
Shrine.
Gail, San Francisco
Please pray for a safe return for our
service men and women who are
fighting for our country. Also pray
for my son and his friend who were
killed in a car accident.
Anonymous Friend of St. Jude
I am a St. Jude
devotee from Sri
Lanka. I am in a
desperate and very
difficult situation
now. Please pray
for me that I might
get the help I need.
Renu
I have been a devotee of St. Jude for many years. My husband
recently passed away. We met 27 years ago, and he quickly
became a devotee, even though he was not a Catholic. I know
he’s with St. Jude now talking over old times.
Anne, San Siego
St. Jude, you never fail. Thank you
for the blessing of being my patron
saint. I call upon you and you
receive my petitions then you
mention them to your cousin, Jesus,
from whom all blessings flow.
Billie, Sacramento, CA
I want to thank all of you
for praying for my son. He
got a job and is thriving.
Angie, Corcoran, CA
St. Jude, thank you so much
for intereceding for my son
Paul. He’s now cancer free.
Eugene, Dallas, TX
St. Jude, please to grant
me the grace and dignity
to undergo the pain and
worry (both to me and
my loved ones) of my
cancer diagnosis and
treatment. May I be ever
more mindful of God’s
love and blessings in my
life.
John, Mobile, AL
I am enjoying the beautiful 2012 calendar. I prayed to Mother Mary Alphonsa, whose picture
is in the calendar for February, about an ominous spot above my eyebrow. She and St. Jude
will always be in my prayers of thanksgiving for the wonderful diagnosis my doctor gave me.
Heather, Los Gatos, CA
These are excerpts from some of the many letters we receive daily. Please pray for these and all our St. Jude devotees. Do not
hesitate to write to us if you wish to be placed on our prayer list, or to have prayers offered for a loved one. Our address is:
Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus, 2390 Bush Street, P.O. Box 15368, San Francisco, CA 94115-0368
Prayer to St. Jude
●
St. Jude, glorious apostle, faithful
servant and friend of Jesus, the name of
the traitor has caused you to be
forgotten by many. But the Church
honors and invokes you universally as
the patron of difficult and desperate
cases. Pray for me who am in need of
God’s mercy. Make use, I implore
you, of that particular privilege
accorded to you to bring visible and
speedy help where help was 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) - and that I may praise
God with you and all the elect
throughout all eternity. I promise you,
O blessed Jude, to be ever mindul of
this great favor. I will honor you as
my special and powerful patron and
encourage devotion to you. St. Jude,
pray for us and for all who honor and
invoke thy aid. Amen.
Visit our
St. Jude Shrine Gift Shop.
We are open every day
from 9:00 a.m.
to 7:00 p.m.
The St. Jude Mass takes place
Mon - Fri (in English) at 5:30
p.m and on Sundays (in
Spanish) at 1:30 p.m.,
with blessing with the holy relic
of St. Jude.
How to Put the St. Jude Shrine
in Your Will.
●
After providing for their families
and loved ones, devotees may
want to put the St. Jude Shrine in
their wills, ensuring that this
ministry endures to fulfill its
mission to educate Dominican
priests for the glory of God.
Bequests are free of estate tax, and
can substantially reduce the
amount of your estate claimed by
the government. A bequest can
be a specific dollar amount, a
specific piece of property, a
percentage of an estate, or all or
part of the residue of an estate.
You can also name the Shrine as a
contingent beneficiary in the
event someone named in your will
is no longer living.
We
recommend that you have a lawyer
help you in drafting or amending
your will.
2390 Bush St., P.O. Box 15368 San Francisco, CA 94115-0368
(415) 931-5919 www.stjude-shrine.org
The mission of the Shrine of St. Jude is to foster devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus, “Patron of Difficult Cases,”
and support the education and formation of worthy candidates for the Dominican Priesthood and Brotherhood.
St. Jude Novena, October 2012
In This Issue:
•
Letter from the Director
•
Novena Preacher: Fr. Michael
Augustine Amabisco, O.P.
•
Fr. Emmanuel Taylor, O.P.:
“A Special Gift to the Church”
•
The St. Jude Pilgrimage:
Nine Years On
•
Voices of the St. Jude Shrine
Calendar of Events, 2012/2013:
St. Jude Novena (preached)
October 20 – 28
St. Jude Pilgrimage
October 27
Christmas Novena (not preached)
December 25 – January 2, 2013
Our Lady of Lourdes Novena
(preached)
February 3 – 11
Walk & Retreat for Healing
February 9
Easter Novena (not preached)
March 31 – April 8
Mother’s Day Novena (not preached)
May 4 – May 12
St. Peregrine Novena (preached)
May 31 – June 8
Father’s Day Novena (not preached)
June 8 – June 16
Dear Friends of St. Jude,
There are two common devotions
practiced at the Shrine that I would
like to comment on in this letter: Mass
offerings (or stipends) and votive
candles. Both of these are deeply
ingrained in our Catholic tradition, but
often enough are not clearly
understood by our devotees.
Mass offerings have their roots in the
ancient practice of the Church when
the faithful would present to the priest
the bread and wine to be used at the
Eucharistic Sacrifice (the Mass), and
other goods for the maintenance of the
clergy. Later (certainly by the eighth
century) these gifts often took the
form of money so that the special
fruits of the priest’s Mass would be
applied to the intentions of the donor.
The stipend or offering is not given as
a price for the Mass or Eucharistic
Sacrifice. It is rather a voluntary
offering to help toward the support of
the priest who is celebrating the Mass.
Each time a Mass is celebrated the
Lord’s passion, death and resurrection
are reenacted. So from each Mass our
Lord pours forth in a general and
specific way certain spiritual and even
material fruits.
Since Christ’s
redemptive act occurs on the altar and
is accomplished for the whole world,
particuarly for the Church, every Mass
in some objective way touches all the
living and the dead. The priest who
celebrates the Mass receives the body
and blood of Christ, which brings an
increase in sanctifying grace and other
graces as well.
When someone gives an offering of
the Mass for a specific intention or a
deceased person it brings graces and
favors which are applied to the
intentions of the donor. These are
Votive Lights at the Shrine
Photo by: Mark Lizama
given according to one’s personal
preparation and devotion and what
God himself wants to give us based
upon his infinite personal love for
each of us.
The Church’s Code of Canon Law
underscores the meaning of Mass
offerings for a specific intention of the
donor in Canon 946. “Christ’s faithful
who make an offering so that Mass
can be celebrated for their intention
contribute to the good of the Church
and by their offering they share in the
Church’s concern for the support of its
ministers and its activities.” This is in
(continued on page 2)
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Novena Preacher, Fr. Michael Augustine Amabisco, O.P.
Fr. Michael Augustine Amabisco, O.P.
Fr. Michael Augustine Amabisco,
O.P. was born in Orange County,
California. He says he felt the the first
stirrings of a vocation to the
priesthood after he graduated from
California State University, Long
Beach, CA with a BSc degree, in
1991. But it was not until some years
later, whilst living in Houston, Texas,
and having built a successful career in
his chosen field, that he heard God’s
call again. At Mass one day, as he
watched the priest-celebrant on the
altar, he says, “It struck me: that priest
has the best life.
He is God’s
instrument that brings Christ to the
world in the Eucharist. That is the life
I want.” This time, he could no longer
ignore the call. “This time,” he says,
“I listened. I found my way to the
Dominicans to engage that mystery
that had been guiding my life.”
Fr. Michael was ordained in June
2010, and began his priestly ministry
as Associate Director of St. Andrew
Newman Center in Riverside,
California. This summer he was made
pastor of St. Mary Magdalen Church
The St. Jude Novena, October 20 - 28, 2012
(continued from page 1)
accord with her long custom of
receiving particular donations as
examined above.
The St. Jude Shrine accepts the Mass
offerings of our devotees and ensures
that the Masses are celebrated as soon
as possible by the Dominican priests.
If you would like to have a Mass
celebrated for your or another’s
intention, a family member or friend,
please send the request to the Shrine
of St. Jude, 2390 Bush Street, P.O.
Box 15368, San Francisco, CA 94115.
The usual offering is $10.00.
Another devotional practice which is
very popular at the Shrine is the
lighting of candles for petitioners or
persons known to them and in need of
prayers. Candles which are lit for a
specific intention or person are often
referred to as votive candles
irrespective of their size. To light a
in Berkeley, California. We are eager
to have him preach this year’s St. Jude
Novena, October 20 – 28. He will
explore the theme of “Faith in
Transition” in relation to natural life
transitions. It’s a particularly resonant
theme for the Year of Faith announced
by Pope Benedict XVI, which begins
on October 11, 2012. Fr. Michael is
among the first group of novices who
began their priestly formation in the
St. Dominic’s Church/St. Jude Shrine
community (after the Novitiate was
relocated there in 2003), so for him it
will be a homecoming, while for us it
will be a chance to celebrate with him
the special gift of his vocation in our
lives.
Masses: Mon – Sat; 8:00 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; Sun 11:30 a.m.
Send Petitions to: Fr. Allen Duston, O.P., Shrine Director
candle for someone or an intention
indicates the desire to say a prayer,
and the candle symbolizes that
request. The flame of the candle
relates our needs to Christ the Light of
the World to whom our prayers and
petitions are offered. It may also be to
a saint or the Virgin Mary to intercede
to Christ for our needs. In our case,
most often the candles are lit to St.
Jude whom we ask, like a close friend,
to intercede to the Lord. A candle
then is an outward sign of our inner
intention as we pray for a person or
other petitions.
The candle signifies that I should, or
would, stay longer and pray, but I
can’t for many reasons. But I want
this candle, as it melts away, to be a
token of what I would like to do – to
let my heart melt away in total
submission to the Divine will made
manifest to me through prayer.
The lighting of candles as a sign of
our prayer intentions is an ancient
tradition of the Church, and one to
which Catholics and others intensely
respond. Hundreds of candles are lit
each week at the St. Jude Shrine
invoking the saint’s help and comfort
amid the difficulties and trials of life.
If you would like to light a candle to
St Jude, please visit the Shrine or
write to us and we will have one lit for
you.
Please let us hear from you if you
have any questions regarding Mass
offerings or the lighting of candles.
These are two devotions which are
encouraged by the Church and
available to the devotees of St. Jude.
Sincerely in Christ and St. Jude
Fr. Allen Duston, O.P.
Director
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Fr. Emmanuel Taylor, O.P.:
“A Special Gift to the Church”
On Saturday, May 26, 2012, members
of the Dominican Family filled St.
Dominic’s Church (home of the
Shrine) to celebrate the ordination to
the priesthood of Brother Emmanuel
Taylor, in the presence of San
Francisco
Archbishop
George
Niederauer and Most. Rev. Mark
Padrez, O.P., Prior Provincial of the
Western Dominican Province.
It was an occasion of joy in a special
way for the devotees of the Shrine of
St. Jude, whose mission is partly to
help fund the education and formation
of those preparing to be priests of the
Dominican Order.
In his stirring homily, the Archbishop
reminded us of our Christian Charter:
The Annual St. Jude Pilgrimage:
Nine Years On
By: Jaime and Rosa Pinto
(left) Br. Emmanuel kneeling before Archbishop Niederauer; (right) Fr. Emmanuel enjoys the
warm wishes of the congregation
“As the Father has sent me, so I send
you.” All of us, the Archbishop said,
ordained and laity, must work together
for the whole Church according to our
gifts, even as we celebrated the special
gift to the Church of Fr. Taylor’s
ordination.
He stressed fidelity to Christ as the
Our Lord and His saints. When we
first started, nine years ago, 750
people participated. Last year,
upwards of 3,500 people walked the
Pilgrimage.
The idea to have an annual walk for
St. Jude Thaddeus arose after we
observed the large number of faithful
who visited the Shrine of St. Jude
daily from different parts of the
country and were willing to give
testimony to how this beloved saint
had helped them at some point in their
lives. We realized that they desired to
"do something more" than bring him
flowers, light candles, or offer prayers
for his help with a problem; they
wanted to do something different to
honor and thank him.
And so we decided to gather together
devotees of St. Jude on one day and
have them walk through the streets of
San Francisco in powerful witness to
our faith. Many hearts have been
touched by our walking, praying the
Rosary, and singing spiritual songs to
Scenes from the 2007 Pilgrimage in SF
Photos by: Br. Lupe Gonzalez, O.P.
root of all our actions, a point echoed
by the St. Dominic’s Church Choir in
its beautiful rendition of Thomas
Tallis’ choral piece, “If Ye Love Me,
Keep My Commandments.” Please
keep Fr. Emmanuel in your prayers as
he takes up his first assignment as
priest as Associate Pastor of St.
Dominic’s Church, San Francisco.
The Pilgrimage in honor of St. Jude
always takes place on the Saturday
before the feast of St. Jude (October
28); this year, on Saturday, October
27. Each year, we choose a new
parish to be the starting point, so that
more people can know about our
patron and the Shrine itself. This
year’s walk starts at 9:00 a.m. at the
Church of the Visitation, 655
Sunnydale Ave., San Francisco, and
ends at about 1:00 p.m. at St.
Dominic’s Church (home of the St.
Jude Shrine), 2390 Bush St., San
Francisco (about 8.5 miles). Most
Rev. Mark Padrez, O.P., Prior
Provincial of the Western Dominican
Province, will celebrate the closing
Solemn Mass at 1:30 p.m. There is
free parking and free transportation
from St. Dominic’s Church to the
Church of the Visitation from 6:30
a.m. to 8:30 a.m. We hope that the
number of pilgrims to our annual
Pilgrimage will keep increasing, and
so reflect the growing devotion to our
patron saint, St. Jude Thaddeus.