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

The Friends of St. Jude
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 further the devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus, "Patron of Difficult Cases,"
and to support the education and formation of worthy students for the Dominican Priesthood and Brotherhood.
St. Anne Novena, July 2011
Special Points
 Letter from our
Director:
Fr. Allen Duston, O.P.
 Novena Masses:
M-Sat: 8:00 am &
5:30 pm
Sun:
11:30 am
 Novena Preacher:
Fr. Daniel Rolland, O.P.
 Thoughts from Fr. Daniel
 Burnishing a Tradition
 Prayer to St. Anne
 How To Put the Shrine in
Your Will
 St. Anne Novena Petition
Calendar of Novenas
2011

St. Anne Novena
(preached)
July 18-26, 2011

St. Jude Novena
(preached)
Oct. 20-28, 2011

St. Jude Pilgrimage
Oct. 22, 2011

Christmas Novena
(not preached)
Dec. 25– Jan. 2, 2012

St. Anne Novena
Dear Friends of St. Jude,
I am pleased to introduce
myself to you as the new
director of the Shrine. Ever
since our Provincial assigned
me here earlier this year, I
have looked forward to joining you in this unique adventure of faith. I ask for your
prayers in this new undertaking. Likewise do I pray for
you as together we continue
to build upon the legacy of
devotion left us by those who
have gone before in this ministry. I am grateful for the
fine stewardship these past
four years of my predecessor
Fr. Martin Walsh, O.P. I ask
for your prayers for him as
well as he continues to lead
the Dominican Mission
Foundation, serving those in
great need around the world.
I write this letter on the Feast
of Pentecost when we are
caught anew by feelings of
joy and wonderment at the
action of the Holy Spirit at
work in the world, in our
Church, and in our lives. The
Holy Spirit, the life-breath of
the world: who can deny this
fact? Consider the people of
Joplin, MO and other parts of
the Midwest devastated by
tornadoes. Filled with grace
and a new energy bestowed
upon them by the Holy
Spirit, they are rebuilding
their lives in an uncommon
spirit of unity and resolve
against immense odds. We
send them our prayers for
continued strength and purpose in their efforts.
Consider also, closer to
home, that on May 28, we
ordained to the priesthood
two more of our young seminarians. As you know, the
Shrine exists not only to
serve the people of God
through the patronage of our
beloved St. Jude Thaddeus,
but also to build God’s
Church by helping to fund
the education and formation
of our seminarians preparing
for ordination to the priesthood. We know you share in
our joy at the recent ordinations, for they are testament
to your commitment to our
mission; we could not do it
without your help and
prayers.
In their priestly
ministry of praising, preaching and blessing (in accordance with the motto of the
Dominican Order) our new
friars will be potent symbols
of dedication, in an often wavering world, to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
June is the month usually dedicated to the Sacred Heart, but
this year the feast falls on July
1, bringing the Sacred Heart of
Jesus in a sense closer to the
heart of his grandmother St.
Anne, whose feast day we
celebrate later in the month.
As usual, we will have our
annual Novena in honor of
St. Anne and St. Jude on
July 18 – 26. The Novena
preacher, Fr. Daniel Rolland,
says that, because St. Anne
“helped express love to the
child Jesus,” she can “teach us
many lessons that can bring us
closer to the Lord.” We are
delighted that Fr. Daniel will
explore during these nine days
— Dear Friends continues on page 2
Fr. Allen Duston, O.P. with Pope Benedict XVI
Page 2
Novena Preacher:
Fr. Daniel
Rolland, O.P.
The Friends of St. Jude
2390 Bush St. P.O. Box 15368, San Francisco, CA 94115 -0368
Fr. Daniel Rolland joined
Fr. Daniel Rolland, O.P. is
is one of his specialties, and
the Western Dominican
currently pastor of the St.
he has presented at the
Province in 1985 at the age
Thomas More Newman
Fresno Diocesan Youth
of 21, and was ordained to
Center in Eugene, Oregon.
Congress, as well as
the priesthood in 1993. A
In his preaching he comtraveled throughout the
native of Arizona, he says
mands a dynamic range of
United States preaching at a
the move to the San Francommunication elements,
variety of parishes and
cisco Bay Area was a big
including the theatrical
schools giving missions and
transition, but he soon
arts and storytelling. Fr.
retreats. He says he is
settled into his new life of
Daniel has spent fifteen
honored to preach the St.
study for the priesthood at
years of his priesthood in
Anne Novena this year, the
St. Albert Priory where,
campus ministry serving
theme of which will be:
during formation, he was
the spiritual needs at our
“Seeking greater wisdom
part of the St. Albert’s Priuniversity campuses in the
to heal, love and
ory Players , preaching
Western Dominican
grow.” (Please see his note
Province. Youth ministry
through drama.
below.)
Thoughts from Fr. Daniel Rolland...
In preparing for this Novena, I find myself drawn to St. Anne first as a grandmother of our Lord Jesus; to that image of
her as a wise woman with whom Mary might have consulted or who helped express love to the child Jesus. In this I
quickly realize that St. Anne can teach us many lessons that can bring us closer to the Lord. I have asked her prayers
for all who will attend the Novena, that the words you hear will move you to her grandson and inspire you to grow in
holiness. Each day’s readings bring up themes of Love, Struggle, Forgiveness, Trust, and Compassion. These are lessons
that each of us needs to incorporate more fully into our lives as we walk with Christ. I would encourage you to treat
yourselves to these nine days as a way of refocusing your life, to allow yourself the privilege of renewal and to give yourself permission to heal any relationships that are most difficult. Each day you can allow the scriptures to speak to you
by your reading them ahead of time or throughout the day. The preaching will begin with The Word and move to our
human experience in relating to God, our neighbor, family and self. I look forward to this Novena and to seeing the
power of prayer work in our lives.
Dear Friends continued from page 1
some of the lessons we need to learn in order for us to “heal, love and
grow.” Do join us for the Novena in person if you can, and if you cannot,
remember to join us in prayer, as together we seek to grow closer to God
through the intercession of his grandmother and of our holy patron. Please
send in your petitions to be prayed for and placed on the altar during the
Novena Masses. You may use the petition form attached to the back of this
newsletter.
Save the Date
Elsewhere in the newsletter, we bring you a story about one of our delightful
pilgrimage groups from Sacramento, CA. We hope you enjoy meeting Mary
Church and her Altar Society as much as we enjoy welcoming them at the
Shrine each year. May St. Jude continue to intercede for you and be with
you in a special way during our Novena to good St. Anne.
In Christ and St. Jude,
Fr. Allen Duston, O.P.
Director
St. Jude Pilgrimage
Sat., October 22, 2011
Page 3
Burnishing a Tradition
It started simply enough, as is often the case with some of our more cherished traditions. In this case, it — the annual pilgrimage to the St. Jude Shrine by the Immaculate Conception Parish Altar Society of Sacramento, California — began
with an invitation: “ My sister invited me to go on a St. Jude’s pilgrimage from her church,” says Mary Church, president
of the Altar Society. “ When I became president of the Immaculate Conception Altar Society, I suggested we do the same
pilgrimage. The idea was met with a favorable response, and the pilgrimages started in 1995, the first of our annual visits.”
For the past sixteen years that annual visit has been a highlight of our Shrine year. Indeed we can mark our calendar by it;
it takes place, without fail, on the second Tuesday of March. (The Altar Society chose this day because it substitutes for its
regular meeting day.) Likewise the structure of the pilgrimage remains constant, combining the visit to the Shrine with a
visit to another church or mission in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the past five years the Altar Society has visited the
Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption; St. Vincent de Paul; the Cathedral of Christ the Light, in Oakland; and the
Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi.
It is not clear whether all the members (some of whom come from parishes other than Immaculate Conception) have a special devotion to St. Jude. But even so, Mary believes each of them derives from the pilgrimage “a special strengthening of
faith.” The day is organized from the outset with such strengthening in mind, as we see from last year’s program for the
bus ride from Sacramento to San Francisco: Opening Prayer • Motorist’s Prayer • Prayer to St. Joseph • Song (“The Lord
Of The Dance”) • The Memorare • Prayer to St. Michael, the Archangel • Hymn (“Immaculate Mary”) • Recitation of the
Rosary • Prayer to St. Jude • Hymn (“Nearer My God To Thee”). On the return trip members are treated to a religiousthemed movie.
This year, as Shrine staff greeted over fifty Altar
Society members and their guests filing off the bus
at the entrance to St. Dominic’s Church, home of the
Shrine, St. Jude himself might have seemed to beam
with anticipation. Soon, he, too, would be greeting
them, soaking up the devotion of these loyal friends
who had come all this way to pay him homage and
seek his intercession. They prayed; they lit candles;
they touched his robe; they gazed upon his image
resplendent on his flower-bedecked marble altar;
and they availed themselves of religious items carefully chosen by our Shrine staff for members to purchase as a memento of their visit.
Immaculate Conception Altar Society of Sacramento, CA.
with Shrine Staff, March 2008
Fr. Stephen Maria Lopez, O.P., ordained just last summer, and a
striking example of the fruits of our efforts — since proceeds
from the St. Jude Shrine go to educate young men preparing for
the Dominican priesthood — called the group together in the
Lady Chapel and celebrated Holy Mass. Altar Society member
Luella Davis was lector and led the singing from worship sheets
she’d prepared for the group. After Mass, Fr. Lopez blessed the
members with the relic of St. Jude, following which they repaired to the Siena Room for lunch. A keen spiritual focus and
bonhomie prevailed throughout.
— Burnishing continues on page 4
Altar Society Pilgrims with St. Jude
Page 4
Burnishing from page 3
The Altar Society of the Immaculate Conception Church was founded soon after the parish was established in 1909.
Some one hundred years alter, the Society continues fervently to pursue its mission, which is partly to “foster love for
the House of God, laboring for its adornment and cleanliness,” and to “promote true Christian charity, the love of God,
the love of neighbor, and Christian family life.” It is a noble and splendid cause, and we at the Shrine of St. Jude are
privileged to share in it, even if from a distance. Mary Church brings to her presidency of the Altar Society a lifetime’s
accumulation of spiritual wisdom. She says it’s a great blessing for the Society members to “visit the Shrine, light our
candles, participate in Holy Mass...and to enjoy our lunch in warm surroundings.” And she concludes, “There are NO
complaints.” Likewise are we blessed by their annual visit, and we will look forward to the second Tuesday of March
for years and years to come.
Prayer to St. Anne
St. Monica Church, SF
St. Dominic Church, Benicia
St. Anne’s Home, SF
St. Anne’s of the Sunset, SF
St. Ann Church, San Antonio
S. Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio
Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, and with love for those who suffer, heavily
laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair
which I recommend to you under your special protection. Graciously recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Cease not to intercede
for me until my request is granted. — (here make your request) — Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day
beholding my God face to face and with you and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all
eternity. Amen.
How to Put the Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus in Your Will
Please remember the Shrine when you prepare your will or trust or your estate plan, and ensure your
participation in our mission for years to come. 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, securities, a piece
of property or all or part of the residue of your estate Please contact your attorney, or call Stedman Matthew
for more information, at (415-931-5919).
St. Anne Novena Spiritual Bouquet
Dear Father,
Please remember________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
so that they may share in the Novena of Masses at the Shrine of St. Jude in observance of the St. Anne
Novena, July 18-26, 2011.
Donation:________________
Please place this slip with your donation in an envelope and return it to the Shrine of St.
Jude either by mail or by depositing it into the black candle collection box at the Shrine.