St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour.  St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. 

The Jewish people, proud of their lineage, kept exact records of their ancestors, and we see that St. Jude’s father, Cleophas, was the brother of St. Joseph and St. Jude’s mother, Mary of Cleophas — who stood underneath the cross — was the cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary (their mothers were sisters). 

Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia.

Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases and his feast day is October 28. Saint Jude is not the same person as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Our Lord and despaired because of his great sin and lack of trust in God's mercy.