St. Jude Becomes National Shrine

MANILA, Philippines – The archdiocesan shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus on J.P. Laurel St., San Miguel, Manila, will be declared a national shrine tomorrow, October 28, feast day of St. Jude.

His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, archbishop of Manila, will officiate in the concelebrated Mass at 6 p.m. where he will officially declare the elevation of the shrine to a national level.

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The parish priest, Fr. Rolando Aquino, SVD, after a lengthy period of preparing and completing the requirements needed for its elevation, thanks the Lord and the efforts of parishioners for the distinct blessing. It’s a dream-come-true following the first devotion to St. Jude introduced in 1959 by the pioneers Fr. Peter Tsao, SVD, and Fr. Peter Yang, SVD. The novena initially drew a few regular group of devotees, but the number swelled as they heard of the numerous petitions granted by the Saint of the Impossible.

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Now devotees comprise a motley crowd of parishioners, housewives, students, office workers, professionals, off-duty men and women in uniform, board examination candidates, persons with disabilities, and many others. They come from all over Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The big crowd on Thursdays and, especially on first Thursdays of the month, so pack the church that the overflow fills up the entire churchyard and at times even reaches the sidewalk across the street.

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Due to the shrine’s proximity to the university belt, 50 percent of devotees come from the studentry with petitions to pass their exams, the bar, or board. Others petition St. Jude to find a good husband, get a visa approved, or healing for a serious sickness. But the majority of petitions are requests for financial help.

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Some enterprising vendors sell color-coded candles like red to obtain money or wealth, green to secure a visa or greenbacks (US dollars), and so on. Students taking the board exams ask for the special blessing with holy water of pencils, calculators, review books, and yes, even memory pills...hopefully not codigo notes!

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When I was assigned as associate priest at St. Jude Shrine, I had talks with students about their requests. For instance, a young lady who was reviewing for the bar exam, requested me to pray for her.

“I’m scared, Father; it’s going to be my first time and I feel I’m not prepared.” She was a constant “fixture” in Masses and novenas in the shrine.

She finally took the exams. When I browsed through the papers after the release of the examination results, there was her name!

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Another bar examinee who was a St. Jude devotee prayed to pass the bar but it exceeded her wildest expectation. That is January “Jary” Sanchez, topnotcher of the 2005 bar exams. When the news was forwarded to her, she was inside St. Jude church making a vigil.

There are numerous other testimonies of miraculous intercessions of the Saint of the Impossible worth sharing but our space is limited.

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When I moved to Christ the King Seminary community from St. Jude Parish, I introduced the novena every Thursday after the 6 p.m. Mass. The number of devotees has increased. They believe in the power of prayer through St. Jude Thaddeus. As one spiritual writer puts it: “Prayer has a way of influencing events and penetrating the minds of people in a way which science and medicine fail to do.”

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ST. JUDE FEAST. Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Jude Thaddeus. Join our novena at the Divine Word Shrine, Christ the King Seminary Compound on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City after the 6 p.m. Mass.

A healing session will follow.

Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD