A Novena to St. Jude

Novenas were once a common form of prayer. The form has waxed and waned in popularity and is currently experiencing an upswing.

As a prayer form, there a number of ways in which you can really make this prayer your own. Here, we’ll explore the St. Jude Novena by talking about novenas in general and doing a deep dive on St. Jude.

The Novena

The Novena is a prayer or sequence of prayers said over the course of nine days. If from nowhere else, the name might sound familiar to you because we mentioned it in our article on reasons to pray the rosary.

Novenas are popular for a number of reasons. For one, remember to say your prayers for nine consecutive days can help to keep your mind on the sacred while navigating your day. There’s also a sense that novenas are more “powerful” than other prayers because of the amount of time and dedication that they require.

St. Jude

So now that we understand Novenas, why St. Jude?

St. Jude – not to be confused with Judas Iscariot - was one of the twelve apostles. As such, he was present at Pentecost, which is intimately connected with the tradition of the novena.

Further, St. Jude is the patron saint of hope and lost causes. Because many people choose the novena when they’re going through a tough time, St. Jude is a natural choice.

Further, some people may feel a particular closeness to St. Jude if they are named after him, or if they choose him as their saint during confirmation.

Novena to St. Jude

If you’re a non-Catholic or a new-Catholic reader, a novena to St Jude can sound strange enough let alone a novena to a saint. So, why say a prayer to a saint and how does that work?

Catholics believe in a concept called “The Communion of Saints” this is intimate spiritual contact with passed Catholics. This is the foundation for not exactly praying “to” saints but praying “through” saints by asking them to intercede to God on their behalf. So, for Catholics, a novena to St. Jude is asking St. Jude to pray for you just like you might ask a family member or close friend to pray for you.

Saying the Novena

If you’ve said novenas in the past, they probably involved the Rosary or the Chaplet of Devine Mercy. The Novena to St. Jude is a bit different.

For one thing, it involves only three distinct prayers. Further, each of those prayers is said only one time each night compared to the dozens of repetitions involved in the standard Rosary or Chaplet. That doesn’t mean that it’s totally different.

Like the Rosary and Chaplet, the Novena to St. Jude is meant to be said alone or in a group. Most templates for the prayer – including that linked above – have a standard text to be recited by the prayer “leader” as well as a bolded general response.

The prayer to St. Jude may be unfamiliar to some, but after saying it every day for nine days, it can grow in a person pretty quickly.

Why Not Say a Prayer?

Now that you know more about novenas and about St. Jude, and have a guide to say the Novena to St. Jude, hopefully, you will be inspired to try adding this prayer to your repertoire.