St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles

Little is known about Simon and Jude, both named in New Testament lists of the twelve disciples, but tradition has consistently associated both apostles with one another, and with missionary work in Persia and Armenia. According to most ancient authorities they were martyred together, possibly in Beirut, but accounts vary. They are commemorated in the Episcopal calendar of the church year on Oct. 28. Simon is known as Simon the Canaanaean and Simon the Zealot. He was probably a member of the political sect known as the Zealots, which was violently opposed to the domination of Palestine by Rome. Jude, also known as Judas, Thaddeus, and Lebbaeus, was probably the author of the epistle of Jude. The epistle concludes with this striking doxology: “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time and now and forever” (Jude 24–25). St. Jude is distinguished in John14:22 as Judas but “not Iscariot” to avoid identification with the betrayer of Jesus, Judas Iscariot. Indeed, the tradition of calling him “Jude” rather than the Scriptural “Judas” likely started to avoid such confusion. By the twentieth century Jude had become popular as the “patron of hopeless causes.”