A relic of St. Jude, one of the 12 Apostles and a cousin of Jesus Christ, recently spent three days in the Diocese of Columbus.
The relic of the saint’s arm, which was held in a wooden reliquary for public veneration, drew thousands of people from across Ohio and out of state. The reliquary is carved in the shape of an upright arm and a hand in the gesture of imparting a blessing. The relic is considered a first-class relic.
First-class relics include a saint’s body or fragments of the body, such as pieces of bone.
Other classes of relics include second-class relics, which are items that a saint owned, such as a piece of clothing or a book, and third-class relics, which are items that a saint touched or have been touched to a first-, second- or third-class relic of a saint.
The relic of St. Jude, who is known as the patron of impossible causes, is on tour with Father Carlos Martins, the director of Treasures of the Church ministry, which seeks to give people an experience of the living God through the relics of His saints. Father Martins is a member of the Companions of the Cross community of Catholic priests.
The arm of St. Jude, which has been venerated in Rome since ancient times, is on pilgrimage in the United States from September to May and will be shown in 100 cities.
In the Diocese of Columbus, the relic was brought to Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church on Oct. 30. About 3,000 pilgrims visited the church to venerate the relic, including an individual who traveled from Iowa.
There were people present who had been away from the Catholic Church for decades, said Andrew Burson, senior director of parish ministry at St. Paul. He said viewing the relic was “spiritually healing” for them.
Sacramental confession was offered throughout the day at the church, Burson said, so people could fulfill the requirement for a plenary indulgence.
A plenary indulgence, or pardon from the punishment due for sins, is offered for venerating a relic if, within a reasonable period, it is accompanied by receiving the Eucharist, sacramental confession and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was offered at the church from 1 to 6 p.m., and veneration of the relic was offered until 10 p.m. However, pilgrims continued to venerate the relic until 11 p.m.
The church was filled for a 7 p.m. Mass, which was celebrated by Father Daniel Olvera, parochial vicar at St. Paul, that was celebrated in the presence of St. Jude’s relic. Father Olvera was joined by two deacons and five priests from the diocese, as well as Father Martins, who served as the homilist.
On Oct. 31, the relic was brought to the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, adjacent to the Ohio State University campus.
The relic was on display for public veneration at the Newman Center from 1 to 10 p.m. with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes at 7 p.m. More than 600 people visited the relic in the afternoon before Mass, and 400 people attended Mass, said Sarah Lightle, communications associate at the Newman Center.
Penelope Norton, who came to see the relic at the Newman Center, said the experience was “special for me.”
“I figured it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see an actual one of the Apostles that was right with Christ, so I thought that was something that I needed to come up here with from Dayton,” she said.
Norton was joined by Tom Fagan, who also drove from Dayton to see the relic. He has seen other relics of saints, he said, and believes it is important to learn about the saints.
“The more we get to know about them now, the more we can ask for their help in getting us to heaven and other loved ones, too,” Fagan said.
He admires St. Jude for being the patron of impossible causes and seeks his intercession.
“He’s like in combination with St. Rita, the saint of the impossible,” Fagan said. “They’re both known as the saint of the impossible, so I like them both really well because I’ve got some impossible things that need to happen. I call on both of them.”
Anita Fouch, who is a nurse practitioner at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, came to venerate the relic. Working in the health-care field, she said, she feels a calling to St. Jude and seeks his intercession.
“St. Jude could easily be our patron saint because, you know, he is the patron saint of the impossible, and I’d like to think that we are definitely on the cutting edge of curing impossible diseases,” she said. “I do outpatient gastroenterology, so ours is pretty cut and dry, but nonetheless, I feel a strong calling to St. Jude just because I am a nurse practitioner.”
Fouch said seeking the intercession of saints, such as St. Jude, could be beneficial for parents whose children are sick. She believes in the power of prayer when facing an illness.
“I feel like St. Jude is a good patron or saint to pray to, especially, you know, ‘I’ve been told that, well, my kid has this horrible illness,’ or whatever, you never know what’ll happen because with Jesus all things are possible, so I’m a big fan of St. Jude,” she said.
As a practicing Catholic, Fouch recognizes the importance of the saints and venerating their relics as a way to grow in holiness. She has seen other relics brought to Columbus, and she said, Catholics have a lot to learn from the saints.
“We are taught, of course, as Catholics that that’s our goal in life is to become a saint, so how better to do that than by studying and learning and following in their footsteps,” she said.
Michelle Weber, who works in health care at one of the Ohio State University hospitals, also enjoyed visiting St. Jude.
Venerating the relic was special for her because St. Jude is “somebody who was contemporary of Jesus,” she said. Weber enjoys visiting relics to learn about the saints.
“It’s wonderful that the Catholic Church preserves them, that they show them, that they’re available to us faithful even if we don’t live in Rome, that they’re able to keep them preserved and tour them and give us an opportunity to see them and help us grow in our faith,” she said.
For Ben Andrews, it was his first time seeing a saint’s relic. He is currently studying to become Catholic through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.
He did not have prior knowledge of St. Jude, he said, aside from the saint being mentioned in the Bible. St. Jude is mentioned in John 14:22, and he is believed to be the author of the Letter of Jude in the New Testament.
Andrews said he wanted to see the saint, and he researched and learned about relics before coming to visit.
“I think the connection he has as one of the 12 Apostles, I think it’d be cool to see,” he said. “First off, the historical part, the bones … from 2,000 years ago in such close proximity to Jesus, it’d be really cool to just be in that presence, and then much more, too, the presence of God working through the relics, right over there. … It’d be so cool to venerate that.”
On Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints, St. Jude’s relic traveled to New Albany Church of the Resurrection.
The relic was on display for veneration from 1 to 10 p.m., and an All Saints Day Mass was celebrated in the presence of the relic at 7 p.m.
There was a steady stream of pilgrims coming to venerate the saint’s relic throughout the day. Pilgrims drove in from various places, including Mansfield, Ohio and Michigan, to see St. Jude.