Thousands of Catholic faithful from all over came to St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Saugus this week for “a moment of veneration” near an ancient artifact.
Leaving Italy for the first time since the reign of the Roman Empire, a relic from St. Jude drew a long line of parishioners to the church from 2 p.m. until nearly 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Rev. Vaugh Winters.
Catholics believe St. Jude Thaddeus was one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, the patron saint of lost causes and the author of one of the shortest books in the Bible.
Winters said it’s a bit ironic: St. Jude’s actual life was not as well-chronicled as some of Jesus’ other disciples.
“But nevertheless, he has a lot of popular devotion that has developed over the centuries,” he said.
The arm that visited the church in the form of a reliquary was separated from the greater portion of St. Jude’s remains several centuries ago and placed in a wooden arm carved into an upright shape in the form of giving a blessing.
The rest of the remains are in a crypt within the original St. Peter’s Basilica, which was completed in 333 A.D. by Emperor Constantine, according to apostleoftheimpossible.com, a website created for the tour.
The proceeds of the tour, Winter said, are going to the renovation for the Shrine of St. Jude’s in Rome.
Winters, who said he came to the Saugus congregation three years ago from St. Mary’s in Palmdale, “was very impressed by the faith and devotion of the people,” some who waited two to three hours, he said.
“Of course, traditional relics might strike some modern people as strange, you know — bone fragments,” he said, “but it goes back to the whole history of the church, of having that physical connection with the saint, and the idea that seeing the physical bone as a reminder that these were real people.”
Winters estimated more than 4,000 passed through for their veneration, which Winters described as “a moment of prayer before the relic asking for St. Jude’s introspection and help.”
While the stop was a one-day visit, Winters was very pleased with the popularity.
Saugus’ inclusion in the tour was a “happy coincidence,” he said, because he happened to know one of the organizers, which is how he was able to invite the tour to Santa Clarita.
“We’ll look for other relics in the future,” he said, “people definitely enjoyed it.”
