WILLIAMSBURG — A first-class relic of St. Jude Thaddeus arrived at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish on Feb. 24, with parishioners lining up to venerate it and pray to the apostle of hope.
After placing her hands on the vessel encasing the relic — a piece of bone from the apostle’s arm — Maryann Caggiano described the feeling as “amazing” and “very touching” to her heart.
“I named my daughter Judy. I didn’t think I could have another child, so she was like a miracle to me, which is why I named her after St. Jude. She’s 54 now,” Caggiano said. “I also have a sick son, so it has helped me a lot.”
The Dominican Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus of Chicago began its national tour of the relic — to spread hope — with the three-day visit to Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish. Father Michail Ford, who is leading the relic tour mission, said the Jubilee Year is a chance for the faithful to “start anew” and experience God’s love for them.
“St. Jude is the apostle of hope. That’s his specialty. And in this modern year, that is something that we desperately need,” Father Ford told The Tablet. “We have received thousands of prayer requests each and every year at the shrine and we pray over all of them.”
Father Ford, who led the prayer service, blessed parishioners with oil, and oversaw the relic’s veneration, highlighted how hope is ingrained in Catholicism. He noted that in the New Testament, both saints and theologians have learned different ways of incorporating Christ’s teachings on hope into their lives.
He said Catholics have been given the “gift” of theological hope and also have 2,000 years worth of evidence of “God never going back on his word.”
“It really boils down to the confident expectation of God coming through on the promises he’s made,” Father Ford said. “The notion of hope is something that is intrinsic to our faith and it’s something that … people preach and talk about and try to work on in their faith lives.”
After completing the visit to Brooklyn, Father Ford will continue the pilgrimage in other states, with his next stop being Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles Church in Derby, Connecticut. The final of six stops will be at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Croydon, Pennsylvania, on April 28.
Terriann Kava, who grew up as a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation, said that when she learned the relic was coming to her childhood parish, she was determined to make the trip, viewing it as an opportunity to honor her late father. “[St. Jude] meant so much to my dad. He is my dad’s patron saint,” she said. “So, I feel like I am doing something for my dad. He always [prayed] for the people that needed it most and needed help.”
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish, said the relic’s arrival was an exciting moment and a special one for him because of his mother’s devotion to the saint.
“I had the privilege of touching the relic on the first night it arrived, and it was very meaningful to me,” Msgr. Gigantiello said. “My mother had a great devotion to St. Jude and prayed for many years for me, and I feel like that was part of my ‘yes’ to my vocation.”