Jude
Liz Trotta
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Buy *Jude: A Pilgrimage To The Saint Of Last Resort

Jude: A Pilgrimage To The Saint Of Last Resort
Liz Trotta
HarperSanFrancisco
Paperback
270 pages
February 2005
rated 3 1/2 of 5 possible stars

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Liz Trotta takes the reader on a somewhat wild trip to some places connected with Saint Jude the Apostle. She is looking for the physical remains of St. Jude and for those people devoted to him. She goes to Baltimore, New York, Edessa, Turkey, Rome, Armenia and San Francisco. She comes across some unusual people, some of whom you would not want to meet in a dark alley. Many of the people she encounters are devotees of St. Jude because he has done a miracle for them or someone they love.

Trotta tells the story of St. Jude, be it legend or not, while she is on her pilgrimage to find him. She is keeping a traveler’s diary of sorts, describing what she sees and whom she encounters. She is surprised to learn that Americans are the ones who are really devoted to St. Jude, whereas other nationalities have a lesser devotion to him.

She goes to Edessa, Turkey, to find out if St. Jude’s remains are still there or if anyone is still devoted to him. She of course finds only remains of a church once devoted to him that has been turned into a mosque. He visited that city, but nothing has been preserved about him in that city. She then goes to Rome and discovers an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica that has his and St. Simon’s bones in it. She is there for the feast day of Sts. Simon and Jude and notices that most are not aware of the existence of this altar. At one time this altar was in a prominent place in the basilica, but that changed over time with remodeling and such. She then goes to Armenia and discusses how St. Jude is considered with St. Bartholomew to be the foundersof the Church in Armenia. She then tells of her visit to San Francisco and how St. Jude is the patron of those with AIDS. She discovers in her pilgrimage that St. Jude is everywhere, that many people - Catholic and non-Catholic or even non-Christian - are devotees of this saint. He is a saint for the masses.

Trotta is a journalist and has written one book before this one, Fighting for Air. She brings her journalistic research skills to bear in trying to find St. Jude. She eventually discovers that he is physically in a few places, but spiritually he is everywhere doing good for many people.

Jude is an easy book to read and the reader can glimpse some places and sights that Trotta visits. This is a spirituality book that is worthwhile to read and learn about St. Jude.



© 2005 by Br. Benet Exton, O.S.B. for curledup.com.

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