28 October: Apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude (Thaddeus)

Proclaiming the Gospel together

The two Apostles, Simon and Jude Thaddeus, are celebrated on the same day, possibly because of their shared apostolate in Mesopotamia and Persia, where they went to proclaim the Gospel. Not much is known about them. The little we know is what is in the New Testament.

Simon was known as “the Canaanite” and “the Zealot” (Mt 10:4; Acts 1:13), perhaps because of his fondness for the theocratic and messianic ideas of the Jews and his firm opposition to the Romans. According to second century reports by Hegesippus, he was the successor of Saint James the Minor and led the community of Jerusalem between 62 and 107 A.D., when he was martyred during the reign of Trajan.

Jude the Apostle is known as Thaddeus (good hearted) to distinguish him from Judas, the traitor. Thaddeus was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why he had manifested himself only to the disciples and not to the world (cf. Jn 14:22). The two Apostles were included among the “brothers of the Lord” (Mt 13:55), though there is no certainty that the term referred specifically to these two, Simon and Jude.

According to tradition, Jude evangelized Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia and was martyred in Edessa.

Relics of Simon and Jude Thaddeus have been venerated since 27 October 1605, at the central altar of the Basilica of Saint Peter’s left transept, formerly known as the Tribune of Saint Simon and Saint Jude, which was dedicated to Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, in 1963.