Saints for Desperate and Hopeless Causes
Catholic America knows St Jude as the saint of lost causes, a Western devotion to the Apostle the Orthodox Church also honors. In desperate cases Orthodox Christians go first to the Mother of God, before her icon “Unexpected Joy.” In Russia they go to St Matrona of Moscow and St Xenia of Petersburg, and bring them what seems impossible: a sick child, a collapsing marriage, a debt with no way out. St Nicholas, the speedy helper, is asked by everyone, in every language. When human hope runs out, the Church does not tell us to stop asking.
The saints the Church turns to
The Apostle Jude
Asked for help when all human hope is gone (a Western, chiefly Catholic devotion) and for steadfastness in the faith.
19 June (2 July on the Old Calendar); in the West 28 October.
The Mother of God
Asked for intercession in times of heavy trial, before the icon “Unexpected Joy.”
Dormition, 15 August (28 August on the Old Calendar).
St Matrona of Moscow
Asked for help in the everyday sorrows and burdens of life.
2 May.
St Xenia of Petersburg
Asked for work, a home and help in hard times.
24 January (6 February on the Old Calendar).
St Nicholas the Wonderworker
The “speedy helper,” asked for a good outcome in a difficult situation.
6 December (19 December on the Old Calendar).
In our shop
- Icons of the Mother of God — wooden, gold-tone and silver-tone.
- St Jude icon (coming soon)
- St Matrona icon (coming soon)
- St Xenia icon (coming soon)
How Orthodox Christians pray for this
Orthodox Christians in desperate need ask the priest for a moleben or read an akathist to the Mother of God or to St Nicholas at home, often for forty days. They give the names of those they pray for at the Liturgy, light a candle before the icon, and keep praying on the prayer rope when words run out.
Have it consecrated by our priest before it reaches you — Consecration, $49.
Questions
Who is the patron saint of lost causes?
For Catholics, St Jude, and also St Rita. The Orthodox Church honors St Jude as an Apostle but does not call him the saint of lost causes. Orthodox Christians in desperate need pray to the Mother of God, St Nicholas, St Matrona and St Xenia.
Is St Jude an Orthodox saint?
Yes. The Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord, is kept on 19 June (2 July on the Old Calendar).