Novena and Lighting a Candle at the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus

A week ago, three friends and I visited the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus in J.P. Laurel, Manila. I was actually unsure where we were heading to as we walked past the roads of Mendiola. No worries, I was just following them. All I knew was we were going to attend a mass. Arriving at the place, indeed, it seemed as though a Holy Eucharist was going on.

We went up the choir loft and sat on a bench while the priest was going through his sermon. Afterwhich, I thought he would go on with the usual proceedings but I was surprised when everyone took his/her own booklets. It dawned to me that we were actually participating in a solemn novena to St. Jude Thaddeus.  The priest walked as through the prayers with the booklets as our reference.

Who is St. Jude Thaddeus, you may ask? He is actually one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. In the bible, he is interchangeably called Thaddeus, Jude of James, Judas Thaddeus, or Lebbaeus. The parish's history started  from the evangelization of Chinese in Manila in 1588 under the Dominican Fathers. According to the shrine's website, the church had set up its first rectory through renting a part of the premises of a former hospital (now St. Jude Catholic School) in San, Miguel Manila. By next month, St. Jude Thaddeus became the patron saint as proposed by Father Provincial Herman Kondring, SVD. The site where it is presently located was donated by Archbishop Rufino Santos.

The website said that the weekly novena started in June 1959 and since then, it has been held every Thursday. It has been flocked by devotees such as students, board exam takers, office workers, and other people who pray for petitions especially those who need help for their various problems in life. 

After the novena was finished, we went outside and there at the lobby, people gathered, raising their hands and booklets as the priest sprinkled us with Holy water. Truly, life is useless without our deep faith to the Almighty.

Before we recap our visit, we lighted floating candles located just by the lobby and there we silently offered our prayers to the Father. I realized that many people come here to manifest their faith, which was a part of their sincere interaction with the Lord. 

I thank God for sanctuaries like National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus. In this modern and fast-paced life that we are in right now, it is easy for us to be tempted and get caught in sin. But with a community where we can find refuge to express our faith to God, we can re-assess our lives and put it into the right perspective.