October 28, Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude

Le Martyre de Saint Simon et Saint Jude. French medieval illumination.

Jude, or Jude Thaddeus, was one of the original twelve apostles of Jesus. His mother, Mary, is known as as a sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After the Pentecost, Jude brought the gospel to the Armenians along with St. Bartholomew after preaching in Judea and Syria. Simon, to be distinguished from Simon-Peter, but also one of the twelve, evangelized in Egypt and in other parts of northern and eastern Africa, where he became known to the Berbers. He then made his way back to Judea and into Syria. In A.D. 65 both St. Simon and St. Jude were martyred in the roman city of Beirut.