April 2008

Dear Friend in St. Jude,

The Novena in honor of St. Catherine and St. Jude will be from April 21 to April 29. St. Catherine is a Doctor of the Church. She did numerous kindnesses for the people of Siena. She worked for the Church by urging the Pope to return to Rome from exile in Avignon. She inspired many to live a life of contemplation and prayer. She was rich in contemplation herself; dedicated in love for Jesus who shared his friendship with her.

Each day of the novena we will be saying the rosary, celebrating Mass, preaching the Word, venerating the relic of St. Catherine and saying the prayers of the novena to St. Catherine and St. Jude. Their power to intercede will be helpful to you for your petitions of good health, reconciliation, employment, work and salary, peace of mind and pursuit of happiness. Send them to us so that we can call upon God through the powerful prayers of these friends of God. They have proved to be effective to our many readers in the past.

The mission of the Shrine is to promote devotion to the saints and to offer prayer and worship during the novenas in the course of each year. You can share in these works by calling us to your needs in joining with the many others who write to us. Their dedication has been the secret of the success of the shrine for these many years.

I look forward to hearing from you and I want to thank you for your generosity to us so many times in the past.

I am yours in St. Jude,

Fr. Concordia, O.P.

P.S. The Second Sunday of May is dedicated to Mothers. We join in this celebration by offering a Novena of Masses for mothers living and dead. We invite you to unite with us by sending us a response in the form enclosed with this letter.