Apostle Jude Thaddaeus.

The Holy Apostle Jude was a son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed by his first wife, descended from King David and Solomon. At the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, Joseph's sons, Jude among them, did not believe in His divine nature. The brothers were opposed to Joseph's desire to allot a share of his inheritance to Jesus because He was born of another mother.

Only James, later called "The Brother of God," offered to share his portion with Him. Jude came to believe in Christ the Savior as the awaited Messiah, and he followed Him and was chosen as one of the twelve Apostles. According to John 14:22–23, after Jesus completed the Last Supper and announced his manifestation to his disciples, Jude asks, "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?"

After the Ascension he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. Finally, he went to the city of Edessa. Here he finished the work that was not completed by his predecessor, Saint Thaddeus, Apostle of the Seventy (August 21).

There is a tradition that Saint Jude went to Persia, where he wrote his catholic Epistle in Greek. The Apostle urges believers to guard themselves against fleshly impurity, to be diligent in prayer, faith and love, to convert the lost to the path of salvation, and to guard themselves from the teachings of heretics. He also says that it is not enough just to be converted to Christianity, but faith must be demonstrated by good works.

Laboring in this manner for the enlightenment of the pagan peoples and converting them from their former superstitions to the light of the true knowledge of Christ, he made his way to the lands around Mount Ararat, where he converted a multitude of people to Christianity. Having stirred up the pagan unbelievers, there they seized him and subjected him to tortures. Then they hung him up and shot arrows through him.

According to various traditions, the core tradition is consistent across East and West: he died a martyr for Christ in the eastern regions (Persia/Armenia) in the mid-to-late first century. The Armenian Apostolic Church—the world's oldest national Christian church, having adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD—traces its founding directly to two apostles: Thaddaeus and Bartholomew. According to Armenian tradition, Thaddaeus arrived in the Armenian kingdom around 43–66 AD, preaching in the regions of Artaz, Vaspurakan, Goghtn, Derzjan, and Sper. He reportedly converted members of the royal family, including King Sanatrouk's daughter Sandukht, who became the first Armenian martyr.

He is referenced in the Synoptic Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and wrote an epistle which is part of the New Testament. The Epistle of Jude stands as his enduring witness to the Church, warning against false teachings and encouraging steadfastness in apostolic faith. From the perspective of the Syriac Orthodox Church, St. Jude Thaddeus occupies a position of unique significance and honor. He is not merely one apostle among twelve, but the very foundation of our Church, the apostolic father of Syriac Christianity, the one through whom the Gospel came to our ancestors and established our ecclesiastical identity. Without St. Jude Thaddeus, there would be no Church of Edessa, no Syriac Christian tradition, no continuity with the apostolic age in our region.

In Armenia, he is an apostolic founder—a man who brought the kerygma to their ancestors, who shed his blood on their soil, whose presence is embedded in their national and ecclesiastical identity. The Armenian Apostolic Church venerates him as one of its founding apostles. Churches dedicated to his name, particularly in the Middle East and across Eastern Christian lands, serve as centers of pilgrimage and devotion.

The Holy Apostle Jude, also known as Thaddaeus, Lebbaeus, and Judas son of James, was one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Christ and a kinsman of the Lord. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and his brother, along with St. James, by virtue of being the son of St. Joseph the Betrothed. He is also called Levi or Thaddeus and sometimes the name Jude is rendered as Judas, but he is not to be confused with Judas Iscariot, the Apostle Matthew (also called "Levi"), or the Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy.

The Holy Apostle Jude, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, is descended from King David and Solomon, and was the son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed by his first wife. At the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, Joseph's sons, Jude among them, did not believe in His divine nature. However, Jude came to believe in Christ the Savior as the awaited Messiah, and he followed Him and was chosen as one of the twelve Apostles. Mindful of his sin, the Apostle Jude considered himself unworthy to be called the Lord's brother, and in his Epistle he calls himself merely the brother of James.

He was one of the Twelve Apostles and after the Ascension he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. While preaching in the area around Ararat he was captured by pagans, crucified and killed by being shot with arrows. There is a tradition that Saint Jude went to Persia, where he wrote his catholic Epistle in Greek. In the Epistle much profound truth was expressed in a few words. Saint Jude's Epistle speaks about the Holy Trinity, about the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the good and bad angels, and about the dread Last Judgment. The Holy Apostle Jude died as a martyr around the year 80 near Mt. Ararat.

Jude married a woman named Mariam, and we are told by the historian Eusebius that during the reign of Dometian (81-96) two grandsons of the Apostle Jude were brought before the emperor himself, who based on the slanders of heretics was afraid they posed some political danger to him. When the emperor examined them and saw that they simply toiled in the working of the land, he set them free as they posed no danger to him.