Many Seek Help from Mexico's Saint of Lost Causes Sofia Jaramillo - The Associated Press
go to original August 12, 2015

Lucero Lima, left, and her husband Julio Apaseo pose for a portrait with their statues of San Judas Tadeo, or St. Jude Thaddeus, at San Hipolito Church in Mexico City. (AP/Sofia Jaramillo)

For the faithful, he is the saint of the hopeless, patron of lost causes, the deliverer of the impossible. Each month at a chapel near the heart of Mexico City, San Judas Tadeo's status as a performer of miracles draws believers from among the most desperate corners of society.

Bearing statues of the green-cloaked saint, some even dressed in his image, old and young alike gather on the 28th of every month - a remembrance of his Oct. 28 feast day - to stream through the San Hipolito Church in an unending procession of requests for intercession and appreciation of miracles received.

...Expecting parents ask for blessings for their unborn children. Relatives of the sick ask that their loved ones be cured. Once desperate believers thank him for ending their addiction to drugs.

The saint has attracted a large following among the pierced and tattooed young people in the urban core, who gather at a nearby park to drink and dance to the syncopated rhythm of reggaeton music. Some clench their fists to inhale solvents, a cheap way to get high.

...Outside the church, faithful cram together in a line snaking around the building. Vendors sell icons, religious medallions, costumes, key chains and candles. Those arriving to give thanks for miracles hand out "mandas," tokens of appreciation such as flowers or treats, to anyone near.

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