St. Labi (Lebbaeus) | Aug 19

Mar Labi often called as Judas (Jude in English) is variously named. Jerome called him Thaddaeus Trinomius, which means a man with three names. In Mark he is Thaddeus.In Matthew he is called Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus. Matthew 10:3 in the Peshitta Bible reads as (and Philipos, and Bar-Tholmai, and Thoma, and Mathai the tribute-gatherer, and Jakubbar-Chalphai, and Labi who was surnamed Thadai). Thaddaeus is a derivation from thed, which means breast or chest. On the other hand, Lebbaeus is derived from leb, which means heart. It is suggested that some scribe would have thought that Thaddaeus is a very strange name for an Apostle and hence translated it to Lebbaeus, (man of heart) which was a better fitting name.

In the first three Gospels no word or action of Judas is mentioned, but in the fourth Gospels, he makes one appearance, under the name of Judas, not Iscariot (Jn. 14: 22). At the Last Supper he asked Jesus, why he chose to reveal Himself only to the disciples and not all (world). Jesus answered “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with Him…..” (Jn. 14: 23-24). Now the days were coming inevitably close, he could not understand Jesus. He was saying that it is all right to tell us that you are the Messiah and chosen one of God, but it is surely time to for a public manifestation of the same. Surely you must show the people who you are and demonstrate your power. Jesus answer was that any manifestation would be impossible, except to the loving and obedient heart and the Father and Son will make that heart, their abode and dwelling place. All that Jesus needed was the loyalty of a loving heart and surrendered life. The way of power can never be a substitute for the way of love and He and His Father would visit all those who loved and obeyed him. Jude provides the very specific and correct definition of ‘Holy Tradition’ as the “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). It includes everything that Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Apostles have given to the Church.

After Pentecost little is known of Jude’s activities. He preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, and Armenia. The name Thaddaeus is connected with one of the most romantic and attractive legends of the early Church, which has come down to us in the works of both Eusebius and Jerome. This tradition explain St Jude picture with the medallion of Christ. It is said that Thaddaeus, built Churches in Edessa and Edessa became the first Christian City. Edessa later became the center of the Orthodox Syrian Church. He went on to preach the Gospel in other places, including Persia and was finally killed with arrows at the foot of Mt. Ararat, in modern day Turkey. Following the apocryphal “Passion of Simon and Jude” he is traditionally believed to have preached with Simon in Persia, where they were both martyred. While he was preaching in the region around Ararat, he was seized by the pagans, crucified, and shot through with arrows, that he might reign forever in the Kingdom of Christ.

Thaddaeus first, lived with Jesus and then took the men to light and healing, which brought the Gospel to the entire world. Thaddeus suffered martyrdom in Armenia, according to the same tradition, and is revered as an apostle of the Armenian Church. His Feast day is Aug 19/21 by the Orthodox Churches and 28th Oct in the Western Churches.