Saint Judas was called by Christ to be one of the Holy 12 Apostles and closest friends of Christ, following Him and seeing His love and listening to His teachings. He has a few names in the Gospels and has been called Thaddeus, meaning he who renders praise, Lebbaeus which means ardent, and also Barsabas. Saint Judas was the son of Saint Joseph the Betrothed, and his mother’s name was Salome (her grandfather’s brother was Prophet Zacharias the father of Saint John the Baptist). Saint Judas was also brother of Saint Iakovos the Brother of the Lord, and Saint Salome the Holy Myrrh-Bearer. Saint Judas married a woman named Mariam.
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Saint Judas often remembered his lack of faith in recognising Jesus as Christ because he intially did not agree with Saint Joseph’s desire to share his possessions with Christ as well as his biological children. Saint Judas therefore considered himself unworthy to be called the brother of the Lord, and referred to himself in his Epistle as the brother of James. In this way he also further confessed Christ to be the Incarnate Lord without an Earthly brother according to the flesh.
