June 19. Holy Apostle Iuda.
The Holy Apostle Iuda (also called Faddey and Kelevey), the brother of the Lord according to the flesh (6); the Holy Martyr Zosima; our venerable father Ioann the Hermit; our venerable father Paisiy the Great (to whom we pray for deliverance from torment for Orthodox Christians who have died without repentance, except for those who have taken their own lives); the venerable Varlaam of Pinega; the venerable Zinon.
The Holy Apostle Iuda
The holy apostle Iuda, one of the twelve disciples of Christ, was descended from the line of King David and Solomon, being the son of the righteous Iosif the Betrothed by his first wife.
The holy apostle Ioann the Theologian writes in his Gospel: “For neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5). Saint Feofilakt, Archbishop of Bulgaria, explains these words thus: at the beginning of the earthly ministry of the Lord Isus Christ, the sons of Iosif, including Iuda, did not believe in His divine nature. Tradition tells that when the righteous Iosif the Betrothed, returning from Egypt, began to divide among his sons the land that belonged to him, he wished to allot a portion to Christ the Savior, Who was born supernaturally and incorruptibly from the Most Pure Virgin Mariya. The brothers opposed this, and only the eldest, Iakov, accepted Isus Christ into joint possession of his share, and for this he was called the brother of the Lord. Later, Iuda came to believe in Christ the Savior as the expected Messiah, turned to Him with all his heart, and was chosen by Him among the closest twelve disciples. But remembering his former sin, the apostle Iuda considered himself unworthy to be called the brother of God, and in his catholic epistle refers to himself only as the brother of Iakov.
The holy apostle Iuda had other names as well: the evangelist Matfey calls him “Levey, surnamed Faddey” (Matt. 10:3), the holy evangelist Mark also names him Faddey (Mark 3:18), and in the Acts of the Holy Apostles he is mentioned under the name Barsava (Acts 15:22). Such was the custom in those days.
After the Ascension of the Lord Isus Christ, the apostle Iuda set out to preach the Gospel. He spread the faith in Christ first in Judea, Galilee, Samaria, and Idumea, and then in the lands of Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia, and finally came to the city of Edessa. Here he completed what his predecessor, the apostle of the Seventy, Faddey, had left unfinished. It is known that the holy apostle Iuda preached in Persia, and from there wrote his catholic epistle in Greek, in which, though brief, many deep truths are contained. It contains dogmatic teaching on the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation of the Lord Isus Christ, the distinction between good and evil angels, and the future Dread Judgment. Morally, the apostle exhorts believers to guard themselves from carnal impurity, to be diligent in their duties, prayer, faith, and love, to lead the erring onto the path of salvation, and to guard themselves against heretical teachings. The apostle Iuda teaches that faith in Christ alone is not sufficient; good works, which are characteristic of Christian teaching, are also necessary.
The holy apostle Iuda suffered martyrdom around the year 80 in Armenia, in the city of Arata, where he was crucified and pierced with arrows.