By Christina Leslie | Staff Writer

The annual solemn novena in honor of St. Jude will be held Oct. 20- 28 in St. Michael Church, 1106 Brunswick Ave., Trenton. This year marks the church’s 75th anniversary of the St. Jude Novena.

Father Angelo Camacho will be the novena preacher. Novena services will be held weekdays at 8 a.m. following Mass, 9:15 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will be a part of the 7 p.m. service. On Saturday novena services will be at 8 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and during the Saturday Vigil Mass at 6  p.m. On Sunday the novena will be a part of the 8:45 a.m. Sunday Mass only.

This year, a buffet dinner will be held Oct. 25 following the 6p.m. Mass. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling Christine Barranco at (609) 359-9977.

For the past 75 years, the novena has been a tradition that gives an opportunity each year for people to change pace and place their cares and concerns before the Lord through the intercession of St. Jude, reads the press release for the novena.

The novena was begun in St. Michael’s by Father Ladislas Rakvica in 1939 in thanksgiving for his own recovery from a near fatal illness. Since that time, extraordinary graces have been received by those who pray the novena. Many letters of thanksgiving are received each year, reads the release.

St. Jude is the author of the New Testament Epistle of Jude, brother of St. James the Apostle and patron saint of those in need. In the Gospel of Matthew, St. Jude is called one of the “brethren” of Jesus, probably meaning a cousin. His mother, Mary, is historically known as a cousin of Jesus’ mother Mary, while his father, Cleophas, is known as the brother of St. Joseph.

A novena is the reciting of powerful prayers and devotions for a special request over nine consecutive days. Traditionally, a novena includes praying, fasting, and meditating.

A novena to St. Jude has never been known to fail for those who maintain a strong posture of faith that God is always working behind the scenes, reads www.stjudenovena.org.

Father Camacho, a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph, N.Y., has preached the Gospel as a missionary in Peru for more than 30 years. His experience includes parish ministry, both in the United States and Latin America, pastoral and administrative ministry on the diocesan and international level, the design and development of marriage enrichment and parish renewal programs, social action ministry among the poor, community organizing and leadership training. He is founding president of the Latin American Institute for Christopher Leadership, and also founder director of a marriage renewal program in Spanish called: REMA- Renovacion Matrimonial.

He is a co-founder of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Secretariat for Latin Americans and the founder and first director of the Family Life Commission for the Diocese of Chimbote, Peru. Father Camacho holds a licentiate in sacred theology and has published articles, manuals and books in the areas of parish renewal, marriage enrichment and leadership training. He has preached the Solemn St. Jude Novena for a number of years in St. Michael Church.

St. Michael Church is a worship site of St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville. For information on the novena, contact St. Ann Parish at 609-882-6491.