Production and reproduction of words of power in The modern digital era: The case of the healing prayer to Saint Jude Thaddeus

Abstract

Jude Thaddeus is associated with a sacred yet enigmatic figure, a saint and Apostle of Jesus Christ, who is venerated as “the patron saint of impossible or hopeless causes.” Due to the shared name with Judas Iscariot, the Apostle who betrayed Christ, Jude Thaddeus has often been overlooked or marginalized in the Christian tradition. The restitution of his veneration is closely linked, on the one hand, to a religious legend that distinguishes him from Judas Iscariot, and on the other, to a widely circulated prayer characterized by a structured form and embedded within a specific ritual context. From the perspective of charm studies, it constitutes a particularly interesting case, offering scholars not only the opportunity to examine the interconnection between “words of power” and belief narratives, but also to observe how well-known recurrent patterns related to taxonomies and distinctions such as charm vs. prayer, official vs. unofficial, accepted vs. unaccepted are produced and reproduced in the modern digital era. The paper traces the dissemination and veneration of the prayer to Saint Jude Thaddeus, drawing on oral and digital testimonies from its performers in contemporary Greece. At the same time, it lays the groundwork for a potential cross-cultural comparative study, as variants of the same text and similar performative contexts are attested today in many Christian countries around the world.