Which saint is the patron of lost causes?

Which saint is the patron of lost causes? Saint Jude is traditionally recognized as the patron of lost or desperate causes.

Jude was one of Jesus’s Twelve Apostles and is commonly identified with Thaddeus, a name used to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. The New Testament also contains the short Letter of Jude, although its authorship and the apostle’s biography are matters of historical discussion.

His unusual patronage is often explained through later devotion: because Jude’s name resembled Judas Iscariot’s, people were once reluctant to pray to him. As a result, devotion to Jude came to be associated with seemingly hopeless situations—cases that had been overlooked or considered lost. This is a devotional tradition, not a claim that Jude guarantees a particular outcome.

Saint Jude is not the same figure as Saint Anthony of Padua, who is widely invoked for lost objects, while Saint Rita of Cascia is especially associated with impossible causes. Jude’s principal feast in Western Christianity is October 28, shared with Saint Simon the Zealot.