St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is the patron saint of hope and impossible causes and one of Jesus’ original twelve Apostles. He preached the Gospel with great passion, often in the most difficult circumstances. (Judas Iscariot, not St. Jude, is the person who betrayed Jesus.)
 
The Gospel tells us that St. Jude was a brother of St. James the Lesser, also one of the Apostles. They are described in the Gospel of Matthew as the “brethren” of Jesus, probably cousins.
 
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, St. Jude traveled throughout Mesopotamia, Libya, and Persia with St. Simon preaching and building up the foundations of the early Church. St. Jude died a martyr’s death for his unwavering faith. His body was later brought to Rome and placed in a crypt under St. Peter's Basilica.

(Source: National Shrine of St. Jude)