Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

OK, how many feasts ARE there? I already missed Saint James of Jerusalem whose feast was on Monday! Maybe I won't be able to keep up with the calendar so well as I suggested in my last post after all...

October 28th is the feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude (also called Thaddaeus)(see Luke 6:15-16; the names get a little confusing when you compare with the other lists: Matt. 10:1-3; Mark 3:13-19; Acts 1:13-14).
I don't know too much about Simon or Jude. Some have held that Jude the apostle wrote The Letter Jude (though this is debated within the tradition because there are several people called Jude, and the letter itself doesn't make this claim). The Letter Jude is best known for the oft-quoted verse 3, about defending "the faith that was once delivered to the saints," implying that the true faith is timeless and distinctly identifiable (and in no need of "revision" to fit neatly with the latest philosophical trends). And it also has that weird bit about Michael and Satan fighting over the bones of Moses, doesn't it? Hear any sermons on THAT lately?

According to Wikipedia, (a more prominent) tradition holds that Simon and Jude were an evangelist team (thus the shared feast day); they preached "the gospel of the Kingdom of God" in Egypt and then in Armenia where they were horribly martyred, Simon being cut in two with a saw, and Jude being killed with some sort of an ax.

As in many other cases The Book of Common Prayer (p. 245) may be the best guide of our reflection and thanksgiving:

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

So this day might be a good day to pray for renewal of the Armenian Church and for Christians in Egypt who even today are often persecuted for the name of Christ.