To join the St. Jude Society, call St.Mary Magdalen at (504) 733- 0922 or call Judy Serio at (504) 442- 4429 or email JSerio3@cox.

Here is an application you may complete and mail as instructed on the application.

Around Jefferson: St. Mary Magdalen's St. Jude Society to hold fall Novena 

BY EVA BARKOFF | Special to The Advocate
OCT 11, 2017 - 7:00 AM


The St. Jude Society of St Mary Magdalen Parish will hold its fall novenas Monday, Oct. 16, to 
Tuesday, Oct. 24, at St. Mary Magdalen, 6425 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie.  Leading the novena will be Rev. Sidney Speaks, associate pastor of St. Matthew the Apostle Church in River Ridge.

The St. Jude Society, and then the subsequent St. Jude Novena, were organized in the 1980s by 
Toni Ancona, said Ancona's daughter, Judy Ancona Serio, Toni Ancona was 95 when she died June 30, 2016. 

The society has more than 200 active and inactive members. “The first novena was held in October 1989, and then every June and October following,” Serio said. “None of the novenas have ever been canceled, even the October novena following Katrina went on as scheduled.”
St. Jude is known as the patron saint of hopeless causes. “In my mother’s book, ‘St. Jude and His People,’ she tells many stories of how her prayers were answered by St. Jude,” Serio said. “In fact, she starts off by explaining that the reason she started her devotion to St. Jude was because of her promise to him as a ‘thank you’ because her wish to spare my father’s life was granted.
“We have a lady in the St. Jude Society who last year developed a serious problem with hearing, 
dizziness and became immobile. Doctors were puzzled and unable to help. In the middle of the 
novena, she said all those problems disappeared. So I really feel St. Jude intercedes in many 
ways.”

In addition to organizing the novenas, members of the St. Jude Society help feed the poor by 
giving out food baskets every week, sponsor Christmas, Mardi Gras and Easter parties at the 
Veterans Administration hospital, purchase two bullet proof vests each year for local police, 
print a monthly newsletter and monitor a prayer line. “The St. Jude Society built a prayer garden on the grounds of St. Mary Magdalen Church,” Serio added. “It has a beautiful Shrine of St. Jude enclosed in the garden, and anyone is welcome to have a private moment and light a candle. 
“We also have a baby layette committee, providing a starter kit with beginner items that are 
given when requested to help new mothers in need. And we try to help St. Mary Magdalen 
Church and School whenever asked because they have generously allowed us to build our gift 
shop, prayer garden and meeting building on their grounds.”

The group meets the fourth Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen. Dues are 
$12 per year. The October novena scheduled is:
12:15 p.m. weekdays for novena only, and 6:30 p.m. weekdays for Mass and novena.
12:15 p.m. for Saturday novena only and 4 p.m. for Mass and novena.
11 a.m. for Sunday Mass and novena, and 6:30 p.m. for Mass and novena.

“My mother was a force of energy, creativity and an unstoppable determination to spread the 
word about St. Jude,” Serio said. "My mother truly loved the St. Jude Society and the members, and I know her vision was even greater. And had she lived another 20 years after her 95th birthday, she would she would have made those visions come true. “It is very important for me to keep this organization going for many reasons. I saw my mom on her St. Jude mission for 51 years of giving so it’s very hard to ignore that. Many of these St. Jude members have worked side by side with my mother and I am so appreciative of that because they did help to contribute in making my mom’s dream come true by following her lead.”

To join the St. Jude Society, call St.Mary Magdalen at (504) 733- 0922 or call Judy Serio at (504) 442-4429 or email JSerio3@cox.