Catholic devotees honor St Jude’s relic with watery procession through Mexico’s Xochimilco

Catholic devotees honor St Jude’s relic with watery procession through Mexico’s Xochimilco canals

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It was no ordinary Sunday on Mexico City’s famed Xochimilco canals.

Instead of tourists and locals hanging out with friends, the brightly painted boats known as “trajineras” were filled with Catholics honoring a relic of St. Jude Thaddeus, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles and patron saint of impossible causes.

A wooden figure holding a bone fragment of St. Jude’s arm was kept in a glass case while it glided through the calm waters as part of a month-long visit to Mexico, a country that is home to nearly 100 million Catholics.

The relic arrived in Mexico in late July after touring the United States in its first-ever trip out of Rome. Devotees will be able to pay respects in a dozen Mexican parishes through Aug. 28.

Devotees line up to see a relic of St. Jude Thaddeus as it traverses the canals of Xochimilco, Mexico City