History of St. Jude Parish and
The Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague

In the early 1940s, Catholics in Franklin and Southampton County gathered for Mass in the home of John and Henry Hawa, relatives of the Kannans and Rabils of our current parish family. In those early days Mass was also celebrated in Franklin’s old USO building near Fourth Ave, where many World War II Catholics GIs went to Mass while stationed at the Franklin Airport. Mass was also celebrated in the Wright Funeral Home; whose family remain parishioners. In 1945 the lot was purchased and in 1947 a contract was signed to build a Shrine in honor of St. Jude Thaddeus, an Apostle and cousin of Our Lord. He was an inspired writer of one of the Epistles of the New Testament, a Martyr, and the Patron of hopeless causes. On April 25, 1948, the cornerstone of St. Jude Church was laid by Bishop Peter L. Ireton as a mission of St. Mary of the Presentation Parish, Suffolk.

Fr. Julius Schmidhauser Pastor of St. Mary’s was also appointed pastor of St. Jude Mission. On October 28,1953, the Shrine of the Infant of Prague in Wakefield became a mission church, despite the fact St. Jude was not yet a parish. The Monahan family founded and originally owned the famous Virginian Diner on Route 460 in Wakefield. The original Mr. Monahan had wanted St. Jude to be centered in Wakefield but Bishop Ireton opted for Franklin since more Catholics lived there. As you eat your meal in the Virginia Diner across the road from the Shrine of the Infant of Prague, you have a wonderful view of the church!

On May 1, 1955, St. Jude was named a parish. In February 1986, a Building Fund was established for the expansion of St. Jude’s facilities. On December 21, 1986, Bishop Walter F. Sullivan dedicated the religious education center. On October 25,1987, the fortieth Anniversary of the dedication of the church, the new commons are was dedicated by Bishop David Foley. The worship center and fellowship hall were dedicated by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan on December 4, 1994.

In 1995, the St. Jude Mission statement was created. The following year, a garden was designed and planted on the northeast side. Today our parish has over 115 families that worship together. We have groups and committees that serve our parish and the surrounding community. Our current mission statement is:

The mission of St. Jude is to empower the people to be devoted followers of Christ through celebrating the Eucharist, proclaiming the Word, being a community and sharing resources.