Land for the parish was donated to the Diocese of Atlanta by the Spalding family in 1960, who asked then Bishop Francis Hyland if the church could be named for St. Jude, a favorite saint of the family who they said had pulled the family “out of a good many holes.” Then the founding pastor, Msgr. John Stapleton, brought his personal devotion to the parish since as a child he had become gravely ill and his parents prayed to St. Jude for his recovery. His parents believed their prayers and novenas to St. Jude assisted as he gradually got well. Chosen first pastor of a parish named for St. Jude, Msgr. Stapleton was inspired to make a special effort to spread devotion to the saint who had so touched his life. He set a tradition of the parish reciting the “Prayer to St. Jude” at each Sunday Mass. When he left in 1968, he asked that the parish keep the tradition of spreading devotion to St. Jude the Apostle alive with weekly petitions to the patron saint at every Sunday Mass. The prayer and story are on the front of the Oct. 24 parish bulletin.