St. Jude Founder Kept His Promise To The Saint of Lost Causes The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, located in Memphis TN, is the result of Danny Thomas making a promise. As a struggling young actor and comedian, Danny prayed to the Patron Saint of Lost Causes - St. Jude. He promised that if the saint would take care of him and his family, he would build a shrine in his honor.The shrine would be a hospital for needy children, where they would be cared for regardless of race, religion or ability to pay, where no suffering child would EVER be turned away.