Excerpted from “The Magick of Saint Expedite” 

“Saint Expedite, also known as Expeditus was born in Armenia. It is not clear when he was born, but it is known that he died a Martyr in 303 A.D in Melitene Turkey .

According to Catholic traditions, Saint Expedite was a Roman Centurion. He was initially a pagan but later converted to Christianity, as many Roman Soldiers did. His conversion was to eventually lead to his death during the Diocletian Persecution of Christians in 303 A.D. Before his conversion, it is said that the devil came to him in a form of a crow and encouraged him to put off his conversion until the following day.  Saint Expedite refused and crushed the bird under his feet and killed it. He thus declared, ” I will be Christian today!” This is important to make note of because the typical iconography of Saint Expedite depicts him stomping on a bird that is saying “CRAS” which means “tomorrow” in Latin. Saint Expedite then lifts a cross with the word ” Hodie” engraved in it. Hodie being the word for “Today”

Saint Expedite was declared a martyr in 1781, in Italy where his cult survived in Turin since the Middle Ages.  He was called upon for his rapid response when settling legal issues and financial troubles. He is still quite popular in Europe and very much so in Latin America. On April 19th, Saint Expedite’s feast day, Sao Paolo, Brazil erupts in celebration.

As with all mysteries, they are often accompanied by many folk stories. Many revolve around him.  Some have said that the term Expeditus is not actually his real name but a misunderstanding.

The story takes place in France, 1781, a shipment of relics arrived, many were unidentified. However, on the box containing his statute, the word “Expedite” was marked on the package. Some believed it simply meant that the package was to be expedited to its final location whereas others believed that was the name of the Saint whose statue was contained in the package.  When Nuns at the Denfret-Rochereau Catcombs in Paris saw this, they prayed to this “unknown” saint and the prayers were all answered. Word of this quickly spread and the miracles of Saint Expedite would spread throughout the Catholic world and beyond.

Another version of this story takes place far from France, but in New Orleans.  In this version, (no doubt influenced by the French story since the French colonized New Orleans) a shipment of relics arrived at the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As with the French story, one package had no other marking except the term ” Expedit”. And thus, he was known to the locals as Saint Expedite. New Orleans, like Brazil still venerates Saint Expedite to this day.  He is very prominent in Creole Folklore.

This excerpt is from the book “The Magick of Saint Expedite”

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