SAINT EXPEDITUS
(Also St. Expedite / St. Expedito / St-Expédit)

Patron Saint of the Republic of Molossia

Expeditus was possibly born in Armenia, at an unknown date. He was a Christian martyr, but not much else is known about him. A Parisian convent received a package from Rome containing a statue and relics of a saint, but they were unsure to whom the Holy Remains belonged. The package in which it came was marked “spedito” or “special delivery,” which in Latin translates to Expeditus. Whether the relics belong to the poor Armenian martyr or the good sisters had just been duped by an ironic play on words will never really be known. The controversial statue now resides in New Orleans, and the saint's name is regularly mentioned with gratitude in the personal column of the local paper, alongside St Jude.

As well as being the patron saint of the Republic of Molossia, St. Expeditus is also the patron of emergencies and solutions. His feast day is April 19. He is traditionally depicted as a Roman soldier, holding a palm leaf in his left hand, and raising a cross with the word "Hodie" (today) on it. His right foot is stepping on a raven, which is speaking the word "Cras" (tomorrow).

St. Expeditus is related to the Voodoo Culture of New Orleans, as a Loa, or Voodoo "saint" invoked for speedy solutions. In addition, St-Expédit is a cult figure on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, where blood-red shrines populate the countryside, decorated with candles and, occasionally, underwear.

Additional notes:

There is a saint Expeditus recorded in the Roman Martyrology for today included with Hermogenes and Companions (Hermogenes, Caius, Expeditus, Aristonicus, Rufus, and Galata were Armenian martyrs believed to have died at Melitene (Benedictines). ); however, the cultus of Saint Expeditus didn't develop until very late and was probably based on a play of words: expedito means "expeditiously" so this saint is invoked in moments of urgency. Sheppard (1969) claims that the name arose due to a copyist's error when, in the 19th century, a box of relics was sent to nuns in Paris marked `spedito' (sent off) and taken as a name. This story is probably untrue because Expeditus was already invoked in the 18th century in Germany and Sicily in cases of pressing emergency (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Sheppard).

St. Expeditus Statue in New Orleans
Photo by His Excellency President Kevin Baugh


St. Expeditus

 

 

Return to the Republic of Molossia Main Page.