Samedi: More on Prayer to St. Expedite

Now that I’ve been posting here for six months, I’ve found that the posts with prayers to and information about the dear St. Expedite are consistently popular with visitors to HQ.  Now I’m keeping an eye out and an ear to the ground for new entreaties and new information to and about this intriguing Saint-that-never-was-and-yet-is.

Recently, while reading The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook by Denise Alvarado, I came across Ms. Alvarado’s version of a petition to St. Expedite.  I have not seen this one before but, it goes without saying, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been around for awhile.  The book focuses on New Orleans Voodoo – rather than Haitian Voudon –and as we’ve discussed before St. Expedite is there frequently associated with the lwa of NOLA, Baron Samedi.  This prayer is unique to the others I have posted as it gives you an opportunity to add your request at the end, which gives it a charming “homemade” flavor.  From the book:

Oh, Glorious Martyr and Protector Saint Expedito!  We humbly ask to have fortune and prosperity for our country, that the sick get well, the guilty get pardoned, the just be preserved and those who abandon this valley of tears rest in the Light of The Lord and the souls of the dearly departed rest in peace.  (Mention your request).  Amen.

Here the author of the prayer first asks for righteous assistance on a broad scale – keep our country, cure the sick, save the martyrs, watch over the dead – and then adds their petition at the end.   It is very much in the form of many Catholic prayers which I grew up with.  These tend to treat Saints like generous Aunties who, if we as children are clever enough in the way we ask, will hand over an extra treat after supper. 

In this same “folk-religion” tradition, supplicants are very much encouraged to go from Saint to Saint until they find the one that gives them candy who then, of course, becomes their favorite.  My Aunt Bette was a sucker for my green eyes and gave up the last piece of cake to me every time.  Which Auntie do you imagine was my favorite?

Thanks in part to Aunt Bette I am a big fan of red velvet cake and Saint Expedite as well.  May your good fortune with him be just as mine has been, and may your favorite Auntie always offer up that last piece of cake.  Bonne chance ~

Header: Framed icon of Saint Expedite

Samedi: Prayer to St. Expedite

We've talked about the Roman soldier born and bred in New Orleans, Saint Expedite, before. As we discussed, he is the saintly alter-ego of the Lord of Ghede, Baron Samedi in New Orleans Voodoo. That post is a consistent favorite here at HQ as is the Saint. Anyone who can help you find a solution to a problem quickly is sure to be popular.

Prayer cards are available with the Saint’s likeness – he is invariably shown as a Roman clad in the uniform of a legionnaire and holding a cross, palm frond, or both – on the front and his invocation on the back. The words are curious among prayers to Catholic saints as they specifically mention St. Expedite being able to achieve for the supplicant what his or her abilities cannot. I find this particularly comforting and encouraging; perhaps because I am a writer.

Today, three versions of the Prayer to Saint Expedite from my own prayer card which comes from lovely NOLA herself. Light a red candle (preferably dressed with an oil to match your need as in clove oil for protection, rose for love, cinnamon for money) and recite the prayer that most resonates with you. Allow the candle to burn out completely and then put what is left of the candle – still in its holder – in your freezer. Leave it (and try not to think about your request) until your desire has manifested, then remove the candle from the holder and bury it on your property or in a house plant before making a thank you offering to St. Expedite (try rum; he loves it).

May the intercession of the glorious martyr Saint Expedite, recommend us, O my God, to Thy goodness, in order that his protection may obtain for us what our own merits are powerless to do. Amen.

We supplicate Thee, Lord, to inspire by Thy grace all our thoughts and actions, that Thou being their principle, we may, by the intercession of Saint Expedite, be conducted with courage, fidelity and promptitude, at the time proper and favorable, and come to a good and happy end through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint Expedite, honored by the gratitude of those who have invoked thee at the last hour and for pressing cases, we pray thee to obtain from the all-powerful goodness of God, by the intercession of Mary Immaculate, the grace we solicit with all submission to the Divine Will. Amen.

Use any or all of these prayers, but always remember to thank the Saint when your request is fulfilled. Bon chance ~

Header: Saint Expedite niche at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, New Orleans

Samedi: Saint Expedite

All lwa in Voudon belief have a corresponding Catholic Saint. This had to do with the African religion being practiced openly under the nose of Catholic slaveholders in what is now Haiti and what was then Saint Dominique or San Domingue. A statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin in her guise as the Stella Maris would be set up as the centerpiece for an altar to the mermaid La Siren and who would be the wiser? As the process of assimilation continued, the Catholic faith leaked into the African religion. Many voudonisants and rootworkers call themselves Catholic. The famous Marie Leveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, stopped practicing hoodoo all together and “became a Catholic” in later life.

In the case of the Lord of the Ghede, Baron Samedi, the corresponding Saint is known as Expedite. This was not always the case, however, and is in fact not generally the case in Haiti. In Haitian Voudon the Ghede tend not to be represented by Saints. A cross will do nicely, particularly if it is painted black or purple. The association with St. Expedite (shown above on a prayer card) came out of the Crescent City and the story is not only amusing but a true tale of cultures mingling while they are still at crossed purposes.

In Catholicism proper there is no St. Expedite. Believe me. I was raised Catholic, did my time in CCD and have not only my jumbo book of saints for all things and days but my mother’s family Bible with the “Names of the Saints” section that includes such obscure entries as St. Cleopatra and St. Mel. Mom consulted it to come up with my name and never forgave Dad’s Creole kin for giving me a second, French version. “There is no St. Pauline,” she’d say. “She’s not in the book.” And, like Pauline, if there was a St. Expedite he’d be in one or both of these handy references.

The story goes that after the Louisiana Purchase but before Louisiana became a state, a package was shipped to St. Louis Cathedral from a Catholic Diocese in New England. The crate was stamped with the word “Expedite” as so frequently happened when mailing items to the unknown frontier but the Creole speaking Haitian men who were opening the mail had no idea what that meant. They read the word though and when they opened the crate they found a beautiful statue of a Roman soldier with golden armor, a gold halo and holding a cross. Surly, they agreed between them, this must be St. Expedite (pronounce “Ex-pa-DEET”).

The word got out and people began lighting candles before the new statue in the Cathedral. When it seemed that rootwork would be more successful and that success would come faster if St. Expedite was invoked, he got a reputation for helping things along. This, in turn, began his association with the lwa who watches over NOLA then and now, Baron Samedi. And all because of a stamp on a crate.

Is the story true? I would never be so bold as to say definitively “Yes!” because that would be foolish. As Hamlet told Horatio, there are more things in … Well; you know the rest. So for now, Au revoir ~