SAINTATHON 2015: Saint Expedite

Praised Be Jesus, everyone!

As we continue on with our celebration of saints for November, I want to highlight a mostly unknown saint in our part of the world, who's also one of my favorites, Saint Expedite. Very little is known about Saint Expedite, but he is greatly associated with the armies of Armenia. As his legend goes, Saint Expedite was a Roman solider who was converting to Christianity. On his way to be baptized, Satan appeared to him as a crow (or a snake, depending on the legend) and tried to convince him to convert the next day. In a flurry of zeal, Expedite crushed the bird beneath his feet and proclaimed, "I will follow Christ today!" and proceeded to be baptized — and not long after, martyred.

In his iconography, Expedite is pictured as a young Roman soldier with a crow beneath his feet saying the Latin word Cras, which means tomorrow, he holds a cross in his hand with the Latin word Hodie, which means today. Saint Expedite is patron of causes that need a speedy answer and is known for his quick intercession before the Throne of God.

Expedite teaches us something very important about God, that God answers our prayers immediately and fully. Even if it seems that we are waiting months or even years for a certain prayer to be answered, God always answers. Also, Expedite teaches us that we cannot truly put off spiritual matters: We have only one time to follow Christ, and that time is now. There may not be a tomorrow to do the good work we want to do, to do penance. We only really have today to pray. We only really have today to be Christ to one another.

Expedite causes us to pause and really think about our lives and what our priorities are. Do we really put Christ at the forefront? Or is He a constant afterthought for another day? This is also why Saint Expedite is the patron saint of procrastinators, those who constantly try to put things off for the next day. We can ask Saint Expedite to help us to prioritize our lives, with God at the forefront, and be able to fulfill all our other duties.

Prayer to Saint Expedite
Our dear martyr and protector, Saint Expedite,
You who know what is necessary and what is urgently needed.
I beg you to intercede before the Holy Trinity, that by your grace
my request will be granted.

____________ (Clearly express what you want, and ask him to
find a way to get it to you.)

May I receive your blessings and favors.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Saint Stats:

Born: Third Century, A.D.

Died: A.D. 303

Beatified/Canonized: Pre-Congregation

Feast Day: April 19

Patronage: Emergencies, expeditious solutions, against procrastination, merchants, navigators