On Fri, 17 Apr 1998 12:18:57 +0100 (BST) "CA. Muessig"
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Today, 19 April, is the feast of ...
>
>Expeditus, martyr (no date): It is thought that this saint never
>existed.
>However, the stories of how his cult came into existence are more
>interesting than his alleged life. The best story is that the origin
>of this devotion started in the early part of this century when a
>packing-case containing a *corpo santo* was sent from the catacombs of
>Rome to a community of nuns in Paris. The date of its dispatch was
>indicated next to the word "spedito" (Italian for "sent"),
>but the recipients mistook this for the name of the martyr and set to
>work
>in "great haste" to propagate his cult.
There are several other non-existent saints whose name derives from
a linguistic misunderstanding. St Amphibalus - the word means a cloak;
and St Aldate - simply the Old Gate, near which, in Oxford, stands the
Church of St Aldate's.
Oriens.
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