medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
19 April was the feast of Saint Expeditus, who is invoked against
procrastination. I meant to mention this last month.
... The most popular legend surrounding the saint says that the day when he
> decided to become a Christian, the Devil took the form of a crow (a snake
> in some versions of the legend) and told him to defer his conversion until
> the next day, but Expeditus stamped on the bird and killed it, declaring,
> "I'll be a Christian today!"
>
> Many stories commonly circulated about the saint's origin say the cultus
> of Expeditus began when a package marked *expedite* arrived with
> unidentified relics or statues. The recipients assumed that the statuary or
> relics belonged to a Saint Expeditus, and so veneration began. One of these
> stories is set in 1781, when a case containing the relics of a saint who
> was formerly buried in the Denfert-Rochereau catacombs of Paris arrived at
> a convent in the city. The senders had written *expedite* on the case, to
> ensure fast delivery of the remains. The nuns assumed that "Expedite" was
> the name of a martyr, prayed for his intercession, and when their prayers
> were answered, veneration spread rapidly through France and on to other
> Roman Catholic countries...
>
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expeditus>
>
Expeditus is usually depicted stomping on a crow that is crying "cras",
while he holds a cross inscribed "hodie":
<
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/CLI/17413~Heilige-Expeditus-Posters.jpg
>
--
Paul Chandler, O.Carm.
Holy Spirit Seminary | PO Box 18 (487 Earnshaw Road) | Banyo Qld 4014
| Australia
office: (07) 3246 9888 | home: (07) 3246 9894
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