The Church of Saint Expeditus in New Orleans occupies a curious and fascinating position in the landscape of American Catholic devotion. Saint Expeditus is himself one of the most unusual figures in the calendar of popular saints — a Roman martyr whose very name has become synonymous with the urgency of the petitions addressed to him. He is invoked for urgent and pressing causes, for swift resolution of legal matters, for help against the habit of procrastination, and more broadly as a saint who acts quickly when called upon. His cult flourishes particularly in New Orleans, where centuries of Catholic devotion, African spiritual tradition, Creole culture and Caribbean religious influence have created a rich and syncretic popular religious landscape unlike anything else in the United States. The devotion to Saint Expeditus in New Orleans has deep roots in the Creole Catholic community and has maintained a strong following through generations of families who have turned to him in moments of crisis — when a legal case was pending, when a bill could not be paid, when a relationship was threatened, when urgent action was needed and time was short. The church that bears his name has been a gathering place for this community of devotees for generations. The figure of Saint Expeditus in popular iconography is characteristically depicted as a Roman soldier — young, vigorous, holding a cross bearing the word HODIE (today) in one hand while crushing a raven bearing the word CRAS (tomorrow) beneath his foot. The image is unmistakable: this is the saint who acts now, who refuses to defer. In a city that has known catastrophe and renewal, flood and fire, loss and rebuilding, the urgency embodied by Saint Expeditus has found a natural home.
One of the very few churches in the United States dedicated to Saint Expeditus, patron of urgent causes
Rooted in the rich tradition of New Orleans Creole Catholic popular devotion, shaped by French, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences
Saint Expeditus is iconographically depicted crushing a raven bearing the word CRAS (tomorrow) — the saint who acts today
The walls of the church carry votive offerings, photographs and thank-you notes from generations of grateful petitioners
A living example of popular Catholic piety in its most authentic and culturally distinctive New Orleans form
The Legend and History of Saint Expeditus
The historical record for Saint Expeditus is thin — he appears in various martyrologies as a Roman soldier martyred, probably in the fourth century, at Melitene in Armenia. His cult, however, has flourished far beyond what the historical evidence would suggest, partly because his name has been interpreted symbolically. The folk etymology connecting "Expeditus" with the Latin expedire (to make ready, to dispatch) has made him the natural patron of those who need things done quickly.
A famous story — possibly legendary but widely circulated — holds that a convent received a package of relics from Rome without knowing to whom they belonged. The packing crate was labelled in Latin: "expedite" — meaning "send quickly." The nuns assumed this was the name of the saint whose relics the crate contained, and a cult was born. Whether this story is true or not, it captures something essential about the popular saint whose name has become inseparable from the virtue of doing things without delay.
Devotion in New Orleans
New Orleans is one of the few cities in North America where the cult of Saint Expeditus has taken deep and lasting root. The reasons are multiple: the city's French and Spanish Catholic heritage, its proximity to the Caribbean islands where the saint is also widely venerated, the particular character of New Orleans popular religion which has always welcomed saints who are direct, practical and responsive to human need, and the long tradition of Creole Catholic devotion that has maintained forms of popular piety found few other places in the United States.
The church dedicated to Saint Expeditus has been a gathering place for devotees who bring petitions written on slips of paper, who light votive candles, who leave thank-you offerings for prayers answered, and who participate in the novenas and Masses celebrated in the saint's honour. The walls of the church, like those of many popular shrines in Latin Catholic cultures, carry the marks of a living devotion — photographs, handwritten notes, small images, tokens of gratitude.
Pilgrimage and Popular Religion
The Church of Saint Expeditus is an example of what scholars of popular religion call "lived religion" — faith as it is actually practised by ordinary people in their daily lives, often far from the formal structures of official Church life. In New Orleans, this kind of popular devotion has always been particularly vibrant, shaped by the city's unique position at the intersection of multiple religious traditions. Visitors encounter a devotional world that is authentically Catholic in its sacramental framework but richly coloured by the cultural particularity of New Orleans.
Visiting
The church is located in New Orleans and is open to visitors throughout the year. The feast of Saint Expeditus is celebrated on 19 April. New Orleans itself is one of the most extraordinary cities in North America for the study and experience of popular religious culture, and the church of Saint Expeditus is one of several sites in the city that reward pilgrims who are interested in the rich and unusual history of Catholic devotion in the American South.