The Life
Expeditus is one of the most unusual figures in the Catholic calendar — a martyr-soldier whose historical existence is uncertain, whose name appears to derive from a legend rather than a person, and who has nevertheless become the object of one of the most vigorous popular cults in the modern Catholic world, particularly in Latin America, India (Tamil Nadu), and the Canary Islands.
The legend: Expeditus was a Roman soldier who was converting to Christianity. As he was about to commit to the faith, the devil appeared to him in the form of a crow, crying Cras, cras, cras (Latin for tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow — the sound a crow makes in Latin onomatopoeia). Expeditus stamped on the crow and declared Hodie! (Today!) — choosing to be baptized immediately rather than defer to tomorrow.
The historical basis for an actual martyr named Expeditus is extremely thin. The most commonly repeated debunking story is that a package of relics arrived at a Parisian convent from Rome labeled Expeditus — and the nuns assumed the label was the name of the saint whose relics were enclosed, whereas it actually meant the package had been sent express (expedite). Whatever the origin, the cult spread.
He is enormously popular in Brazil, where he is invoked in cases of urgent need. His image — a young Roman soldier holding a cross bearing the word HODIE (Today) and stamping on a crow that cries CRAS (Tomorrow) — is ubiquitous in Brazilian religious commerce. He has been adopted, informally, by some communities of computer programmers who identify with the anti-procrastination message. He was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 but is still venerated in local calendars and popular devotion.
The Vatican recognizes his feast on April 19 in some local calendars.
The Crow That Cries Tomorrow
The theological content of the Expeditus legend is entirely compressed into the image: a soldier, a crow, and two words. The crow cries Cras (Tomorrow). The soldier stamps it and says Hodie (Today). The legend is a parable about procrastination in spiritual life. The decision to follow Christ — like every significant decision — is always being invited to wait until tomorrow. The crow is always available, always plausible, always making the reasonable case for delay. Expeditus stamps on the crow. Today. Popular Cult — Brazil and Tamil Nadu Expeditus is perhaps most intensely venerated in Brazil, where his image is found in markets, buses, and street shrines, and where he is invoked by people who need something urgently resolved. In Tamil Nadu, South India, he has a significant popular cult. In the Canary Islands and parts of Latin America, his feast on April 19 is a major popular festival. The popular cult is not the same as formal liturgical veneration — it is the cult of the desperate and the pragmatic: people who need something now and are choosing the patron of urgent need. Removed and Retained — the unofficial saint When the Roman Calendar was reformed in 1969, Expeditus was removed from the General Calendar due to the insufficiency of historical evidence. He remains in some local calendars; he remains in extensive popular devotion regardless of his official status. This makes him an interesting case study in the relationship between official Church recognition and popular religious practice. The people who invoke Expeditus do not necessarily know or care about his removal from the General Calendar. They need something urgently. They invoke the patron of urgent need. He remains relevant. The Computer Programmers — a modern adoption In the late 20th and early 21st century, communities of computer programmers informally adopted Expeditus as a patron — invoked in code emergencies, impossible deadlines, and moments when something needs to work today rather than tomorrow. The adoption is partly ironic and partly sincere: the programmers who adopt Expeditus recognize the crow of procrastination in their own work habits and identify with the soldierly decisiveness of Today rather than Tomorrow. It is perhaps the most creative informal adoption of a patron saint in the modern period.
Walk in Their Footsteps
Pilgrimage sites connected to St Expeditus
Ask St Expeditus to Intercede
Bring these intentions to this saint in prayer:
Hodie. Today. Not cras — not tomorrow. The entire spirituality of Expeditus is contained in those two words. There is always a crow telling you to wait: a better moment will come, you are not ready yet, tomorrow when you feel more prepared. The crow is often right about the practical obstacles. The crow is always wrong about the spiritual obstacle, which is that the waiting itself becomes the habit and the habit becomes the life and the life runs out before the decision is made. Stamp on the crow. Say Hodie. Act now.
“I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Expeditus, patron of the urgent — I have a crow on my shoulder that cries tomorrow. I have been listening to it for longer than I want to admit. Help me stamp on it today. Not tomorrow. Today. The confession I have been deferring. The conversation I have been putting off. The decision I have been postponing until conditions are better. They will not be better. Today is the day of salvation. Hodie. Amen.