Saint Expedite: Pound Cake, the New Orleans Legend and How to Petition Him
Who Saint Expedite is, what the crow and Hodie cross mean, the New Orleans crate legend, why devotees offer pound cake and how a traditional petition works, with honest limits.
If something has to happen this week, New Orleans has a saint for that. This guide explains who Saint Expedite is, what his crow and cross mean, where the famous crate story and the pound cake come from, and how people petition him today in Catholic, Voodoo and hoodoo practice. It does not claim he will fix your deadline, and it does not dress a Catholic saint up as something he is not.
Contents
Saint Expedite (Expeditus) is a Roman soldier saint, said to have been martyred in Melitene in Armenia around 303, whom devotees call on for urgent matters and against procrastination. He is shown crushing a crow that cries cras, tomorrow, while holding a cross marked Hodie, today. In New Orleans his statue stands in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, and local legend says the name came from the word expedite stamped on a shipping crate. Practitioners traditionally offer a red candle, flowers and pound cake once a request is granted. Almost nothing about his life can be verified, and no petition guarantees a result.
Expeditus is named among the martyrs of Melitene in the early Christian martyr lists, with a feast on April 19.
Source/tradition: Martyrologium Hieronymianum; Williams, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21, 2011
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in New Orleans was built as a mortuary chapel, its facade completed in 1827, and holds a statue of Saint Expedite.
Source/tradition: Williams, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21, 2011
New Orleans Voodoo practitioners offer Saint Expedite pound cake when a favor is granted.
Source/tradition: Williams, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21, 2011
Expeditus crushed a crow crying cras and declared Hodie when he decided to convert.
Source/tradition: Hagiographic legend reflected in his iconography
The saint was named after the word expedite stamped on a shipping crate.
Source/tradition: New Orleans and Paris crate legends, called far from certain by Williams 2011
Petitioners light a red candle, state a dated request and give the offering only after it is fulfilled.
Source/tradition: New Orleans hoodoo and Voodoo practice
Petitioning Saint Expedite makes a matter resolve faster.
Source/tradition: No evidence
VERIFIED = verifiable in scientific or official sources · TRADITIONAL = historically or culturally recorded · LIVED PRACTICE = widely practiced, experiential knowledge · NOT PROVEN = spiritual interpretation, not scientifically established.
Quick answer
Saint Expedite (Expeditus) is a Roman soldier saint, said to have been martyred in Melitene in Armenia around 303, whom devotees call on for urgent matters and against procrastination. He is shown crushing a crow that cries cras, tomorrow, while holding a cross marked Hodie, today. In New Orleans his statue stands in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, and local legend says the name came from the word expedite stamped on a shipping crate. Practitioners traditionally offer a red candle, flowers and pound cake once a request is granted. Almost nothing about his life can be verified, and no petition guarantees a result.
Who Saint Expedite is
Expeditus appears in the early Christian martyr lists known as the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, among a group of martyrs commemorated at Melitene in Roman Armenia, today Malatya in Turkey. Tradition makes him a commander of a Roman legion who converted to Christianity and was beheaded under Emperor Diocletian around 303. His feast is kept on April 19.
That is nearly everything the older sources say. Folklorist Karen Williams notes in her 2011 study that his name is in the martyr lists but that no tradition verifies the details of his life. The Catholic Church has never built a large official cult around him; his popularity grew from below, among ordinary believers.
And it grew enormously. Expedite is the patron of urgent causes, of people who need a quick solution, of students before exams and, with a wink, of procrastinators. His devotion is strong in Brazil and Chile, on the French island of Réunion, where small red roadside shrines dedicated to Saint Expédit line the roads, and in southern Louisiana.
The crow, the cross and the word Hodie
The image of Saint Expedite tells his story in a single frame. He is a young Roman soldier, often in red, usually without helmet or sword. In one hand he holds a palm branch, the sign of a martyr. In the other he raises a cross inscribed with the Latin word Hodie, today. Under his foot lies a crow with a ribbon from its beak reading Cras, tomorrow.
The legend behind it: when Expeditus decided to become a Christian, the devil appeared to him as a crow and urged him to wait, croaking cras, cras, tomorrow, tomorrow. Expeditus crushed the bird under his heel and declared that he would convert today. The pun works because cras sounds like a crow's call in Latin.
That is why his devotees see him as the enemy of delay, whether the delay comes from outside, in a stuck bureaucracy, or from inside, in one's own procrastination. It is also why he is asked for speed rather than for big life changes.
A note on respect
Saint Expedite is a Catholic saint, honored in parishes that still celebrate Mass in front of his statue, and also a spirit honored in New Orleans Voodoo and hoodoo. Both communities are real. If you visit a church to see his statue, go as a guest: keep quiet during services, do not leave food inside, and ask the staff if you want to light a candle. Bring your pound cake home or to a private altar.
The crate legend: how Expedite got his name
The story most visitors to New Orleans hear goes like this: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church received a shipment of saints' statues from Europe. One crate came without a name, only the stamp EXPEDITE. The parishioners took the word for the saint's name and put the statue up. Saint Expedite was born.
It is a wonderful tale, and an old pattern. Williams records a French version from Paris in which nuns received the relics of an unnamed martyr in 1781 in a case marked expédit and honored the word as a name, and a Louisiana version from the Italian American community around Independence that seems to have spread from the New Orleans one. As she puts it, the authenticity of the crate story is far from certain.
The real name Expeditus is older than any of these shipments, so the crate legend cannot be literally true as an origin. What it captures is the spirit of the devotion: a saint whose name happens to be an instruction.
Saint Expedite in New Orleans
The church at the heart of the story stands on North Rampart Street at the edge of the French Quarter. It was built as a mortuary chapel in the 1820s, its façade completed in 1827, so that victims of yellow fever could be buried from it without bringing contagion into the cathedral. It is often called the oldest surviving church building in New Orleans.
In 1918 the Oblates of Mary Immaculate took charge and filled the church with statues of saints. Expedite stands near the exit, palm in hand. Today the church is also the International Shrine of St. Jude, the patron of hopeless cases, so two of the most petitioned saints in Catholic folk devotion share one building.
In New Orleans, Expedite crossed over into the city's Voodoo tradition, associated with Marie Laveau and the spiritual churches. Practitioners there gave him new attributes and new offerings, and some modern writers link him to Elegua or Legba, though Williams notes those links come from recent sources. If you visit the city's spiritual sites, our guide to the Marie Laveau tomb and its rules explains how to behave at another place where devotion and tourism meet.
Temple Tip
Write the petition small and specific. Expedite is traditionally asked for one concrete, time-bound thing, such as a document arriving, a sale closing or a decision being made by Friday. Put the date on the paper. When the date passes, you will know whether to give thanks or to let the request go, instead of leaving it open for months.
Why pound cake? Offerings and promises
The best known detail of the New Orleans practice is the pound cake. According to the custom recorded by Williams, practitioners offer Saint Expedite pound cake when he grants a favor, and a local tradition insists on a specific store brand, which says more about New Orleans humor than about theology.
Beyond cake, the most common offerings in hoodoo and Voodoo practice are a red candle, red flowers such as carnations or roses, and a glass of fresh water. Many practitioners set the candle, state the request and promise the offering, which is given only after the request is fulfilled. Some add a public thank you, once printed in the classified ads of local newspapers, now posted online.
That order matters in the tradition: Expedite is said to be fast but also insistent on being paid, and many people warn that a promise made to him should be kept. If you want to prepare the candle properly, our guide on how to dress a candle explains the method, and how to dispose of ritual offerings covers what to do with the cake and flowers afterward.
Expedite and other saints commonly petitioned in American folk Catholicism
| Figure | Asked for | Typical offering in folk practice | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Expedite | Urgent, concrete, time-bound matters | Red candle, flowers, water; pound cake after success | Fast, today |
| Saint Jude | Hopeless or desperate cases | Green or white candle; published thanks | Whenever it is needed |
| Saint Anthony of Padua | Lost objects; finding a partner | Bread for the poor; a coin | Usually quick |
| Saint Joseph | Selling a house; work; family | A statue buried in the yard; St. Joseph's Day altar | Patient |
| Our Lady of Prompt Succor | Protection from storms and fire, Louisiana | Prayer, candles, procession | Prompt, as the name says |
Quiz: is Saint Expedite the right helper for your request?
Four questions to find out whether your request suits Saint Expedite or another helper.
Voices from practice
Practitioners in the New Orleans tradition often describe Expedite as fast but demanding. A common piece of advice is never to promise him anything you are not prepared to give.
People who petition him regularly frequently say the most useful effect is on themselves: writing a dated, concrete request forces them to define what they want and to take the next step that same day, which fits his Hodie cross.
Catholic devotees and Voodoo practitioners often visit the same statue. Many in both groups say they are content to share him, provided visitors behave respectfully in a working church.
What we don't promise
We do not promise that Saint Expedite, a candle or an oil makes anything happen faster. There is no evidence that petitions change the speed of courts, employers, insurers or post offices.
We do not claim his biography is historical. Beyond his name in early martyr lists, the details of his life cannot be verified, and the crate story is a legend.
And we do not recommend petitions in place of practical action. If your matter is legal, medical or financial and urgent, call the lawyer, the doctor or the agency today. That, too, is very much in the spirit of Hodie.
Practically: how to work with this
- Define the request. One outcome, one date. Write it on a small piece of paper in plain words.
- Prepare the candle. A red candle on a heatproof dish. If you wish, dress it with one drop of oil, working from the middle outward, while you read the request aloud.
- Make the promise. Say what you will give when the request is fulfilled: pound cake, flowers, a public thank you or a donation to someone in need.
- Light it and act. Light the candle, place the paper under it and do one practical thing toward the goal the same day. Never leave a burning candle unattended.
- Wait for the date. When the date arrives, check the result honestly.
- Pay or release. If it happened, give the offering promptly. If it did not, thank him anyway, put the paper away and let the request go.
From our shelf
Fast Luck Ritual Oil
In New Orleans practice, a petition to Saint Expedite usually starts with a red candle, and many people dress that candle first with a drop of oil while they state the request out loud. Fast Luck is the classic choice for urgent matters. It sets your intention; it cannot speed up a court date or a paycheck. Currently $8.99.
More in 7-day vigil candles and ritual oils.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Saint Expedite?
A Roman soldier said to have been martyred at Melitene in Armenia around 303, listed in early martyr lists and honored on April 19. Devotees call on him for urgent causes and against procrastination.
Why do people give Saint Expedite pound cake?
It is a New Orleans custom recorded by folklorists: practitioners offer pound cake when he grants a request. It is a folk practice of the city's Voodoo and hoodoo tradition, not an official Catholic rite.
Is the crate story true?
Almost certainly not as an origin. The name Expeditus appears in martyr lists long before any shipment, and similar crate legends exist in Paris and elsewhere. Even Louisiana folklorists call the story far from certain.
What do the crow and the word Hodie mean?
The crow represents the devil urging delay with its cry cras, Latin for tomorrow. Expedite crushes it and holds up a cross marked Hodie, today, the sign of acting now.
Where is the Saint Expedite statue in New Orleans?
In Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on North Rampart Street, which also houses the International Shrine of St. Jude. The statue stands near the exit.
When is Saint Expedite's feast day?
April 19. Some Louisiana communities have held their own celebrations on other dates, such as the Italian American chapel near Independence in June.
Sources & further reading
- Williams, Karen. St. Expedito's Role in South Louisiana Catholicism, in New Orleans and in the Italian-American Community near Independence, Louisiana. Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21, 2011. Louisiana Folklife Program.
- Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. University Press of Florida, 2006.
- Anderson, Jeffrey E. Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure: A Handbook. Greenwood Press, 2008.
- Alvarado, Denise. Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans. Weiser Books, 2022.
- Martyrologium Hieronymianum, entries for Melitene, April 19. Critical edition by H. Delehaye and H. Quentin, Acta Sanctorum, November vol. II/2, 1931.
