St. Espedito

Espedito is also called Expeditus. Nothing is known for historical certainty about him. He is mentioned in the Geronimian Martyrology along with St. Hermogenes and Companions. It is thought that Espedito may have been born in Armenia and martyred along with Hermogenes and other Christians. Devotion to St. Espedito dates back to the eighteenth century or before, but a sort of urban legend from the late nineteenth century relates that a convent was sent the relics of an unknown saint in a box marked “spedito” for special delivery and the sisters assumed that Espedito was the saint’s name. This story is doubtful, but the saint’s name has caused him to be considered the patron of expediting things. He likely the only saint ever to have been named a patron of an imaginary country; the founder of the imaginary nation of Molossia, has named St. Espedito its patron. Espedito is traditionally represented as a Roman soldier with the palm of martyrdom in his hand. His feast is April 19.