Peace be with you my friends! I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about two of my favorite saints, St. Expedite and St. Martha.
Two Very Powerful Saints
I have blogged quite a bit about St. Expedite before, but I just figured I would mention him again since today is Wednesday, the day that is sacred to him. According to legend, Expeditus was a soldier in the Roman army who converted to Christianity and was martyred around 300 AD during the reign of the emperor Diocletian. A demon in the form of a crow appeared to him and tried to get him to put off his conversion, but Expeditus rebuked the crow and said that he would convert today! For this reason, he is the saint you go to when you are in need of speedy results. He is also know to bless his devotees financially. In Haiti he is associated with the African spirit Baron LaLwa and in New Orleans Voodoo he is related to Baron Samedi, the owner of the cemetery, although most people, myself included, venerate him strictly as a Christian saint.
In my home, I have a special altar to St. Expedite where I leave a cigarette and a little shot of brandy or rum every Wednesday and ask him to watch over me and bless me with abundance. I don’t smoke so one pack of cigarettes lasts for months! Whenever you invoke St. Expedite with a specific favor, it is customary to make a promise which you must fulfill when your request is granted. I will often promise him some red flowers and Sara Lee pound cake, his favorite treat! I also make a donation to a church or charity in his name and spread his name around to people whenever possible. Some people even publish a thank you note in a local newspaper, although this is much more common with St. Jude.
St. Martha has been my special patron saint for years and wherever I go in the world I always carry her icon with me. Martha appears in the bible as the sister of St. Lazarus, whom Jesus rose from the dead and also of Mary of Bethany. She received Jesus into her home and served him while he preached. According to legend, after Jesus’s death and resurrection, she traveled to France with Mary Magdalene and Lazarus to preach the Gospel. Today there is a shrine in southern France where her relics supposedly rest. There is a tradition called the 9 Tuesdays of St. Martha. It is a novena said on 9 consecutive Tuesdays rather than 9 days in a row. Each Tuesday you light a candle or an oil lamp in front of her image and make a request. When you request is granted, it is customary to give her some flowers and make a donation to a church or charity in her name. I have received many blessings from this powerful saint not to mention the warm and protective presence that emanates from her icon.
If you would like to make a service to St. Expedite or St. Martha, please let me know and I can share with you some prayers for these saints and provide step by step instructions on how to perform the service or I will even perform it for you, if you’d like. I hope you enjoyed learning about these powerful and fabulous saints who I consider the rockstars of the spirit world and I hope you try your own service to one or both of them soon. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and may the ancestors and saints bless you abundantly!
