I'm not sure I'm capable of making much sense right now, but I thought it might be a valuable thing (for me, at least) to dedicate some hopeful thought to New Orleans, probably America's most spiritual city. Some cities have soul, but that's not the same thing.
These are a few of the patrons of New Orleans:
I have to start with Saint Anthony, but only in his guise as Legba or Papa La Bas, the opener of the way. (In some accounts of New Orleans Voodoo, he's masked as Saint Peter, but that just confuses me, and I like dealing with Saint Anthony better anyway.)
Legba came to America with people from West Africa -- Yoruba, Congo, Dahomey people. Their faith in lwa, usually translated as "spirits" but more like "emanations of the divine," adapted well to Catholic veneration of the saints. And that tradition's deepest roots in North America are in New Orleans.
He's usually imagined as an old man with the personality of a little kid. He loves coins, candy and especially the crossroads. Old tales about the devil at the crossroads -- those were about Legba.
VeVe for LaBas.
Traditionally, he's the messenger. He opens avenues of communication between here and the Other Side, so I put him first.
====
Officially, the patron saint of the Archdiocese of New Orleans as well as the city itself is Our Lady of Prompt Succor.
I'm not sure I can talk about that right now, given the state of play in the agencies in charge. I wish I was making that title up.
She's been in New Orleans since 1747, but only gained the title in 1809. From the Patron Saints Index:
In 1800 the territory reverted back to France, and the Spanish sisters fled in the face of France anti-Catholicsm. In 1803, short on teachers, Mother Saint Andre Madier requested reinforcements in the form of more sisters from France. The relative to whom she write, Mother Saint Michel, was running a Catholic boarding school for girls. Bishop Fournier, short-handed due to the repressions of the French Revolution, declined to send any sisters. Mother Saint Michel was given permission to appeal to the pope. The pope was a prisoner of Napoleon, and it seemed unlikely he would even receive her letter of petition. Mother Saint Michel prayed,O most Holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain for me a prompt and favorable answer to this letter, I promise to have you honored at New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.
and sent her letter on 19 March 1809. Against all odds, she received a response on 29 April 1809. The pope granted her request, and Mother Saint Michel, commissioned a statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor holding the Infant Jesus.
She's protected the city from fire, war, and storm -- until now. Let's hope she can exert a little divine influence on the relief organizers.
======
You can't discuss patrons of New Orleans without referring to Saint Expedite, the informal patron of publicity, financial help, procrastination and, well, prompt responses. (His name is pronounced "ex-ped-eye-tee," by the way.)
The fact that New Orleans has two patrons for promptness does make one wonder about why people there would feel a need to pray for it.
The story goes an early Louisiana mission was waiting for supplies, the ship sank in the river and a few days later a crate washed up labeled "expedite" (as in, pass this through quickly). Inside the crate was this statue of a Roman soldier, so the simple parishioners assumed it was a saint named Expedite, and began offering devotions.
There's some evidence that Expedite's cult goes further back than that, but still -- it's a great story. And St. Expedite is one of the most commonly petitioned saints in the classifieds of the New Orleans papers.
Officially, St. Expedite isn't recognized by the Vatican. But there are reports of at least one statue in a European church, and he's growing in popularity in Central and South America.
=====
There are others, too -- all the saints, all the lwa. I think they're all pretty busy right now, so, y'know, don't forget them.
Posted by grant at September 02, 2005 04:05 PM