Saint Expédit, Église Saint-Pierre in Bordeaux (France).
We met him in a quiet chapel of the Église Saint-Pierre in Bordeaux (France)— a young Roman soldier standing almost casually, one knee bent, a cloak gathered in his hand. This is Saint Expédit, patron of people who cannot wait for tomorrow.
But what gives this shrine its power is not only the statue. It’s the wall behind him, tiled with small marble plaques, each carved with a simple word: MERCI.
A century of whispered relief, arranged like a mosaic.
Some plaques are formal, some abbreviated to initials, some marked with dates long before we were born. Others simply say “MERCI” — nothing more, yet somehow enough. Together they form a quiet ledger of fear, hope, and fulfilment.
According to the old legend, Expédit was a Roman soldier who, on the brink of converting to Christianity, faced a whisper of doubt urging him to delay. He refused. Faith, he decided, was for today, not some comfortable tomorrow. Ever since, people have come to him when hesitation is no longer possible.
In Bordeaux, this devotion feels very much alive. The flowers at his feet, the votive card leaning against the plinth, the steady growth of plaques over decades — all of it tells the same story: someone was in trouble, asked for help, found it, and returned with a piece of marble to say thank you.
A simple statue.
A wall full of human stories.
And a saint who still stands for the courage to act — not later, but now.
