Overview
- The Buenos Aires sanctuary at Balvanera, which marked the feast on Sunday, drew an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people with lines stretching about 20 blocks.
- Fervor in La Plata and Santa Fe filled churches with families who lit candles, joined Mass, and recited set prayers seeking quick help with jobs, health, and court troubles.
- At Nuestra Señora de Balvanera, worshippers waited up to six hours to venerate the image, then joined a central Mass after a neighborhood procession led by Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva under the motto “Give us strength and peace that heal.”
- San Expedito is invoked as the patron of urgent causes, symbolized by the legend of “hodie” (today) triumphing over “cras” (tomorrow), and by the image of a Roman soldier holding a cross and stepping on a crow.
- Devotees expressed hopes through concrete rites such as red candles, printed prayer cards, and petitions for work, reflecting a resilient popular faith that endures despite Church debates over the saint’s historical record.