Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & International Shrine of St. Jude
Mislabeled shipping crate gave rise to a saint devoted to urgent prayers, prized by Catholics and Voodoo practitioners alike.
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About this audio guide
This guide to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and International Shrine of St. Jude in New Orleans opens with two crates arriving at a Rampart Street mortuary chapel around 1921, one holding a statue ordered from France, the other stamped only with a shipping label reading Expedite. Inside stood an unidentified young Roman soldier statue carrying a palm branch and a cross, and you'll hear how the nuns who received him came to a decision about his identity that the Catholic Church has never confirmed. The guide follows how that devotion took hold among both Catholics and Voodoo practitioners, who still leave candles, flowers, and slices of pound cake at his feet for anything that cannot wait.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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