Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo (died ), was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. He is venerated as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and

abdominal pain Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues. Since the abdomen contains most of the body's vital organs, it can be an indicator of a wide variety of diseases. Given th ...

. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the

Fourteen Holy Helpers The Fourteen Holy Helpers (, ) are a group of saints venerated together by Catholics because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of ''Nothelfer'' ("helpers in need") orig ...

, saintly figures of Christian religion who are venerated especially as intercessors.

Documentation of his life

The ''Acts of Saint Elmo'' were partly compiled from legends that confuse him with a Syrian bishop Erasmus of Antioch. Jacobus de Voragine in the '' Golden Legend'' credited him as a bishop at

Formia Formia (ancient Formiae) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean , Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way. Mythology According to the mythology the city was f ...

over all the Italian

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, as a hermit on

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

, and a martyr in the Diocletianic Persecution. There appears to be no historical basis for his ''passion''.Lanzi, Fernando and Lanzi, Gioia, "Erasmus of Gaeta", ''Saints and Their Symbols'', Liturgical Press, 2004

Account of life and martyrdom

Erasmus was Bishop of Formia, Italy. During the persecution against Christians under the emperors

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

(284–305) and Maximian Hercules (286–305), he left his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and went to Mount Libanus, where he hid for seven years. Around that time, an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

was purported to have appeared to him, and counseled him to return to his city."Hieromartyr Erasmus the Bishop of Formia in Campania", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> On the way, he encountered some soldiers who questioned him. Erasmus admitted that he was a Christian and they brought him to trial at Antioch before the emperor Diocletian. After suffering terrible tortures, he was bound with chains and thrown into prison, but an angel appeared and helped him escape. He passed through

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

, where he raised up the son of an illustrious citizen. This resulted in a number of baptisms, which drew the attention of the Western Roman Emperor

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

who, according to Voragine, was "much worse than was Diocletian." Maximian ordered his arrest and Erasmus continued to confess his faith. Angered, Maximian had Erasmus enclosed in a barrel full of protruding spikes and rolled down a hill. His survival is claimed to be the result of the intervention of an angel. A number of unreliable legends fill Erasmus’ story. Though he was thrown into prison with the intention of letting him die of starvation, Erasmus managed to escape. He was recaptured and tortured in the Roman province of Illyricum, after preaching and converting numerous pagans to Christianity. According to the traditional account, he was disemboweled;"St. Erasmus", FaithND
/ref> his abdomen slit open and his intestines wound around a

windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...

. This version may have developed from interpreting an icon that showed him with a windlass, signifying his patronage of sailors.

Veneration and patronage

Erasmus may have become the

of sailors because he is said to have continued preaching even after a thunderbolt struck the ground beside him. This prompted sailors, who were in danger from sudden storms and lightning, to claim his prayers. The electrical discharges at the mastheads of ships were read as a sign of his protection and came to be called " Saint Elmo's Fire". Pope Gregory the Great recorded in the 6th century that the relics of Erasmus were preserved in the cathedral of Formia. When the old ''

e'' was razed by the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

s in 842, the cult of Erasmus was moved to

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

. He is currently the patron of Gaeta, Santeramo in Colle and

. There is an altar to Erasmus in the north transept of St. Peter's Basilica. A copy of

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

's ''Martyrdom of St Erasmus'' serves as the

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

. The skull of St. Erasmus, venerated as a relic, is purported to be in St. Peter's Church in Munich, Germany and some parts of his body are around in Europe. Besides his patronage of mariners, Erasmus is invoked against colic in children, abdominal pain, intestinal ailments and diseases, cramps and the pain of women in labour, as well as cattle pests.

Gallery

File:Mathis Gothart Grünewald 011.jpg, '' Saint Erasmus and Saint Maurice'' by

Matthias Grünewald Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528; also known as Mathis Gothart Nithart) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th cent ...

(1517–23),

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pin ...

. Grünewald used Albert of Mainz, who commissioned the painting, as the model for St. Erasmus. Image:Gaeta07.jpg, The belfry of the Cathedral of St. Erasmus in

Image:Santelmo.jpg, The martyrdom of Saint Elmo, by an unknown painter from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, 1474 Image:Martyrdom of saint erasmus.jpg, Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus

References

External links