Saint Erasmus Of Formia, Italy. Also Known As Saint Elmo. (☩ 303 A.D.). Martyr. Whose Feast Day Is 2 June. Red Vestments.

Saint Erasmus Church, Fuschl-am-See, 

Salzburg, Austria.

Römisch-katholischen Pfarrkirche zum 

heiligen Erasmus, Fuschl-am-See, Salzburg.

Photo: 26 August 2009.

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Saint Erasmus of Formia (☩ 303 A.D.), who is also known as Saint Elmo, is a Christian Saint and Martyr. He is Venerated as a Patron Saint of Sailors and Abdominal Pain.

Erasmus is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Saintly figures of Catholicism who are Venerated especially as Intercessors.

Erasmus may have become a Patron Saint 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”.[8][9]

Pope Gregory the Great recorded in the 6th-Century A.D. that the Relics of Erasmus were preserved in the Cathedral of Formia.

When the old Formiae was razed by the Saracens in 842 A.D., the cult of Erasmus was moved to Gaeta. He is currently the Patron Saint of Gaeta, Santeramo in Colle, and Formia.

There is a Saint Erasmus Altar in the North Transept of Saint Peter’s Basilica.[10] A Copy of Nicolas Poussin’s “Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus” serves as the Altarpiece.[7]

In Malta, on the tip of the Xiberras Peninsula, where the Capital City, Valletta, is built, stands a Star-shaped Fort named Saint Elmo.

The Fort replaced a Mediæval Chapel dedicated to Erasmus for the protection of Sailors who sailed from the Grand Harbour of Malta and Marsamxett, on the North side of the Fort.

The skull of Saint Erasmus, Venerated as a Relic, is purported to be in Saint Peter’s Church,Munich. [12]

Besides his Patronage of Mariners, Saint Erasmus is invoked against colic in children, abdominal pain, intestinal ailments and diseases, cramps and the pain of women in labour,[6] as well as cattle pests.