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St. Erasmus

Feast 06-02 · Canonized Pre-Congregation

Patron of

About

Erasmus, also known as St. Elmo, was a bishop of Formia in Campania, Italy, who lived in the third century. According to tradition, he fled to Mount Lebanon during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian, where he was fed by a raven. He was later arrested, tortured, and miraculously delivered, before finally dying as a martyr around 303.

He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints invoked especially in the Middle Ages against disease and danger. Sailors came to know him as St. Elmo, and the electrical discharge seen on ships during storms is named St. Elmo's fire in his honor.

Because one account of his martyrdom describes his intestines being wound around a windlass, he is invoked against stomach ailments, intestinal disorders, and colic.

stomach ailments, stomach pain, stomach problems, stomach ache, tummy ache, abdominal pain, digestive problems, stomach illness, gastrointestinal, upset stomach, belly ache

Suggested prayer

O God, who fed St. Erasmus by a raven in the desert and gave him strength to endure the windlass for Christ, grant through his intercession protection to sailors in storms and relief to all who suffer stomach ailments. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources

Other saints to pray to

For stomach ailments