St. Erasumus, Fourteen Holy Helper and Bishop of Antioch (+ 308 AD)

St. Erasmus is an incredibly relevant saint for our time. He lived and suffered during a time which most Catholics thought were the End Times. Indeed they signaled the end of an age, and in some ways were a small prefigurement of the Final End Time. He suffered martyrdom during the most severe and intense persecution ever launched by the strongest empire the world has yet known, just before a glorious peace was established for the Church. We too are in times of growing persecution and look forward to the glorious Age of Mary promised at Fatima. Moreover, he suffered what could be considered three martyrdoms, for in each case God miraculously preserved him and called him to continue preaching and working miracles, including the raising of the dead and calling fire down from Heaven. A very clear type prefiguring the return of Saints Enoch and Elijah. Above all, St. Erasmus was a holy bishop who steadfastly proclaimed and defended the Catholic Faith. We should invoke him today that God would again send us bishops with his spirit and mettle. Finally, he is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. These are saints whom Christians have particularly invoked over the centuries in times of grave difficulties and God has given them the power to respond generously. Sadly, nearly all the Fourteen Holy Helpers were removed from the Church's calendar in the wake of the Vatican II liturgical revolution. Hence, devotion to St. Erasmus is a particularly helpful element in the recovery and restoration of our Catholic Tradition.

THE SEE OF ANTIOCH
We know little regarding the early life and native place of St. Erasmus. This is true for many of the Christian martyrs of the first centuries. Not only were records much sparser then and few have survived, but our ancestors in the Faith deemed a martyr's glorious combat and their victorious entrance into Heaven of far greater import (and instructive) than a lengthy narrative concerning their life. What we do know is that at the start of the 4th century, Erasmus was Bishop of Antioch. At that time, Antioch was the largest Roman city in Asia and was one of the three most important Catholic sees (along with Rome and Antioch). It was founded by St. Peter and St. Paul and is where the name "Christian" first designated the disciples of Christ's Way. Many great martyrs of Antioch sanctified and strengthened the Faith, most notably St. Ignatius (+ 107 AD), St. Babylas (+ 253 AD), and St. Margaret (+ 304 AD).

THE PERSECUTION
Towards the end of the third century, Emperors Diocletian and Galerius initiated the most universal and severe Roman persecution against Christians. For the sake of his flock, that they might not be left without a shepherd, Bishop Erasmus agreed to flee into the vast mountains of Libanus. There he led a hidden and austere life for several years doing much penance and fasting. After he mastered silence and mortification, an angel appeared to him and informed that he must return to Antioch. He promptly obeyed and was quickly discovered by local officials and dragged before a judge. Given how well respected he was by many, the judge sought to induce him to apostasize with kindness and various worldly persuasions. Yet when the holy patriarch steadfastly refused the pleasures of flesh and human respect, the judge had him tormented terribly.

[column size="1-2" last="0"]TORTURE
St. Erasmus was scourged brutally and then cast into a cauldron filled with boiling oil, sulfur and pitch. In this seething mass, God preserved him from all harm, and by this miracle many spectators were converted to the Faith. Still more enraged, the judge ordered that the saintly bishop be thrown into prison and kept there in chains until he died of starvation. But God delivered him, as He had once delivered St. Peter. One night, an angel appeared to the imprisoned Erasmus, miraculously freed him, and said, "Erasmus, follow me! Thou shalt convert a great many." Erasmus had led many to the Faith though his suffering, now he was to convert multitudes as a missionary.[/column]
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MISSIONARY
Delivered from prison by the power of God, Erasmus went forth into many lands and preached the Faith. Mighty in word and deed, he wrought many miracles and converted a great number of heathens. At last the angel led him to Italy (following in the footsteps of Peter and Paul) and he was hailed as Bishop Elmo of Formia. He raised the dead son of an illustrious citizen and on that account many sought baptism. Emperor Maximin heard of Erasmus and the conversions effected by his preaching and miracles. In vile retaliation, Maximin ordered the slaughter of three hundred of Erasmus' Italian converts. Erasmus himself was captured and once more cruelly tortured. He remained firm in his confession of the faith. The Emperor then had him taken to a temple where he planned to force him to worship the idol. Yet along the way, all the idols they passed fell to the ground and broke. When Erasmus arrived at the temple, fire fell from heaven, destroyed the idol, and killed a number of pagans. Utterly confounded, Maximin devised terrible tortures for Erasmus. He was enclosed in a barrel full of protruding spikes, and the barrel was rolled down a hill. But his angel healed him. His teeth were then plucked out of his head with iron pincers. After that they bound him to a pillar and carded his skin with iron cards. They roasted him upon a gridiron, and still he survived. They drove sharp iron nails into his fingers and tore his eyes out with their very fingers. Then they lay the holy bishop upon the ground naked and stretched him with strong ropes bound to horses. He was finally thrown into prison and then again freed by his angel! In this faithful shepherd, Christ had once more shown Himself master of both the Emperor in the East and in the West.

IT IS FINSIHED
St. Erasmus continued to preach boldly in Illyricum, converting many pagans. He was recaptured and once more brought before the emperor. The emperor had him beaten, whipped, and coated with pitch and set afire (as Christians had been in Nero's games). Still the bishop survived! Yet at long last, the hour of his consummation and glorious martyrdom was at hand. St. Erasmus heard a heavenly voice, saying: "Erasmus, come now to the heavenly city and rest in the place which God has prepared for thee with the holy martyrs and prophets. Enjoy now the fruit of thy labor. By thee I was honored in Heaven and on earth." Erasmus, looking toward Heaven, saw a splendid crown and the apostles and prophets welcoming him. He bowed his head, saying "Receive, O Lord, the soul of thy servant!" and peacefully accepted the final tortures which were to come. His stomach was slit open and his intestines wound around a windlass. He breathed forth his spirit and entered heavenly glory on 2 June 308.

VENERATION
Saint Erasmus is also known as Saint Elmo. He is a patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. St. Erasmus is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, saintly figures of Christian tradition who were venerated as special intercessors in particular difficulties.

Saint Erasmus may have become the patron of sailors on account of the windlass employed in his martyrdom or perhaps 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 beg for 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 St Gregory the Great recorded in the 6th century that the relics of Erasmus were preserved in the cathedral of Formia. When it was razed by the Saracens in 842, the cult of Erasmus was moved to Gaeta. He is currently the patron of Gaeta, Santeramo in Colle and Formia. There is an altar to St Erasmus in the north transept of St. Peter's Basilica. A copy of Nicolas Poussin's Martyrdom of St. Erasmus serves as its altarpiece (artwork shown at the top of this post). 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 labor, as well as cattle pests.

THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS