The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Erasmus

The Lives of the Saints 92 Erasmus June 2 The moderate celebrity of this bishop of Antioch is due to the circumstances of his martyrdom under the emperor Diocletian. His abdomen was slit open and his intestines were attached to a windlass and slowly wound out of his body. The originality of this torture earned for him the role of intercessor for those suffering from diarrhea. Saint Erasmus enjoys further notoriety under the name Elmo, a diminutive or distortion of Erasmus. One day, a great storm broke out when he was preaching, and a lightning bolt struck all those present while leaving the saint unscathed. As a result, Saint Elmo has lent his name to a particular climatic phenomenon sometimes experienced on ships: a bluish glow that momentarily glitters at the tips of masts—St. Elmo’s fire. Protector of sailors of the Mediterranean Sea, Elmo would manifest himself by sending them this sign, which signaled the end of danger. The account of Christopher Columbus’s voyages written by his son relates that “on the night of October 14, 1493, there was violent rain and thunder. Saint Elmo appeared on the topgallant mast holding seven lighted candles. Immediately, the singing of litanies and prayers was heard on board, for the people of the sea hold it for certain that the danger of a storm is over once Saint Elmo appears.” At the dawn of the Renaissance, the name Erasmus was still popular enough for a son of Rotterdam to choose it as his pseudonym. In our days, the name more readily evokes this humanist author of The Praise of Folly than the ancient bishop of Antioch. Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus Art Gallery of the Vatican Museums, Rome ...