They wound his intestines out of his body on a winch while he was still alive. Saint Erasmus was a Christian bishop seized by the Romans in 303 AD. They tied him down and inserted a hook into his abdomen. Then they turned the winch. Slowly. He reportedly didn’t stop preaching throughout. He became one of the most venerated saints in medieval Europe. The windlass — the sailor’s winch used to kill him — became his symbol. It appears in churches across Europe today. Sailors prayed to him for protection at sea. The man they killed with a winch became the patron saint of sailors.
Interesting Fact Saint Erasmus is also known as Saint Elmo — as in St Elmo’s Fire, the electrical weather phenomenon sailors believed was his signal that he was watching over them. The next time you see lightning at sea, that’s him.
