
Catholic novena
Novena to St. Erasmus (Elmo)
Quick answer
At a glance
Prayer source
Reviewed public-domain English devotional edition (1909)
Bonaventure Hammer, O.F.M., Mary, Help of Christians, and the Fourteen Saints Invoked as Holy Helpers (Benziger Brothers, 1909), Part IV, Novena to Each of the Holy Helpers, III. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/33596/pg33596-images.html
Read the source standards- What it is
- A complete novena in honor of St Erasmus, from Father Bonaventure Hammer's 1909 devotional manual. The same full prayer is said on each of the nine days.
- Often prayed for
- Constancy in the Faith, courage in suffering, charity toward fellow sufferers, and grace to live and die in the Faith.
- Suggested start
- May 24, 2027. You may also begin this novena at any time.
- Length
- 9 days
- Feast
- June 2
Pray This Novena
Start with day 1
Begin the novena now, move one day at a time, and come back here whenever you are ready for the next day.
Your prayer progress and private intention stay only on this device unless you clear them. How to pray a novena.
About This Novena
St. Erasmus is invoked as both bishop and martyr, one who taught the faith and suffered for it. The novena joins learning the faith to living it bravely when trials become costly.
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for sailors, abdominal illness, shipwreck danger, and fortitude.
Usual timing
May 24 through June 1
Day 1 of 9
Each day includes its complete prayer text below. Choose the day you are on, follow its directions, and mark it complete when you finish.
Private intention
This stays only on this device and appears at the intention moment in the prayer.
Pray Day 1 of 9
Day 1
Not marked complete yet.
Tap any day to jump straight to it. Blue days are already marked complete on this device.
Preparatory Prayer
ALMIGHTY and eternal God! With lively faith and reverently worshiping Thy divine Majesty, I prostrate myself before Thee and invoke with filial trust Thy supreme bounty and mercy. Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love, that I may contemplate the great virtues and merits of the saint in whose honor I make this novena, and following his example imitate, like him, the life of Thy divine Son.
Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously, through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper, the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee, devoutly saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Vouchsafe graciously to hear it, if it redounds to Thy greater glory and to the salvation of my soul. Amen.
Prayer and Invocation
O GOD, grant us through the intercession of Thy dauntless bishop and martyr Erasmus, who so valiantly confessed the Faith, that we may learn the doctrine of this faith, practise its precepts, and thereby be made worthy to attain its promises. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Invocation
HOLY martyr Erasmus, who didst willingly and bravely bear the trials and sufferings of life, and by thy charity didst console many fellow-sufferers; I implore thee to remember me in my needs and to intercede for me with God. Staunch confessor of the Faith, victorious vanquisher of all tortures, pray to Jesus for me and ask Him to grant me the grace to live and die in the Faith through which thou didst obtain the crown of glory. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
MY LORD and my God! I offer up to Thee my petition in union with the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, together with the merits of His immaculate and blessed Mother, Mary ever virgin, and of all the saints, particularly with those of the holy Helper in whose honor I make this novena.
Look down upon me, merciful Lord! Grant me Thy grace and Thy love, and graciously hear my prayer. Amen.
Pause here for your intention.
Review your day checklist
Day checklist
Check off each day as you pray
0 of 9
Tap each day after you pray it. Your checklist stays on this device.
About this devotion
Which edition is shown here?
A complete novena in honor of St Erasmus, from Father Bonaventure Hammer's 1909 devotional manual. The same full prayer is said on each of the nine days.
Related devotion
Keep this novena connected
Move naturally from this novena into the nearest saint life or traditional litany in the library.
Tools, privacy, and reminders
Prayer progress and local tools stay on this device unless you clear them.
About this novena
Description
St. Erasmus is invoked as both bishop and martyr, one who taught the faith and suffered for it. The novena joins learning the faith to living it bravely when trials become costly.
Traditionally invoked as patron of
sailors, abdominal illness, shipwreck danger, fortitude
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for sailors, abdominal illness, shipwreck danger, and fortitude.
Usual timing
May 24 through June 1

The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus, Nicolas Poussin (1628)
