Sailors have had several patron saints. According to his hagiography, Saint Nicholas calmed a storm by prayer. Brendan the Navigator is also considered a patron saint of sailors and navigators, due to his mythical voyage to St. Brendan's Island. Erasmus of Formiae, also known as Saint Elmo, may have become the patron of sailors because he is said to have continued preaching even after a thunderbolt struck the ground beside him.