Merry Christmas! Even though we are past December 25th, the Catholic Church still considers this time as part of the Christmas season. You may have heard the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, but did you know the carol originated in 1558 when English Catholics were not permitted to practice their faith publicly? In fact, each of the twelve gifts represents something meaningful in Catholicism! While we are blessed to be able to practice our faith freely here in the U.S., that was not always the case for Catholics in the past which is why Catholicism is filled with symbols and secret “codes”. They had to do this to survive while at the same time, evangelize quietly. In this way, St. Sebastian can be a good helper to turn to if we need courage in our convictions and he is certainly a hole-y example.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that the Apostles and disciples traveled all across the world to preach the good news. We also know that the Christians that did remain in the Roman Empire were hunted down and persecuted because they did not worship the Emperor and were seen as disloyal. This continued for hundreds of years until the reign of Emperor Constantine. St. Sebastian was born in 256 A.D. in Gaul (or modern-day France), but that is really all we know about his early life until he joined the Roman military. It was here that he worked very hard and rose through the ranks until he became one of the captains of the praetorian guards. As one of Rome’s most elite soldiers who served the Emperor directly, Sebastian was known for his courage. Christians were still hunted during this time, so Sebastian had to keep his faith hidden, but he tried to covertly and subtly evangelize to his fellow soldiers. He would use his high position to regularly visit imprisoned Christians to comfort them. It was during one of these visits that he met twin brothers, Marcellian and Marcus, who were both being pressured by their own family to renounce their faith. Sebastian encouraged the brothers to remain strong and they were steadily renewed in their faith. Their faith would remain strong up until their eventual execution and martyrdom.
Unfortunately, his visits caught the interest of the Emperor and he was discovered. Emperor Diocletian during the trial accused Sebastian of subverting the empire and gravely betraying his people. Sebastian denied the claims and said that he prayed for the Emperor’s conversion every day. He was found guilty and tied to a stake for archers to shoot at him until “he was as full of arrows as an urchin is full of pricks.” Miraculously, he did not die and Irene of Rome, who would later become St. Irene, found and nursed him back to health. However, that experience did not stop Sebastian from going back to the Emperor to publicly denounce his persecution of Christians and urge for his conversion. This time, the Emperor wanted to make sure that he was dead so he ordered Sebastian to be beaten to death. His body was found in the sewers by a devout lady who gave him a proper burial in the catacombs.
Sebastian lived a dangerous life as a soldier and even more so because he was a Christian. While we may not life like a secret agent, here are some things we can learn from St. Sebastian’s life that could help us in our faith journey:
Take care of yourself physically and mentally. It should go without saying that becoming a soldier requires a lot of mental and physical discipline, especially if you become one of the Roman Emperor’s elite guards. It was because of this that Sebastian was able to remain courageous in keeping his faith when others around him did not believe, and even would have hated him if they knew. In the same way, we should do the basics to take care of ourselves (eating, sleeping, hygiene, …etc.) physically and mentally. It’s good to challenge ourselves, but don’t push too hard if your body is tired because part of discipline is also knowing when to stop. If we do these things then we will find that it is easier to grow in our relationship with God and do His work.
Being present can be evangelization. Even when Sebastian visited the Christians in prison as a high-ranking officer, he had to be careful in case the other guards were listening. Yet, he was able to provide comfort through his presence alone. While he could not talk to them freely, the words that he was able to communicate brought them peace and joy. Sometimes, all people need is someone to listen to them. Even if we cannot visit in person, we can always write letters to the people in our life who may be lonely. This could also be a good opportunity to reach out to those in retirement homes who oftentimes may be missing human contact and connection.
Forgiving those who trespass against you. I can’t imagine growing up in a culture that is hostile to your faith and directly serving the Emperor responsible for the widespread condemnation of your spiritual brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, Sebastian was able to not only endure, but do so with love in his heart. His faith allowed him to see God working through every person in his life. His admission that he prayed for the Emperor was not a sign of weakness, but it did demonstrate the kind of sacrificial love Sebastian had for those in his life. He earnestly tried to save the soul of his Emperor until the end of his life. It can be easy to forget that even those who have done us wrong are made in the image of God too and we should try our best to love them.
Sebastian’s sacrifice was not in vain. Due to his martyrdom and countless others, by the year 300, there were Christians in all levels of Roman society. Though his life was short, Sebastian’s courage and faithfulness helped to pave the way for the eventual protection and flourishing of Christianity under Emperor Constantine.
If you feel that you need God’s courage in your life, here is a good prayer to look to:
Glorious Saint Sebastian,
you who had great courage,
help us to be witnesses of Jesus
before this unbelieving world
as you have brought others to Christ.
Help us to have the love of neighbor
that you had
and to give our lives for our brothers,
even in difficulties and dangers.
Help us to have faith in the pains of life
as you endured cruel martyrdom.
Protect all soldiers, military and police
against every danger in their work.
Protect all nations against wars,
hunger and pestilence.
Intercede for the grace that I need…
[Mention your intention here…]
Amen.
Be awesome and blossom 🌱
By: anh Daniel
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