Martyr Sebastian Of Rome

The Martyr Sebastian of Rome was born in the city of Narbonne in Gaul and was raised and educated in Milan (Mediolanum). A secret Christian, he rose to a distinguished military career and became commander of the Praetorian Guard under the co-emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284–305), enjoying their trust and close access to the imperial court. Using his position, Saint Sebastian secretly visited imprisoned Christians, strengthened them before martyrdom, and converted many soldiers and courtiers to Christ. When his faith was discovered, Emperor Diocletian personally interrogated him, and finding him unshaken, ordered him taken outside the city, bound to a tree, and shot with arrows. Left for dead by the soldiers, he was found still alive that night by Irene, the widow of the martyr Castulus, who had come to bury him, and she nursed him back to health. Once recovered, Sebastian did not flee Rome but confronted Diocletian again near a pagan temple, openly denouncing his impiety. By the emperor's order he was clubbed to death, and his body was thrown into Rome's great sewer, the Cloaca Maxima. Saint Sebastian suffered martyrdom around the year 288. His feast is celebrated December 18 (O.S.) / December 31 (N.S.).