Shot full of arrows
St Sebastian was born in Narbonne, southern France, to Milanese parents. Little is known about his early life. He had a natural aversion to combat, but in AD 283 he elected to go to Rome and join the army in order to assist confessors and martyrs who were being persecuted by the Romans. He was promoted to serve in the Praetorian Guard to protect Emperor Diocletian.
Twins Marcus and Marcellian were imprisoned for refusing to make sacrifices to the Roman gods. Their parents visited them in prison and pleaded with them to renounce their faith, but St Sebastian persuaded them to embrace Christianity.
