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.
Sebastian was discovered and reported to Emperor Diocletian for being a Christian. The emperor ordered Sebastian to be executed by having him tied to a stake and used as target practice for archers. They shot him “full of arrows as an urchin” and left, believing that he was dead.
Nursed back to health
Irene of Rome, whose husband was a servant of Diocletian and was also martyred for his Christian faith, took Sebastian into her care. She hid the wounded saint and nursed him back to health.
Sebastian then confronted Diocletian, who believed the saint had died, over his treatment of Christians. The emperor ordered his guards to beat him with clubs and throw him into the sewers. His body was found by a Christian woman called Lucina, who secretly buried him in the catacombs beneath Rome.
St Sebastian is the patron saint of soldiers, athletes and those who want a saintly death.
