Libby Stofko

Mr. Campbell

Religion 2

15 December 2017

Saint Sebastian

Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes, soldiers, and those who desire a saintly

death. The only thing known about Saint Sebastian’s youth is that he might have come from

Southern France, he was educated in Milan. His Feast day is January twentieth and he died in the

year 287 A.D. In 288 A.D., Sebastian entered the army in Rome to assist the martyrs. His

courage drove him to become one of the captains of the Praetorian Guards under Diocletian and

Maximian, they were not aware that he was Christian. Sebastian had to hide his faith but in 286

Diocletian found out. Sebastian was taken to a field where he was tied to a stake and archers

from Mauritania shot arrows at him. He was “full of arrows as an urchin” and left for dead. Irene

of Rome, her husband was a martyr, she went to bury his body, but discovered that he was still

alive. She took him back to her house and helped back to health. Saint Sebastian then went to

confront the emperor, he harangued Diocletian about his sins against Christianity. Sebastian

under Diocletian’s orders was seized and beaten to death with cudgels, his body was then thrown

into a sewer. Lucina, was a devout Christian women, Saint Sebastian the martyr called her in a

dream. So, she removed the body privately and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the

cemetery of Calixtus. Today in that spot stand the Basilica of St. Sebastian. Sebastian has been

said to have defended against the plague, the plague was stopped by an altar built in honor of

him in the Church of Saint Peter. Before Saint Sebastian’s death when he was serving as a

Praetorian Guard, he helped many people who were imprisoned for their devoutness to God.
Twin brothers were imprisoned because they refused to make public sacrifice to Roman gods.

They were both deacons, their parents tried to make them to abandon their faith. But, Saint

Sebastian convinced the parents to convert to Christianity. He also converted the local prefect

and many more individuals. This is the event that led to his Christianity being discovered. Eighty

years after his death, 367, Saint Sebastian’s body was moved to a basilica in Rome, that was built

by Pope Damasus I. Some of his body was shared with monks and the community in France. His

skull was given to a German monastery it was placed in a special silver case in 934, it is in the

case today in a special reliquary in Ebersberg. Saint Sebastian has been called the protector

against the plague, he defended the city of Rome against it in 680. This association could be

because of him getting shot full of arrows, the plague came from arrows by the gods in the sky.

I chose Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, because I am an athlete. My entire

life I have always played a sport, I work really hard at any sport I play. Sports really help me to

express myself, sports are sort of my life. During basketball season, I have practice for two or

more hours every day or a game. During crew season, I have practice or a race almost every day.

When I play basketball or row crew I forget about all the homework or stress I’m going through,

it is a way that I can just be free for a little bit, I wouldn’t give up sports for the world.

Prayer

Saint Sebastian please help me to excel in all of my athletic activities. Please help me to always

be safe and a good teammate with great sportsmanship throughout my sports career. Thank you

for always helping me. Amen

 Work Cited

“Saint Sebastian | St. Joseph's Church, Powai.” St Josephs Church Powai,

stjosephpowai.com/saint-sebastian/.

Online, Catholic. “St. Sebastian - Saints & Angels.” Catholic Online, Catholic Online,

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=103.

“Saint Sebastian.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Dec. 2017,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sebastian.

Rabiipour, Nick, et al. “St. Sebastian: Daring Christian Soldier.” Get Fed, 20 Jan. 2017,

www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/saint-sebastian-one-of-the-most-daring-saints/.