``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
The Feast of St. Sebastian
St. Sebastian
was a Roman soldier -- an officer in the imperial bodyguard under
Diocletian. He was also a secret Christian, one who'd visit those of
his Faith who'd been imprisoned. The Golden Legend relates what
happened when he was outed as a Christian:
... S. Sebastian
was acccused to the emperor that he was Christian, wherefore
Diocletian, the emperor of Rome, made him come tofore him, and said to
him: I have always loved thee well, and have made thee master of my
palace; how then hast thou been Christian privily against my health,
and in despite of our gods?
S. Sebastian said: Always I have worshipped Jesu Christ for
thy health and for the state of Rome, and I think for to pray and
demand help of the idols of stone is a great folly.
With these words Diocletian was much angry and wroth, and commanded him
to be led to the field and there to be bounden to a stake for to be
shot at. And the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows as
an urchin is full of pricks, and thus left him there for dead.
The night after came a Christian woman [Ed. her name has come
down to us as St. Irene] for to take his body and to bury it, but she
found him alive and brought him to her house, and took charge of him
till he was all whole.
Many Christian men came to him which counselled him to void
the place, but he was comforted and stood upon a step where the emperor
should pass by, and said to him: The bishops of the idols deceive you
evilly which accuse the Christian men to be contrary to the common
profit of the city, that pray for your estate and for the health of
Rome.
Diocletian said: Art thou not Sebastian whom we commanded to be shot to
death.
And S. Sebastian said: Therefore our Lord hath rendered to me life to
the end that I should tell you that evilly and cruelly ye do
persecutions unto Christian men.
Then Diocletian made him to be brought into prison into his palace, and
to beat him so sore with stones till he died. And the tyrants threw his
body into a great privy, because the Christian men should make no feast
to bury his body, ne of his martyrdom.
But S. Sebastian appeared after to S. Lucy, a glorious widow,
and said to her: In such a privy shalt thou find my body hanging at an
hook, which is not defouled with none ordure, when thou hast washed it
thou shalt bury it at the catacombs by the apostles. And the same night
she and her servants accomplished all that Sebastian had commanded her.
He was martyred the year of our Lord two hundred and eighty seven.
Early on, in the 4th century, a church -- San Sebastiano fuori le mura (St.
Sebastian's Outside the Walls) -- was built over his grave, and it
became one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome that are especially
dear to Catholics on Maundy Thursday.
Inside is a beautiful statue by Giuseppe Giorgetti showing St.
Sebastian pierced by arrows.
Statue
by Giuseppe Giorgetti, at San Sebastiano fuore le mura
St. Sebastian is the patron Saint of soldiers, archers, athletes, and a
holy death; he is also invoked against the plague. He can be recognized
in
art as a young man pierced by arrows or holding arrows, often tied to a
tree, and sometimes wearing the attire of a
Roman soldier.
Customs
Some may prepare
for this feast by praying the Novena
to St. Sebastian starting on January 11 and ending on January 19,
the eve of St. Sebastian's feast. For his day itself, the Litany of St. Sebastian
would be perfect, as would this shorter prayer:
Grant, O Lord,
that amid the trials that we suffer for our sins, we may obtain by the
intercession of Thy blessed Martyr Sebastian, that which our confidence
cannot procure for us. To thee, St. Sebastian, we present our humble
petition, in our trouble and necessity. Cease not to pray for those
who, as long as they live, will work zealously and constantly for God’s
honor. Amen.
Both the Novena -- which is rather long and includes readings and the
litany -- and the litany can be downloaded in pdf format:
In Acireale, near Catania, Sicily, home of a basilica devoted to St.
Sebastian, this feast day is celebrated grandly. There is a procession
on the 19th, and then, at dawn of the feast itself, everyone gathers in
the piazza in front of the basilica. They enter the church while
declaring their love for St. Sebastian, using phrases in the Sicilian
dialect:1
Taliàtilu cche beddu, rizzareddu
rizzareddu, chiamamulu ccu
tuttu 'u cori, viva Sammastianu!
Look how beautiful he is, the curly boy, let's call him with
all our heart, long live Saint Sebastian!
Amamulu ccu
tuttu 'u cori!
Let's love him with all our heart!
Ogni annu sutta
'e vostri peri semu!
Every year we are at your feet!
Nun semu muti,
viva Sammastianu!
We are not silent, long live Saint Sebastian!
His statue is carried to the piazza while bells ring and fireworks
explode. A priest gives a homily, then the statue is processed all
over the town, making a stop at the train station where the train
greets it with a whistle in memory of the departure of local soldiers
on January 20 in 1915, during World War I. The statue makes its way to
the cathedral, where it remains for eight days, when it is
returned to the basilica. The goings-on are carried out by special
devotees of St. Sebastian who wear traditional clothing and pledge to
honor their patron, give wax to the church, and participate in the
festivities of St. Sebastian's day.
The town of Palazzolo Acreide in Syracuse, Sicily has an equally
notable celebration of St. Sebastian's feast -- but twice: on his feast
day, and again on August 10 when a great summer party is held. At the
latter celebrations, bread shaped into circles are blessed, as is
laurel, and both are handed out from great wagons. St. Sebastian's
relics are processed after being greeted first with huge explosions of
confetti and paper streamers from the Baroque church named for him.
Parents and grandparents hold their naked children up toward the relics
as they go by in order that their children are blessed.
San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, named for our Saint, is also a place that
has week-long celebrations. The Fiestas
de la Calle San Sebastián is filled with music, dancing, street
foods, circus performances, amusement rides, art fairs, and processions
-- including those of the Gigantes
(papier maché giants) and Cabezudos
(humans in costumes topped with oversized papier maché heads). The end
of the week of St. Sebastian's feast is considered "the end of
Christmas" in Puerto Rico.
In Kerala, India -- a state at the bottom of the country, on its
Western side
-- St. Sebastian celebrations begin with a novena during which
participants bring little plates and brass arrows to his shrine as votive offerings. On the
day of his feast, there is a procession of a statue of St. Sebastian,
surrounded by costumed men playing drums, cymbals, and horns while
women carry beautiful, colorful parasols.
Spain, too, has some very big celebrations of St. Sebastian's feast. In
Palma, where St. Sebastian is patron, a big bonfire is lit in the Plaza
Mayor on the 19th, and nighttime picnics and live music follow. The
next
day, men dress as devils and bear torches and fireworks to "chase out
the plague," as St. Sebastian did for the city in 1524.
In the Basque country's town of San Sebastian, the Feast of St.
Sebastian -- or Donostia, as
it is known there -- is marked by a huge gathering drummers. This Tamborrada
drumming session consists of thousands of people playing drums for
over 24 hours. Female drummers wear traditional Basque dress, and the
men dress as soldiers (the city's many dining society men dress as
chefs). This drumming began in honor of the
people's defiance during the Siege of San Sebastian in 1813: they
mocked the invading soldiers' drills by banging on buckets, and this
drumming became an expression of civic pride. This part of Spain also
has a cheesecake named for our Saint, a perfect dessert for the day:
San Sebastian Cheesecake
36 ounces full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
zest of half a lemon, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 teaspoons all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
Preheat your oven to 425F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with
a large sheet of parchment paper.
In a big bowl, beat the cream cheese until creamy and smooth
(use a hand mixer if you have one). Add the sugar one cup at a time,
mixing well to combine after each addition to help the sugar dissolve.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well. Add the lemon zest (if
using) and vanilla and mix just enough to combine. Add the flour,
mixing
gently to combine. Blend in the heavy cream.
Pour the batter into the lined springform pan and bang the
pan
gently on the countertop to get rid of bubbles.
Bake for 35 minutes -- spinning the pan halfway around halfway through
baking -- until the cheesecake is set around the edges but jiggly in
the middle
(the internal temperature in the middle should be around 155F). It will
be caramelized a deep brown on top, no worries (in fact, this
cheesecake is sometimes called "Basque Burnt Cheesecake). Let the cake
cool in the pan until totally cooled to room temperature. Good with
fresh berries.
As to music,
Claude Debussy wrote Le Martyre de
Saint Sébastien, a musical mystery play
about our Saint.
And there is the
Missa de Sao
Sebastiao by the Brazilian Antônio Carlos Gomes. Yes, it's
supposed to be a Mass, but it's completely awful as such; it plays like
an opera, and in that way it
can be enjoyed:
Finally, there is something you should know about St.
Sebastian: in the same way that St.
Francis has been used by hippies and new-agers,
and St. Hildegard of Bingen has
been co-opted by feminists and new-agers, St. Sebastian has
been abused by LGBT activists. This is due to how he's been portrayed
since the
Renaissance, when naturalism arose in painting. Artists
began to
paint him in a very naturalistic way as an especially beautiful young
man -- a young, scantily dressed young man tied to a
tree, penetrated by "phallic" arrows, with an expression of some blend
of agony and ecstasy on his face.
The artist Guido Reni painted six portraits of St. Sebastian (click
here to see the most famous of them), and some
of those portraits have had a singular effect on many homosexual men,
from Oscar Wilde to Yukio Mishima to filmmaker Derek Jarman whose 1976
movie "Sebastiane" is said to portray St. Sebastian in an extremely
homoerotic way.
St. Sebastian has even been unofficially adopted as "the patron Saint
of
homosexuals."
Don't let such things ruin your love for St. Sebastian. He deserves
better. And if you struggle with same-sex attraction, ask St.
Sebastian to pray for you to persevere in temperance, and to love
Christ as deeply as he does.
Note that the evening of this feast is St. Agnes Eve.
Readings
From Geuranger's Liturgical Year
At the head of her list of heroes, after the two glorious Apostles
Peter and Paul, who form her chief glory -- Rome puts her two most
valiant Martyrs, Laurence and Sebastian, and her two most illustrious
Virgins, Cecily and Agnes. Of these four, two are given us by the
Calendar of Christmastide as attendants in the court of the Infant
Jesus at Bethlehem. Laurence and Cecily will come to us further on in
our year, when other Mysteries will be filling our hearts and the
Liturgy; but Christmas calls forth Sebastian and Agnes. Today, it is
the brave soldier of the praetorian band, Sebastian, who stands by the
Crib of our Emmanuel; tomorrow, we shall see Agnes, gentle as a lamb,
yet fearless as a lion, inviting us to love the sweet Babe whom she
chose for her only one Spouse.
The chivalrous spirit of Sebastian reminds us of the great Archdeacon;
both of them, one in the sanctuary and the other in the world, defied
the tortures of death. Burnt on one side, Laurence bids the tyrant
roast the other; Sebastian pierced with his arrows, waits till the
gaping wounds are closed, and then runs to his persecutor Dioclesian,
asking for a second martyrdom. But we must forget Laurence today, to
think of Sebastian.
We must picture to ourselves a young soldier who tears himself away
from all the ties of his home at Milan, because the persecution there
was too tame, whereas at Rome, it was raging in wildest fierceness. He
trembles with anxiety at the thought that, perhaps, some of the
Christians in the Capital may be losing courage. He has been told that,
at times, some of the Emperor’s soldiers, who were soldiers also of
Christ, have gained admission into the prisons, and have roused up the
sinking courage of the confessors. He is resolved to go on the like
mission, and who knows? he may come within reach of a palm himself. He
reaches Rome, he is admitted into the prisons, and encourages to
martyrdom such as had been shaken by the tears of those who were dear
to them. Some of the jailers, converted by witnessing his faith and his
miracles, became Martyrs themselves; and one of the Roman Magistrates
asks to be instructed in a religion which can produce such men as this
Sebastian. He has won the esteem of the Emperors Dioclesian and
Maximian-Hercules for his fidelity and courage as a soldier; they have
loaded him with favors; and this gives him an influence in Rome, which
he so zealously turns to the advantage of the Christian religion that
the holy Pope Caius calls him the Defender of the Church.
After sending innumerable martyrs to heaven, Sebastian at length wins
the crown he had so ardently ambitioned. He incurs the displeasure of
Dioclesian by confessing himself a Christian; the heavenly King, for
whose sake alone he had put on the helmet and soldier’s cloak, was to
him above all Emperors and Princes. He is handed over to the archers of
Mauritania, who strip him and bind him and wound him, from head to
foot, with their arrows. They left him for dead, but a pious woman
named Irene took care of him, and his wounds were healed. Sebastian
again approaches the Emperor, who orders him to be beaten to death in
the circus, near the Imperial Palace.
Such are the Soldiers of our newborn King! but oh! how richly does he
repay them for their service! Rome, the Capital of his Church, is
founded on seven Basilicas, as the ancient City was on its seven hills;
and the name and tomb of Sebastian grace one of these seven
sanctuaries. The Basilica of Sebastian stands in a sort of solitude, on
the Appian Way, outside the walls of the Eternal City; it is enriched
with the relics of the holy Pope and Martyr Fabian; but Sebastian, the
valiant leader of the praetorian guard, is the Patron and, as it were,
the Prince of the holy temple. It was here that he wished to be buried,
as a faithful guardian, near the wall wherein the bodies of the holy
Apostles had been concealed, lest they should be desecrated by the
persecutors.
In return for the zeal of St. Sebastian for the souls of his Christian
brethren, whom he preserved from the contagion of paganism, God has
made him the Protector of the Faithful against pestilence. A signal
proof of this power granted to the holy Martyr was given at Rome in the
year 680, under the Pontificate of St. Agatho.
Let us now listen to our holy Mother the Church, who thus speaks of her
glorious Martyr, in the Office of his Feast.
Sebastian, whose Father was of Narbonne, and his Mother a lady of
Milan, was beloved by Dioclesian on account of his noble birth and his
virtues. Being a captain of the praetorian cohort, he was able to give
assistance and alms to the Christians, whose faith he himself followed,
although privately. When he perceived any of them trembling at the
great tortures of the persecutors, he made it his duty to encourage
them; and so well did he do it, that many would go, and, for the sake
of Jesus Christ, would freely offer themselves to the executioners. Of
this number were the two brothers Mark and Marcellian, who were in
custody under Nicostratus, whose wife, named Zoe, had recovered her
speech by the prayer made for her by Sebastian. Dioclesian, being told
of these things, summoned Sebastian before him; and after upbraiding
him, in very strong words, tried every means to induce him to turn from
the faith of Christ. But, finding that neither promises nor threats
availed, he ordered him to be tied to a stake, and to be shot to death
with arrows.
Every one thought he was dead; and a pious woman named Irene, gave
orders that his body should be taken away, during the night, and
buried; but she, finding him to be still alive, had him taken to her
house, where she took care of him. Not long after, having quite
recovered, he went before Dioclesian, and boldly chided him for his
wickedness. At first, the Emperor was struck dumb with astonishment at
the sight, for he had been told that Sebastian was dead; but, at
length, the strange event and the Martyr’s sharp rebuke so inflamed him
with rage, that he ordered him to be scourged to death with rods. His
body was thrown into a sewer, but Lucina was instructed by Sebastian,
in her sleep, both as to where his body was, and where he wished to be
buried. Accordingly, she buried him at the Catacombs, where,
afterwards, a celebrated Church was built, called Saint Sebastian’s.
The ancient Liturgical books contain a great many pieces in honor of
St. Sebastian. We limit ourselves to the following, which belongs to
the Ambrosian Breviary.
Hymn
Let us all, in humble supplication, and with becoming sweetness of
voice, celebrate in song the feast-day of our dear fellow-citizen,
Sebastian the Martyr.
This noble champion of Christ, fired with the love of battle, leaves
his country, where danger too tamely threatened him, and hastens to the
hot battlefield at Rome.
His soul enlightened with the sublime dogmas of faith, and full of
heavenly courage, he condemns the worship of idols, and hopes that a
martyr’s bright trophy may be his.
He is bound with many thongs to the huge trunk of a tree, and on his
naked breast receives the quivering arrows.
There stood his body like a forest of iron darts, while his soul, more
unflinching than brass, despises the weapons as harmless things, and
bids them do their worst.
Streams of blood flow from the wounds, leaving but a lifeless body; but
a holy woman comes by night, and heals the gaping wounds.
The cruel goading gives our soldier heavenly strength; again he urges
the tyrant to his work, and, this time, dies under the wounding lash.
And now, most brave of warriors! now that thou art throned in the high
heavens, drive pestilence away, and mercifully protect the bodily
health of thy fellow-citizens on earth.
To the Father, and to the Son, and to thee, O Holy Spirit, may there
be, as there ever hath been, glory for ever and ever. Amen.
We find the following Prayer in the Gothic Missal.
Prayer
O God, who, by thy most blessed Martyr Sebastian, hast infused courage
into the hearts of thy faithful, since thou didst make him, while
concealed under the service of an earthly commander, a perfect soldier
of thine own: grant, that we may ever fight for the securing thy
praise; arm our mouth with the teachings of thy justice; enlighten our
heart with the love of thy love, and, having freed our flesh from its
concupiscence, secure it to thyself with the nails of thy cross.
Brave Soldier of our Emmanuel! thou art now sweetly reposing at the
foot of his throne. Thy wounds are closed, and thy rich palm branch
delights all heaven by the freshness of its unfading beauty. Look down
upon the Church on earth that tires not in singing thy praise. Each
Christmas, we find thee near the Crib of the Divine Babe, its brave and
faithful sentinel. The office thou didst once fill in an earthly
prince’s court is still thine, but it is in the palace of the King of
kings. Into that palace, we beseech thee, lead us by thy prayers, and
gain a favorable hearing to our own unworthy petitions.
With what a favorable ear must not our Jesus receive all thy requests,
who didst love him with such a brave love! Thirsting to shed thy blood
in his service, thou didst scorn a battlefield where danger was not
sure, and Rome, that Babylon which, as St. John says, was drunk with
the blood of the Martyrs, Rome alone was worthy of thee. And there, it
was not thy plan to cull a palm, and hurry on to heaven; the courage of
some of thy fellow Christians had wavered, and the thought of their
danger troubled thee. Rushing into their prisons, where they lay
mutilated by the tortures they had endured, thou didst give them back
the fallen laurel, and teach them how to secure it in the grasp of holy
defiance. It seemed as thou thou wast commissioned to form a praetorian
band for the King of heaven, and that thou couldst not enter heaven
unless marshalling thither a troop of veterans for Jesus.
Thy turn came at last; the hour of thy confession was at hand, and thou
hadst to think of thine own fair crown. But for such a soldier as thou,
Sebastian, one martyrdom is not enough. The archers have faithfully
done their work—not an arrow is left in their quivers; and yet their
victim lives, ready for a second sacrifice. Such were the Christians of
the early times, and we are their children!
Look, then, O Soldier of Christ! upon us, and pity us, as thou didst
thy brethren, who once faltered in the combat. Alas! we let everything
frighten and discourage us; and oftentimes, we are enemies of the
Cross, even while professing that we love it. We too easily forget that
we cannot be companions of the martyrs unless our hearts have the
generosity of the martyrs. We are cowardly in our contest with the
world and its pomps; with the evil propensities of our nature, and the
tyranny of our senses—and thus we fall. And when we have made an easy
peace with God, and sealed it with the sacrament of his love, we behave
as though we had now nothing more to do than to go on quietly to
heaven, without further trials or self-imposed sacrifices. Rouse us,
great Saint! from these illusions, and waken us from our listless life.
Our love of God is asleep, and all must needs go wrong.
Preserve us from the contagion of bad example, and of those worldly
maxims which gain currency even with Christian minds, because Christian
lips call them rules of Christian prudence. Pray for us, that we may be
ardent in the pursuit of our sanctification, watchful over our
inclinations, zealous for the salvation of others, lovers of the Cross,
and detached from earthly things. Oh! by the arrows which pierced thee,
we beseech thee shield us from those hidden darts which satan throws
against us.
Pray for us, that we may be clad with the armor of God, described to us
by the great Apostle. May we have on the breast-plate of justice, which
will defend us from sin; the helmet of salvation, that is, the hope of
gaining heaven, which will preserve us from both despair and
presumption; the shield of faith, which will ward off the darts of the
enemy, who seeks to corrupt the heart by leading the mind into error;
and lastly, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, whereby
we may put all false doctrines to flight, and vanquish all our vices;
for heaven and earth pass away, but the word of God abides forever, and
is given us as our rule and the pledge of our salvation.
Defender of the Church! as the Vicar of Christ called thee, lift up thy
sword and defend her now. Prostrate her enemies, and frustrate the
plots they have laid for her destruction. Let her enjoy one of those
rare periods of peace, during which she prepares for fresh combats.
Obtain for Christian soldiers, engaged in just wars, the blessing of
the God of Hosts. Protect the Holy City of Rome, where thy Tomb is
honored. Avert from us, by thy intercession, the scourge of pestilence
and contagion. Hear the prayers which, each year, are addressed to thee
for the preservation of the creatures given by God to man to aid him in
his daily labor. Secure to us, by thy prayers, peace and happiness in
this present life, and the good things of the life to come.
