St. Sebastian
Died: 268
According to his legend, Sebastian was born at Narbonne, Gaul. He became a soldier in the Roman army at Rome in about 283, and encouraged Marcellian and Marcus, under sentence of death, to remain firm in their faith. Sebastian made numerous converts: among them were the master of the rolls, Nicostratus, who was in charge of prisoners and his wife, Zoe, a deaf mute whom he cured; the jailer Claudius; Chromatius, Prefect of Rome, whom he cured of gout; and Chromatius' son, Tiburtius. Chromatius set the prisoners free, freed his slaves, and resigned as prefect.
Sebastian was named captain in the praetorian guards by Emperor Diocletian, as did Emperor Maximian when Diocletian went to the East. Neither knew that Sebastian was a Christian. When it was discovered during Maximian's persecution of the Christians that Sebastian was indeed a Christian, he was ordered executed. He was shot with arrows and left for dead, but when the widow of St. Castulus went to recover his body, she found he was still alive and nursed him back to health. Soon after, Sebastian intercepted the Emperor, denounced him for his cruelty to Christians, and was beaten to death on the Emperor's orders.
Saint Sebastian was venerated at Milan as early as the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way. He is patron of archers, athletes, and soldiers, and is appealed to for protection against plagues.
[He is patron saint of athletes because of his physical endurance and his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith. Sebastian is also patron to all soldiers. He entered the Roman army under Emperor Carinus in 283 in order to defend the confessors and martyrs of his day without drawing attention to himself. His efforts kept the Faith of Marcus and Marcellian firm during their persecutions, right up to the time of their martyrdom. He was declared patron of plague sufferers of his reported cures of those afflicted with many diseases.]
ST. SEBASTIAN MEDALS – Patron of AthletesThe St. Sebastian sterling silver medal is our most popular medal for athletes, for Confirmation and around the year as a thoughtful gift. Quality craftsmanship, fast delivery! CLICK HERE!
Previous Saint
< St. Sebastiana
Next Saint
St. Sebald >
Rate This Saint
1 - 20 of 181 Comments
Leave a Comment
Previous Saint
< St. Sebastiana
Next Saint
St. Sebald >
Find Saints
Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.
| Browse Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Patron Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Videos
St. Francis of Assisi 78,693 views View Video
Padre Pio 47,161 views View Video
Black Saints Vol I 30,440 views View Video
Black Saints Vol II 27,018 views View Video
Most Popular
There's the problem! Americans are out of touch with scientific consensus on climate change Read More
Editorial: Is the Scandal Ridden Obama Administration Becoming a House of Cards? Read More
Sex In Uniform: Why the Increase in Sexual Assaults in the Military? Read More
Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Disclose Fight with the IRS, Demonstrate Courage Read More
Has the Internal Revenue Service become 'Domestic Terrorists'? Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 2:1-11
My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Put your trust in Yahweh and do right, make your home in the ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 9:30-37
After leaving that place they made their way through Galilee; ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Eugene de Mazenod
May 21: Eugene de Mazenod was born on August 1, 1782, at Aix-en-Provence ... Read More
Latest Videos
Catholic Mass from the Church of Ste. Genevieve (5/19/13) View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Beata viscera Mariae'- Byrd-polyphony (HD) View Video
Learning about Gregorian Chant~ Solesmes View Video
Marketplace
Eternal Shadows or Shadow Makers
Everything in our solar system casts a shadow. All living things ... Read More
St. Sebastian I raise up my son Timothy to you and ask that you give him confidence, strength, endurance and determination today as he races. God has blessed him as an athlete and I ask that you help him to realize that with God's grace he can accomplish his goal! With all my heart I thank you.
St. Sebastian, intercede for me so that my daughter may receive the Lord's blessings of confidence, speed, and skill as she works hard to continue on the team she loves tonight. Keep her, and all my children, ever safe from danger and keep their anxieties manageable - turn them purposeful. Instill in them an ever-strong appreciation for hard work and determination, and offer them glimpses of satisfaction when the time is right, according to the will of God. J=Bear. Amen.
St. Sebastian please pray for and watch over my daughter Rebekah as she runs in her regional finals today. Bless her and all her hard work. Give her the strength and momentum to place in the top 6! Amen
Beloved Saint Sebastian, thank you for watching over my daughter LaLa and helping her achieve her Division 1 College scholarship to play softball. Thank you for giving her the strength, courage and stamina all these years to take her to the next level and making it possible to play for the University she has always wanted to attend. Please continue to guide and pray for her, to keep her safe and injury free. She represents by wearing your medallion close to her heart. Mahalo nui loa, me ke aloha pumehana St. Sebastian.
St Sebastians please help me improve more in badmintion and help me continue my life sport that i love softball and help me be a part of the team
St Sebastion
I pray to you to give my son strength and guidance as he starts his yrs of atheletics.Give him the confidence he will need.Help him to always remember he is part of a team and to always be good to his teammates.I pray he always remains strong and works to best of his ability.
I have been in alot of pain and stress over the physical and mental state of my eldest son. At this stage in his life his father and I belive he has a special gift from abovr in his rugby league (football career). I have turned to you St Sebastian as the patron saint of athletes and I ask and I beg that you guide him and help him through this career. Most of the boys he plays against and with are physically and mentally stronger than him (as my son is both underweight and very short) and sometimes this gets him down and less confident. He has a big game on Wednesday for a representative school team, so i please ask, if it is in your will and my Fathers will in heaven, that you give him confidence, help him and guide him all the way through these trials. Thanskyou for giving me the opportunity to confide and pray with you and I pray that all athletes achieve their goals and dreams! xx
I had gone through all the news about St. Sebastian.I am from India belong to St. Sebastian Church. Our Parish is celebrating the centenary celebrations this year & we have organised many a events to keep up our spirit alive.On palm Sunday we have organized a theater like drama on the history of St. Sebastian.the Soldier.As there are lot of expenses i request you all if you can contribute for this noble cause.As the Church is 100 years old we have to repair it & along with that we have opened a medical fund for the poor.We have around 2000 families but as you know the expenses are beyond our budget. I will send all the appeal letters in my next mail.Please see if you all could approach the good donors who can help us.I am sure St. Sebastian will send his Heavenly blessings on all of you in a special way.Thank you in advance & greetings from our Parish.Regards,
Oswald (Convener for cultural Activities)
Saint sebastian , Pray for us.....................
Dear Lord, my wife is not with me now due to some misunderstanding she went to her relative home and make a police compliant against me and she and her family treated me as a dog Dear Lord i am ready to forgive all this things but i want her to come to me with my Child and say Sorry for what had happened and lead a good life. In this battle my only Child Sara mathew is affected May heavenly God Give her Strength to bear all this. Dear Lord Please do Miracle in my life and bring back her and my child to me with out any compromise and she should feel sorry for what she did.
and the patron saint of Caserta, Petilia Policastro in Italy, Melilli in Sicily, San Sebastián as well as Palma de Mallorca in Spain. He also is the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Informally, in the tradition of the Afro-Brazilian syncretic religion Umbanda, Sebastian is often associated with Oxossi, especially in the state of Rio de Janeiro itself.
He is also the patron of a college named for him in Manila, which is adjacent to the Parish of San Sebastian.
Sebastian is the patron saint of the Diocese of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines.
Saint Sebastian is the patron of Knights of Columbus Council #4926 in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California, serving the cities of Mountain View and Los Altos.
In his 1906 Reminiscences, Carl Schurz recalls the annual "bird shoot" pageant of the Rhenish town of Liblar which was sponsored by the Saint Sebastian Society, a club of sharpshooters and their sponsors to which nearly every adult member of town belonged.
is the best lines i've read, and it is very inspiring.
My grandson who is a freshman in high school kmade the varsity hockey team and is tryin hard to keep up please pray for him Thank you.
St. Sebastian, I pray to you to help guide my niece in her difficult times involving her coaches and her desire to play on her basketball team. I pray that they provide her with a fair opportunity to participate and that she is strong in faith, spirit and ability to excel at this sport she has participated for the better part of her life. Please help her cope with the humiliation and pain she has endured. She is a strong girl and has displayed immense courage; I pray to you to help her continue being brave and strong. Her love of this sport and her knowledge that she was previously a successful member of the team are two of the things that help her endure the pain she is feeling. Her faith in God is unrelenting. Please help her. Thank you.
St Sebastian,
you of all know how desperately I want to get back in shape. Please turn my motivation into action, my words into a work out, and my body strong again.
Dear St. Sebastian,
I pray for your intercession in the development of my physical and mental strength. I have had poor health the last few years and I beg you to intervene on my behalf so that I can become a great athlete. Please pray for me as I continue to work to get better and try to achieve my full potential. I ask of this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Dear St. Sebastian,
I wore your medal throughout my college football career, the same one hangs around my neck 12-years later. Though I never personally asked for your intercession during my playing years, I look back and see how you guided me. I was never the fastest or the most skilled, but through your helped and God's graces I accomplished so many of my goals. In retrospect that I all I could really ask for out of my football career. In searching my heart, I also know it is through you I have had a professional career involving athletics. And while at times I fight against it I feel so blessed to have been involved with so many great, humble and wonderful athletes.
For all of this, I thank you St. Sebastian. I was and I am truly not worthy of your intercessions.
St. Sebastian, I pray that you will help guide our basketball team through their next tournament. Please help them to play with confidence, heart and determination. Help them to have faith in their abilities and play their best. Pray for them St. Sebastian. Guide them.
I beseige St. Sebastian, patron saint of athletes, for interceding for my son as he tries out for his college team. Please continue to guide him with humility and in your honor. If it is your will grant him his desire to become a part of this team. I pray for him, his coaches and his teammates. I pray that you will continue to guide him and give him the strength and courage to face what is to be God's will. Praise God
st. Sebastion, your amazing and a great choice for my confirmation/ christian name!
Thank you, St. Sebastian, for helping my daughter and her tennis team this season. It was a successful one, not only because of their winning record, but more because of the teamwork, sportsmanship and respect for others the girls displayed these past couple of months. Thank you again, St. Sebastian. Praise God!