Feast Day 20 January.
Two great Martyrs divide between them the honours of this twentieth day of January; one, a Pontiff of The Church of Rome, and the other a member of that Mother-Church.
Fabian received the crown of Martyrdom in 250 A.D. under the persecution of Emperor Decius; the persecution of Emperor Diocletian crowned Sebastian in 288 A.D.
We will consider the merits of these two champions of Christ separately.
Saint Fabian.
Saint Fabian, like Saint Clement and Saint Antherus, two of his predecessors, was extremely zealous in seeing that “The Acts Of The Martyrs” were carefully drawn up.
This zeal was no doubt exercised by the Clergy in the case of our holy Pontiff, himself, and his sufferings and Martyrdom were carefully registered; but all these interesting particulars have been lost , in common with an immense number of other precious Acts, which were condemned to the flames, by the Imperial Edicts, during the persecution under Diocletian.
Nothing is now known of the life of Fabian, save a few of his actions as Pope; but we may have some idea of his virtues by the praise given him by Saint Cyprian, who, in a letter written to Saint Cornelius, the immediate successor of Saint Fabian, calls him an incomparable man.
The Bishop of Carthage extols the purity and holiness
of life of the holy Pontiff, who so peaceably governed
The Church amidst all the storms which then assailed her.
There is an interesting circumstance related of him by Eusebius. After the death of Saint Antherus, the people and Clergy of Rome assembled together for the election of the new Pontiff.
Heaven marked out the successor of Saint Peter; a dove was seen to rest on the venerable head of Fabian, and he was unanimously chosen. This reminds us of the event in Our Lord’s life, which we celebrated a few days back, when, standing in The River Jordan, the dove came down from Heaven, and showed Him to the people as The Son of God.
Fabian was the depositary of the power of regeneration, which Jesus by His Baptism gave to the element of water; Fabian zealously propagated the Faith of his Divine Master, and among the Bishops he Consecrated “for divers places”, one or more were sent by him into these Western parts of Europe.
Saint Sebastian.
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 Christmas-Tide as attendants in The Court of The Infant Jesus at Bethlehem.
Laurence and Cecily come later in the year, when other mysteries are brought before us by the Liturgy; but Christmas calls forth Sebastian and Agnes.
Today, it is the brave soldier of The Prætorian Guard, Sebastian, who stands by the Crib; 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 spouse.
The chivalrous spirit of Sebastian reminds us of the great Arch-Deacon; 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 to roast the other side; Sebastian, pierced with his arrows, waits till the gaping wounds are closed, and then runs to his persecutor, Diocletian, asking for a second Martyrdom. But, today, we must forget Laurence in order to think of Sebastian.
We must picture 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 at its fiercest.
He reaches Rome and 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 gaolers, converted by witnessing his Faith and his Miracles, become 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 Diocletian and Maximian Hercules for his fidelity and courage as a soldier; they have loaded him with favours; 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 desired. He incurs the displeasure of Diocletian 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 the archers of Mauritania, who strip him, 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.
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