Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Sts. Fabian and Sebastian, Martyrs


It's not often I get to blog at this time mid-morning but I'm out sick with a chest infection. Today of course is a feast both of St Sebastian (c.288) and St Fabian (c.250), the former a Roman officer and the other a Pope, both martyred. Sebastian should be called the twice-martyred for first he was shot full of arrows and when this did not kill him (some accounts say he was nursed back to health, others that his death followed more or less immediately) he was clubbed to death with staves. His determination to give witness to Christ overruled any other considerations and he paid for it with his life. How dreadful then that this man of courage should become a gay icon. Fabian the Pope was a layman elected and then ordained so that he could be bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter. He paid for his humble submission to the will of God with his life. Obedience and courage I guess are important virtues to have in any age. The icon of St. Sebastion was found here. It's by an anonymous icon-painter.

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