Saint Sebastian was an early Roman martyr who died around the year 288 during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. Ancient tradition holds that he was a soldier in the imperial army who secretly encouraged imprisoned Christians, and when discovered he was sentenced to be shot with arrows; surviving that, he confronted the emperor and was put to death. He was buried on the Appian Way, where a basilica bearing his name still stands, and his veneration in Rome dates to the earliest centuries of the Church.
Sebastian's courage did not end when the arrows struck him — he rose, wounded, and kept witnessing to Christ. His example speaks to anyone carrying a suffering that does not simply go away: faith is not the absence of wounds but the love that keeps standing with them. He is a patron of athletes and of those who endure, a companion for every family walking through pain with hope.
Saint Sebastian, brave soldier of Christ, help us to stay faithful through every wound and every sorrow. Pray for us, and for all the children of God we love and miss, that we may endure in hope until we are together again.