The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (320 AD)
THE PERSECUTION OF LICINUS
The worst Roman persecution against Catholics was launched by Emperors Diocletian and Galerius in 303 AD. The danger threatening Christians did not end until Constantine’s famous Edict of Milan (313 AD) which he signed along with the other new emperors. However, the peace between the emperors did not last long and soon Constantine found himself fighting (and defeating) the others. Licinius, Emperor in the East, had signed the Edict of Milan and married Constantine’s sister. Yet Licinius and Constantine now became bitter foes for sole mastery over the Roman Empire. Some of their difficulties revolved around the Christian Faith. Licinius went against his own word in the Edict of Milan and began yet another severe persecution of Catholics living in his territories (the eastern parts of the Empire). Constantine defeated Licinus (finally and definitively at the Battle of Chrysopolis in 324 AD) and executed him the following year for treason, but not before Licinius’ persecution claimed the lives of many Catholics martyrs. Forty of them are known as the Martyrs of Sebaste in Armenia.
ST. BASIL AND THE CAPPADOCIAN FATHERS
The oldest account we have of their martyrdom is from St. Basil the Great (+379). He was a monk who was named Bishop of Caesarea (what is in Central Turkey today). Two of his brothers also became bishops: St. Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste. Their eldest sister, Macrina, became a model pf piety and is also honored as a saint. Today St. Basil is known as one of the four great Church Fathers of the East. This Doctor of the Church was a friend of St. Athanasius and St. Gregory Nazianezn, both renowned Church Doctors. All three of them bravely fought against the Arians and other heresies. St. Basil was very likely a young boy when the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste suffered for Christ. On their feast day, some fifty years after their martyrdom, St. Basil delivered an eloquent sermon praising their heroic witness.
THE TRAIL OF THE FORTY MARTYRS
These forty holy martyrs suffered at Sebaste in 320 AD. They were of different countries, but enrolled in the same Roman troop; all in the flower of their age, brave, and robust, and esteemed on account of their services. St. Gregory of Nyssa says they were of the Thundering Legion (Legio XII Fullminata), which became famous under Marcus Aurelius for the miraculous rain and victory obtained by their prayers. This was the Twelfth Legion, and then quartered in Armenia. Lysias was duke or general of the forces, and Agricola the governor of the province. Agricola informed the army of Emperor Licinius’ order that all the soldiers had to offer sacrifice to his chosen idols. These forty solders boldly went up to Agricola and professed that they were Christians and that no torments should make them ever abandon their holy religion. The governor first endeavored to win them over by saying their refusal would bring dishonor upon them. Next he promised high favor and great honor if they complied with the Emperor’s order. Finding these gentle methods ineffectual, he had recourse to threats, and these the most terrifying; but all in vain. To his promises they answered that he could give them nothing equal to what he would deprive them of; and to his threats, that his power only extended over their bodies which they had learned to despise when their souls were at stake. The governor, finding them all resolute, caused them to be torn with whips, and their sides to be rent with iron hooks; after which they were loaded with chains, and committed to jail.
After some days, Lysias, their general, came to Sebaste from Caesarea and re-examined them. His generous promises were likewise rejected and his threats of torments similarly rebuffed. They said they would willingly die for their country or the Empire, but they would never commit the grave sin of idolatry by offering sacrifice to false gods. We must obey God before we obey men, no matter how great those men may be or what authority they may have! The governor was highly offended at their courage and brazen speech. In vengeance, he concocted an extraordinarily painful kind of death, which, being slow and severe, he hoped would shake their constancy. The cold in Armenia is very sharp, especially in March towards the end of winter. The wind blows fiercely from the north and there was a severe frost throughout. Under the walls of the town stood a pond, which was frozen so hard that it would bear walking upon with safety. The judge ordered the saints to be exposed quite naked upon the ice. There they would remain: suffering thirst, starvation, and the bitter cold until they capitulated and worshiped falsely. If they remained steadfast in their disobedience, then they would surely die upon the frozen pond.
SUFFERING FOR THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM
The Forty Soldiers of the Thundering Legion, upon hearing this sentence, ran joyfully to the pond. Without waiting to be stripped by the soldiers, they undressed themselves and bravely accepted their sentence. (Like Christ so long ago, they embraced their cross!) They encouraged one another in the manner that is so common among soldiers in military expeditions attended with hardships and dangers. They also made this their joint prayer: "Lord, we are forty who are engaged in this combat; grant that we may be forty crowned, and that not one be wanting to this sacred number."
Soldiers stood by guarding the pond to prevent any of them from trying to flee and escape their faith. Yes these sentinels were unnecessary for their purpose was firm. Yet the Forty continued to encourage each other by praying, singing psalms, and reminding one another, “It will be a terrible night, yea, but it will win us a happy eternity. Let us keep before our eyes the crown that awaits those who remain faithful to the one true Living God.”
This torture devised by the pagans was terrible, most especially because each of the forty soldiers knew that at a moment’s notice they could step out of the freezing water and end the pain, if they would but toss a few grains of incense. The pagan soldiers taunted and goaded their Christian counterparts. In order to intensify the mental anguish, the pagan soldiers then built a fire within sight of the tormented disciples of Christ. They promised them hot broth, blankets, a warm bath and a seat by the fire. Steam arose from the warm baths just yards away from the frozen pond. The anguish was terrifying. It seemed as if the resolve of some would break! Yet as one, they raised their voice in prayer and continued to exhort one another to be brave, to endure, and to win the crown. Among the forty confessors, one suddenly yielded and, leaving his companions, he sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant. He emerged from the lake, offered incense to the gods, and delightedly stepped into the warm bath to melt the numbness in his bones. Yet no sooner did he enter the warm bath than he died! (The rationalist will say it was the shock of moving from intense cold to sudden heat, yet the man of faith wisely perceives Divine Providence at work.)
THEIR NUMBER MIRACULOUSLY REMAINS AT FORTY
One of the pagan guards set to keep watch over the martyrs beheld at this moment a supernatural brilliancy overshadowing the thirty-nine. In a vision, he beheld angels descending from Heaven, distributing precious garments and treasures to the martyrs. They also held thirty-nine celestial crowns. The apostate in the bath received no such gifts or crown. Grace merited by the sufferings of the other thirty-nine poured into this pagan and, in an instant, he was converted. The power of God is indeed irresistible! He proclaimed himself a Christian, threw off his garments, and by a unique inspiration of the Holy Ghost, took his place lying down upon the ice amidst these thirty-nine beloved of Christ.
Thus the number of forty remained complete. God had heard and fulfilled their request, though not in the manner which they had imagined. St. Ephrem comments: “This ought to make us adore the impenetrable secrets of his mercy and justice, in this instance, no less than in the reprobation of Judas and the election of St. Matthias."
THE YOUNGEST MARTYR AND HIS SAINTLY MOTHER
At daybreak, the judge ordered that all the stiffened bodies, whether dead with cold or still barely alive, be laid on carriages and cast into a fire. As the soldiers threw the bodies upon the wagon, they found the youngest was still alive (tradition records his name as Melito). The executioners hoped he would change his resolution when he came to and so they left him behind. His own mother, a poor widow but rich in faith and worthy of a martyr son, observed this false compassion and reproached the executioners. She found her son quite frozen, unable to move and barely breathing. He looked upon his mother with languishing eyes and weakly made the Sign of the Cross to comfort her. She exhorted him to persevere to the end and prayed for him to be fortified by the Holy Ghost. Then with her own hands she placed him upon the wagon with the bodies of his martyr companions. She did so without shedding a tear. Nay, her countenance was full of joy, saying courageously: “Go, go, my son, proceed to the end of this happy journey with thy companions, that thou mayest not be the last of them that shall present themselves before God.”
THEIR VENERATION
All forty of the martyrs’ bodies were burned and their ashes cast into a river. The Christians, however, collected the precious remains, and the relics were distributed throughout many cities. In this way the veneration paid to the Forty Martyrs became widespread, and numerous churches were erected in their honor.
One such church was built at Caesarea, in Cappadocia, and it was in this church that St. Basil publicly delivered his homily. Special devotion to the forty martyrs of Sebaste was introduced at an early date into the West. St. Gaudentius (+427), Bishop of Brescia received particles of the ashes of these martyrs during a voyage in the East, and placed them with other relics in the altar of the basilica which he had erected. In the Roman Forum, a chapel consecrated to the Forty Martyrs was built in the fifth century. A picture, still preserved there, dating from the sixth or seventh century, depicts the scene of their martyrdom.