Saints Fabian & Sebastian, Martyrs
Ss. Fabiani Papae et Sebastiani Martyrum
On this day the Church honours together two martyrs of the Roman Church — Pope Saint Fabian, who governed the flock in time of peace and died for the Faith under Decius, and Saint Sebastian, a soldier who gave his life under Diocletian. Their names have been joined in the prayers of the Church from the most ancient times.
From the earliest centuries the Roman Church kept the memory of Saints Fabian and Sebastian on the same day, and their names stand side by side to this hour in the Litany of the Saints. Both belonged to the city of Rome, both shed their blood for Christ, and both were buried on the Appian Way, where the faithful long came to venerate them. The 1962 Missal unites them in a single Mass, that the prayers of both may protect a people conscious of its own weakness.
Pope Saint Fabian
Saint Fabian was a layman of Rome when, according to the historian Eusebius, he was chosen to the See of Peter in the year 236. He governed the Church for some fourteen years during a rare season of comparative peace, in which he is said to have organised the care of the Roman cemeteries and the works of charity among the clergy. When the persecution of the Emperor Decius broke out, Fabian was among its first and most illustrious victims, dying a martyr in the year 250. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, writing soon afterward, praised the integrity of his rule and the glory of his death. His tomb in the cemetery of Callixtus, bearing his name in Greek letters, has been recovered, a silent witness reaching back across the centuries.
Saint Sebastian
Saint Sebastian was, by the constant tradition of the Roman Church, a soldier who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Diocletian about the year 288, and who was buried on the Appian Way at the place that still bears his name. The fuller story of his sufferings comes to us through a later account whose particular details cannot all be confirmed by early evidence; the Church has therefore always held with certainty the fact of his martyrdom and his burial, while treating the narrative embellishments with due reserve. From the Middle Ages he was widely invoked against plague and pestilence, and he remains one of the most beloved of the Roman martyrs.
Two witnesses, one crown
That the Church should join a Pope who died in peace-time persecution with a soldier of a later reign reminds us that martyrdom knows neither rank nor station. The shepherd and the soldier alike confessed Christ unto blood. In keeping their memory the faithful are taught to look upon their own frailty without despair, trusting that those who triumphed by grace will intercede for the pilgrim Church still on its way.
The Collect
Look upon our weakness, almighty God, and because the burden of our own deeds weighs us down, may the glorious intercession of blessed Fabian and Sebastian, Thy Martyrs, protect us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Infirmitátem nostram réspice, omnípotens Deus: et, quia pondus própriæ actiónis gravat, beatórum Mártyrum tuórum Fabiáni et Sebastiáni intercéssio gloriósa nos prótegat. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
Patronage
Saint Sebastian is venerated as a patron of soldiers and of athletes, and from the Middle Ages was invoked for protection against plague and pestilence.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar, Saints Fabian and Sebastian are observed on the same day, 20 January, but as two separate optional memorials rather than a single combined feast.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints Fabian and Sebastian?
In the traditional calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal their feast is kept together on 20 January as a Third-Class feast.
Why are Fabian and Sebastian honoured on the same day?
Both were martyrs of the Roman Church buried on the Appian Way, and their names were joined in the Roman calendar and in the Litany of the Saints from very early times. The 1962 Missal accordingly unites them in one Mass.
Who was Pope Saint Fabian?
He was a layman elected Bishop of Rome in 236, who governed the Church for about fourteen years and died a martyr under the Emperor Decius in 250. His tomb survives in the cemetery of Callixtus.
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