40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste by Jamil Malone (Mar. ’02)
On March 9th the Orthodox Christian Church celebrates the feast day of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. When attending a wedding, one will find the prayer that the priest reads before the couple to be quite familiar. The prayer reads, “Remember them (the bride and groom), O Lord, as thou didst thy Forty Holy Martyrs, sending down upon them crowns from Heaven…” The symbolic crowns come from the crowns that were sent down on the Forty Holy Martyrs.
During the reign of the Emperor Licinius (AD 320), there was a group of forty young soldiers of the Roman army who were garrisoned in the city of Sebaste, Armenia. These soldiers committed themselves to the service of Jesus Christ while serving the emperor. They were excellent examples of men who could bear arms for their country and still worship the Prince of Peace. The forty young men did not just accept Christ as their Savior on their own, but they did so with the knowledge that they ran a considerable risk of being killed. Licinius soon discovered their allegiance to Christ and issued an edict that those who did not worship the pagan gods would face punishments that could include torture or death. When the forty young men where given the choice of recanting or dying, none of them stepped forward to be counted as a pagan. It was very cold at this time, which led to the idea of stripping the soldiers and standing them out by a lake where the cold winds would kill them. The forty stood shivering in the wind looking across at the warm fires of the pagans to which they could go if they denied Christ. The forty preferred death to that kind of dishonor and stood their ground. Finally there was one in the group who weakened and started for the warm fires, but he died before reaching them. As death grew nearer, a band of angels descended from Heaven and placed crowns on the heads of the dying soldiers. This spectacle overcame one of the pagan guards so much that he stripped his clothes and rushed to die at the side of these men. This brought to forty the number who died for Christ on that somber day. It is for this reason that we say the prayer at a wedding as a symbol of the blessing of Heaven for those who keep their faith in Jesus Christ.
What makes these men examples for everyone is the strength and faith these forty young men displayed in risking their lives for Christ. The reading of their story inspires us to look at how we really view Christ.
Through the prayers of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, may God bless us. May He send down crowns from Heaven upon us someday.
