St Sebastian Thrown into the Cloaca Maxima, Lodovico Carracci; 1612

“LOOK, then, O Soldier of Christ! upon us, and pity us as thou did thy brethren, who once faltered in the combat. Alas! We let everything frighten and discourage us; and oftentimes we are enemies of the Cross, even while professing that we love it. We too easily forget that we cannot be companions of the martyrs unless our hearts have the generosity of the martyrs. We are cowardly in our contest with the world and its pomps; with the evil propensities of our nature, and the tyranny of our senses—and thus we fall. And when we have made an easy peace with God, and sealed it with the sacrament of his love, we behave as though we had now nothing more to do than to go on quietly to heaven, without further trials or self-imposed sacrifices. Rouse us, great Saint! from these illusions, and waken us from our listless life. Our love of God is asleep, and all must needs go wrong.

“Preserve us from the contagion of bad example, and of those worldly maxims which gain currency even with Christian minds, because Christian lips call them rules of Christian prudence. Pray for us, that we may be ardent in the pursuit of our sanctification, watchful over our inclinations, zealous for the salvation of others, lovers of the Cross, and detached from earthly things. Oh! by the arrows which pierced thee, we beseech thee shield us from those hidden darts which Satan throws against us.”

— Dom Prosper Guéranger, “Saint Fabian and St. Sebastian,” January 20, The Liturgical Year

Read about the life and martyrdom of St. Sebastian here.

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