Saint Sebastian

Sebastian lived in the third century AD and served as a soldier in Rome, though tradition holds he came from Milan. During the Diocletianic Persecution he was condemned for his Christian faith and tied to a post or tree, where archers shot him and left him for dead. Irene of Rome found him alive and nursed him back to health - a scene that would captivate painters fourteen centuries later. Once recovered, he sought out Diocletian personally to warn the emperor about his sins, a confrontation that ended with Sebastian clubbed to death. The Chronograph of 354 records veneration on January 20; by the fourth century, Ambrose of Milan confirmed his cult was already established. Medieval Europe turned to him during plague outbreaks, believing he could intercede against pestilence, and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches now honour him as patron saint of athletics, archery, and plagues.