Gaius of Sebaste

Holy Martyr Gaius of Sebaste is one of the forty martyrs who died for Christ near Sebaste of Armenia, around the year 320. About him the page says nothing in particular, but tells the passion of them all.

The forty were Christian soldiers from Cappadocia, in the Roman army at Sebaste. The commander Agricolaus, a fervent pagan, pressed them to sacrifice to the idols, and they refused. The stones thrown at them, by order of the official Lysias, missed their mark, and in prison a voice comforted them. On a frozen lake, naked, they passed the night in a prayer of praise, while on the shore a warm bath waited for whoever should renounce. One renounced and died on the threshold; in his place went into the water, confessing himself a Christian, the guard Aglaius. The next day the martyrs were found alive, the bones of their legs were broken and their bodies burned. The mother of the youngest, Meliton, carried him on her shoulders and laid him on the wagon when he passed away. The bones thrown into the river were gathered by Bishop Peter of Sebaste, after the martyrs appeared to him in a dream.

Gaius is named in the list of the forty, beside Kyrion, Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthias, Helianus, Sisinnius, Angius, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Domitian, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctemon, Severian, Hudion, Meliton and Aglaius. The saints are commemorated on 9 March in the old style, which is 22 March in the new.