Sebastiana the Martyr

Sebastiana the Martyr was a disciple of the holy Apostle Paul and suffered for Christ in the city of Heraclea in Thrace, in the time of the emperor Domitian (81-96).

During the persecution of Christians she was brought to trial as a confessor of the name of Christ before the governor Georgios in the city of Marcianopolis in the region of Moesia. The Saint firmly confessed her faith and was subjected to cruel tortures. First she was beaten, then thrown into a red-⁠hot oven, from which she came out unharmed. She was sent to Heraclea, where sentence was pronounced on her a second time.

The governor there, named Pompian, ordered her to be tied to a tree and her body torn with roof tiles, but the martyr remained unbroken in her faith. Then she was given to wild beasts, but there too the Lord protected her, and the beasts would not touch her. In the end, by order of the governor, Saint Sebastiana was beheaded. Her body, thrown into the sea, was carried by angels to the island of Rhodes in Thrace, in the Sea of Marmara.

She is commemorated on 16 September, according to the new calendar.