Coffee & Saints

Born: 255 – Narbonne, France
Died: 288 – Rome, Italy

What I appreciate about St. Sebastian:
He was condemned to death for his faith and did not waver in his stance. I am so impressed with his boldness in standing for what is right, even to the point of accepting a painful death.

Coffee Order:
When I picture Saint Sebastian, I picture an athlete’s physique. As a soldier, he would have lived a lifestyle conducive to good physical health and fitness. Therefore, I picture him ordering an oat milk iced coffee – high in protein and very refreshing after a workout.

To be perfectly honest, I know that I would be a little intimidated for my coffee outing with Saint Sebastian. As the patron Saint of athletes I have a picture in my head of a strong, lean man who focuses on his physical health through exercise. I myself am certainly not a natural athlete (unless you count beating my father in pickle ball – he’s seventy-three…). I was a competitive swimmer back in the day; however, I was not exactly the fastest swimmer on the team.

Here is what I am sure of – Saint Sebastian and I do have something in common: a deep love and devotion to our Lord. While he may have been a fit man with strength that I will never possess; we still are similar people in serving the Lord to the best of our ability.

When thinking about my coffee outing with Saint Sebastian, I think that he would have decided on a more modern coffee shop. Think middle of the city, wood and metal accents, exposed duct work. I cannot fully explain why it is that I picture him enjoying this aesthetic, it is just what popped in my head upon praying through this blog.

Saint Sebastian is said to have been born in 255 in France and unfortunately, not much is known about this early Saints life. If I cannot share much information on this man, why bother writing this blog? Yes, he does not have as much known about his story like Saint Augustine of Hippo or Saint Terese of Lisieux; but his Sainthood still matters.

Tradition says that Saint Sebastian joined the army of Carinus and eventually became a captain under Diocletian. While I do not know much about being in the army, I am sure that this was filled with heartache, hard work, and determination. Did he become friends with his fellow soldiers? Did they work well together? Was it difficult to stay attached to the Catholic faith during this time? These are some of the questions that I would like to ask him over coffee.

As a soldier, he had to use a lot of mental and physical energy. However; for Saint Sebastian, he was also using his spiritual energy. Legend says that our Saint was caught converting souls for Christ. I find this to be so awesome! While surrounded by war and mayhem, he was so devoted to the Lord that he evangelized during it! I pray that I myself would have this same mentality. I would love to listen to him tell me more about this part of his life. Was he a natural evangelizer? Was this something that he had to work very hard to achieve? Was he a public speaker or did he find it difficult to share with others?

When our Saint was found out as being a Christian and winning souls for Christ, he was condemned to death. He was treated as a spectacle –  they tied him to a stake and he was used as target practice for the archers. So not only were they killing him, they were humiliating him as well. The archers left him for dead; but a widow named Irene found him and nursed him back to health. Irene was not just a random person in the story, she was the widow of one of Diocletian’s servants who was also martyred for being Christian. What a beautiful gift! She put herself in danger to help Sebastian.

After he was nursed back to health he could have fled; hidden away and saved himself. However; this brave soldier went back to Diocletian! I have an image in my head of Diocletian, proud of his archers for killing the Christian, and then silence falls as Sebastian strolls in. I cannot begin to imagine the shock that Diocletian must have felt. He was probably so certain that Sebastian was dead; and here the man was. I think Sebastian would have a proud smirk on his face as he talks of how he stood before the man who condemned him to death and yet he was very much alive. What did he say to him?

Needless to say, Diocletian was not thrilled that his plan had been foiled and he condemned Sebastian to death a second time, this time by beating. There is a quote from Saint Sebastian which says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” What an incredible prayer! On the Cross, Jesus said something so similar. Those who hated Him, ridiculed Him, and killed Him; witnessed Jesus ask God to forgive them. Our Saint was so devoted to his Christian religion that he truly emulated our Lord and Savior, put his own pride and struggles aside, and begged God to welcome him into heaven and to forgive those who were killing him.

I wish that I could say with one hundred percent certainty that I would become a martyr. I believe that the only way to find out, is to be put in that situation; which of course, I pray never happens to me. Sitting with Saint Sebastian, in the coffee shop, and talking with him about his life – I would love to hear him tell me what was going through his head when he was condemned to death not once, but twice. It takes such an incredibly strong person to face that head on. This man did not flee from what was being brought against him – instead he faced it. Would I be able to do the same? Would you?

Once he was officially dead, a woman named Lucina found his body in a sewer. This shows once again that they wanted to humiliate our Saint for today. They did not bury his body with respect, instead they left it in a sewer like trash. Lucina did not know what to do with Sebastian’s body and legend says that she had a dream where Saint Sebastian asked for her to bury him in the Catacombs in Rome. Nearly eighty years after his martyrdom, Saint Sebastian’s remains were moved to a Basilica in Rome.

While I may feel intimidated by this man; I would still love to have the opportunity to sit and listen to him tell me his story. While it can feel very difficult to connect with someone from so long ago, I just want to give you the reminder that he was still a person. He had emotions, family, friends, and things he liked to do. As you pray for this Saints intercession, do not pray to the Saint as someone who was perfect; pray for the intercession of the man who despite everything truly accepted the strength of God’s grace and faced the ultimate test.

Prayer:
Saint Sebastian, you were a martyr for the faith, meaning that you died for what you believed in. Please pray for each one of us who face many trials and tribulations in our own lives as we too stand up for this Catholic faith in our culture today. While we may not be called to physically die for the faith; we are still called to die to ourselves when faced with sin that seems pleasing. Please pray for us to have the strength to stand up for what is right, even if everyone around us is against us. We ask for you to help us to see how we are invited to give Jesus our burdens so that we do not have to carry any of this on our own. We thank you for your service in the army to protect the Kingdom of God! Amen.

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Saint! The artwork above was created using AI and my own imagination – this is how I picture what it would be like to sit with Saint Sebastian in a coffeeshop today. I would love for you to share your own thoughts in the comments. How do you picture Saint Sebastian? What do you think he would have ordered at a coffee shop? Let me know below!

Cheers! ☕
Maggie