Sebastian
Saint Sebastian is the patron of archers and soldiers for the most literal of reasons: he was a captain in the Praetorian Guard, and when his Christianity was discovered Diocletian had him bound to a stake and shot full of arrows by his own archers. From that same arrow-pierced martyrdom comes his patronage of athletes — the slender, muscular figure of art and his soldier’s discipline made him the model of physical strength offered to God. Above all he is invoked against plague: in the late Middle Ages the arrow was seen as the very image of pestilence striking suddenly from heaven, and just as Sebastian survived the arrows, the faithful prayed he would turn the plague’s shafts aside. His intercession was credited with ending epidemics in Rome (680), Milan, and elsewhere, sealing him as one of the great plague-saints of Europe.
Saint Sebastian was a Christian soldier in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. When his faith was discovered, he was ordered to be shot with arrows. Left for dead, he was nursed back to health by Saint Irene of Rome, only to confront the emperor again and be beaten to death. He is one of the most depicted saints in art.
