Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

Today the Church commemorates forty Roman soldiers who, in the early fourth century, were stationed near the Armenian town of Sebasteia when their commander, discovering that they were Christians, ordered them to renounce their Faith or suffer torture and death.

They refused this order and were stripped naked and marched out onto a frozen lake where they were forced to spend the night. A warm bath and bonfires were set up at the edge of the lake to entice the soldiers. One soldier did eventually relent and made for the edge of the ice, but fell down dead before he could reach the shore. The remaining thirty-nine soldiers sang hymns and prayed, until one of the pagan soldiers assigned to guard them was so moved by the strength of their Faith that he flung off his uniform and ran out onto the ice, praying "Lord God, I believe in Thee, in Whom these soldiers do believe. To them add me also, and esteem me worthy to suffer with Thy servants."

In the morning, the Forty were found still to be alive. They were rounded up, their legs were broken, and all forty men were burned. Three days later, local Christians, led by bishop Peter of Sebasteia, gathered the charred remains of the Martyrs and committed them to a Christian burial.