Saint Sebastian cured by an angel. Giovanni Baglione Roman martyr; little can be proven beyond the martyrdom he suffered. In the “Depositio Martyrium” of the 354 chronology it is mentioned that Sebastian was buried on the Appian Way. St. Ambrose (“In Psalmum CXVIII”; “Sermo”, XX, no. XLIV in PL, XV, 1497) states that Sebastian came from Milan and was venerated there even in the time of St. Ambrose.
The facts, probably written at the beginning of the 5th century and later erroneously attributed to Saint Ambrose, relate that Sebastian was an officer of the imperial guard and that he had secretly carried out many acts of charity and love in favor of his brothers in the faith. When in 286 it was finally discovered that he was a Christian he was handed over to Mauritanian archers, who riddled him with arrows. However, he was healed by the widow Santa Irene. He was eventually clubbed to death. These accounts have no historical basis and are not worth believing.
The oldest mosaic in San Sebastián, which probably dates to 682, shows a bearded adult man in court dress, but shows no trace of an arrow. It was the art of the Renaissance where he is first represented as a young man pierced by arrows. In the year 367 a basilica, which is one of the seven major churches of Rome, was built over his tomb. The current church was completed in 1611 by Cardinal Scipio Borghese. Some of his relics were brought in 826 to Saint Medard in Soissons. San Sebastian is considered protector against epidemics. Famous answers to prayer for his protection against epidemics are recounted in Rome in 680, in Milan in 1575, and in Lisbon in 1599. His feast day is celebrated on January 20.
Source: Löffler, Klemens. “St. Sebastian.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13668a.htm
Translated by Giovanni E. Reyes. LH M.
Image source: http://www.painting-palace.com
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia