St. Sebastian Prayer for Athletes, Soldiers and the Sick

St. Sebastian, a Roman soldier martyred for Christ around the year 288, is the patron saint of athletes, soldiers and those suffering from epidemics. The image of the young martyr bound to a tree and pierced with arrows is one of the most famous in Christian art, and for centuries towns struck by plague turned to him for help. Below are prayers to St. Sebastian for athletes before a game, for soldiers, for the sick and for courage, the traditional prayer of his feast, a nine-day novena, and the story of his double martyrdom.

A prayer to St. Sebastian

Written for this page:

St. Sebastian, brave soldier of Christ,
you served the emperor faithfully but gave your first loyalty to God,
and you encouraged your fellow Christians to stand firm.
Pray for me, that I may be strong in faith and steady in trial.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention),
if it is God’s will. Amen.

A prayer for athletes

St. Paul often compared the Christian life to a race. A prayer before a game, practice or race:

St. Sebastian, patron of athletes,
bless my body, my effort and my team.
Help me to play hard and fair, to win with humility
and to lose with grace.
Keep us safe from injury,
and remind me that the crown that lasts is the one God gives. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See also patron saints of sports and hobbies.

Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain.
And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one.

A prayer for soldiers

St. Sebastian, soldier and martyr,
protect all who serve in the armed forces (especially name).
Keep them safe in danger, faithful to their conscience,
and close to God far from home.
Comfort their families, and bring them home in peace. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the prayers of the faithful for the military.

Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
No man, being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with secular businesses; that he may please him to whom he hath engaged himself.
For he also that striveth for the mastery, is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

A prayer in time of sickness and epidemic

For more than a thousand years Christians have asked St. Sebastian’s prayers in times of plague. The eighth-century historian Paul the Deacon records that when plague struck Rome and Pavia in 680, it ceased after an altar was dedicated to St. Sebastian.

St. Sebastian, you were wounded by arrows and restored to health.
Pray for all who are sick, especially in this time of illness.
Protect our families and communities from disease,
strengthen doctors, nurses and caregivers,
and comfort the dying and those who mourn. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for healing.

The prayer of his feast

St. Sebastian shares his feast with St. Fabian, a pope martyred in 250. Their Collect in the traditional Roman Missal, translated for this page:

Look upon our weakness, almighty God,
and since the burden of our own deeds weighs us down,
let the glorious intercession of your blessed martyrs Fabian and Sebastian protect us.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to St. Sebastian

To end on the eve of his feast, pray from January 11 to January 19. Each day, pray the prayer to St. Sebastian, add the day’s intention, and end with an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be.

For courage to confess the faith.
For soldiers and their families.
For athletes and coaches.
For the sick and for all who care for them.
For those persecuted for their faith.
For loyalty and honesty at work.
For strength to resist temptation.
For the grace to forgive those who hurt us.
For perseverance to the end.

The armor of God that St. Paul describes fits the soldier-saint:

Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power.
Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.

The life of St. Sebastian

St. Ambrose of Milan, writing in the fourth century, mentions Sebastian as a native of Milan who went to Rome and suffered martyrdom there. The longer account of his martyrdom, written in the fifth century, adds the details remembered in art and devotion:

Sebastian was an officer in the imperial guard under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. He kept his faith secret so that he could visit and encourage Christians in prison, among them the brothers Marcus and Marcellian.
When his faith was discovered, Diocletian ordered him to be tied to a stake and shot with arrows. He was left for dead.
St. Irene, the widow of a martyr, came to bury him, found him alive and nursed him back to health.
Sebastian then stood before the emperor and rebuked him for his cruelty to Christians. This time Diocletian had him beaten to death, around the year 288, and his body thrown into the great sewer of Rome.
A Christian woman named Lucina recovered his body and buried it in the catacombs on the Appian Way, where the Basilica of St. Sebastian now stands.

Because he survived the arrows, Sebastian is said to have been martyred twice.

Feast day and patronage

Feast day: January 20, with St. Fabian.
Patron of: athletes, soldiers, archers, police officers, those suffering from plague and epidemics, and many cities, including Rio de Janeiro.
Symbols: arrows, a tree or column, and the soldier’s armor.

Frequently asked questions

What is St. Sebastian the patron saint of?

Athletes, soldiers, archers and those suffering from epidemics. He is also the patron of many cities.

Why is St. Sebastian the patron of athletes?

Because of his strength and endurance in his martyrdom, and because young athletes found in him a model of a strong and faithful Christian. St. Paul’s image of the Christian as a runner in a race is often prayed with him.

When is the feast of St. Sebastian?

January 20.

Did St. Sebastian die from the arrows?

No. According to his story he survived the arrows, was nursed back to health by St. Irene, and was later beaten to death on the emperor’s orders.

More prayers to the saints

Texts and sources

Collect of Sts. Fabian and Sebastian (January 20), traditional Roman Missal; English translation made for this page.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:24–25; 2 Timothy 2:3–5; Ephesians 6:10–13, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
St. Ambrose, Exposition of Psalm 118; Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards, book 6.
The other prayers and the novena intentions were written for this page.