| The Story Of St. Sebastian According to his life story, Sebastian was born at Narbonne, Gaul. He became a soldier in the Roman army at Rome in about 283, and encouraged Marcellian and Marcus, under sentence of death, to remain firm in their faith. Sebastian made numerous converts: among them were the master of the rolls, Nicostratus, who was in charge of prisoners and his wife, Zoe, a deaf mute whom he cured; the jailer Claudius; Chromatius, Prefect of Rome, whom he cured of gout; and Chromatius' son, Tiburtius. Chromatius set the prisoners free, freed his slaves, and resigned as prefect.
Sebastian was named captain in the praetorian guards by Emperor Diocletian, as did Emperor Maximian when Diocletian went to the East. Neither knew that Sebastian was a Christian. When it was discovered during Maximian's persecution of the Christians that Sebastian was indeed a Christian, he was ordered executed. He was shot with arrows and left for dead, but when the widow of St. Castulus went to recover his body, she found he was still alive and nursed him back to health. Soon after, Sebastian intercepted the Emperor, denounced him for his cruelty to Christians, and was beaten to death on the Emperor's orders.
Saint Sebastian was venerated at Milan as early as the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way. He is patron of archers, athletes, and soldiers, and is appealed to for protection against plagues.
He is patron saint of athletes because of his physical endurance and his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith. Sebastian is also patron to all soldiers. He entered the Roman army under Emperor Carinus in 283 in order to defend the confessors and martyrs of his day without drawing attention to himself. His efforts kept the Faith of Marcus and Marcellian firm during their persecutions, right up to the time of their martyrdom. He was declared patron of plague sufferers of his reported cures of those afflicted with many diseases.
The History of The Society Of Saint Sebastian The Society of Saint Sebastian of Montclair, New Jersey was incorporated on May 18th, 1926.
The certificate was granted to the founding members, who were Italian immigrants from the town of Cerami, Sicily. These men came to be our grandfathers, fathers, uncles, cousins and friends; all sharing a common interest: love and admiration for Saint Sebastian, one of the patron saints of Cerami.
The tradition of celebrating the feast of Saint Sebastian every August was brought from Cerami, where the feast is still celebrated. Every last Sunday of August in Montclair, the statue of the Saint, a replica of the one in Cerami,, is carried out of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church and taken into procession; followed by the devout and the curious.
The Saint’s “float” or “carrier” called “Avara” is also a replica of the one used in Cerami. It was built in 1936 by three original society members. Their names were Santo Stivale, Sebastiano Stivale and Luigi Locascio. In September, 2003, the crown portion of Avara was on display
at Seton Hall University’s 150th Anniversary of Newark’s Archdiocese’s exhibit.
With the help of God, the new and future generations of the society will continue to keep this proud tradition flourishing, which was so dear to our forefathers, the founding members of the Society of Saint Sebastian.
| | Buona Festa di San Sebastiano!!! Society of St. Sebastian Welcomes You! SEE "FEAST PAGE" for all the details on the upcoming Feast of St. Sebastian! MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 640 Montclair, New Jersey 07042 See our "events" page for upcoming events. ** Local Weather **
Montclair, NJ
Updated Friday, September 03, 2010 4:53 PM
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Tuesday
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