They were forty Christian soldiers of the Thunderstruck Legion of the Imperial Roman army and were tortured and murdered for their faith during the persecutions of Emperor Licinius. The soldiers were stripped of their clothes and was forced to stand naked on a frozen pond to freeze to death at Sebaste, Armenia in AD 320 and their bodies were burnt afterwards.

Agricola was the commander of the forces in the Armenian town of Sebaste, in where is now eastern Turkey. There were forty devout Christians among his soldiers who wielded equally well the sword of battle and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). When Agricola came to know that they were Christians, he forced them to renounce their faith and bow down to the pagan gods. He gave them two alternatives: either offer sacrifice to the gods and earn great honors or be stripped of their military rank and fall into disgrace. The soldiers were sent to jail until they made a decision on this. That night they strengthened themselves singing psalms and praying. At midnight they were filled with holy spirit upon hearing the voice of the Lord: " but he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 10: 22).
 
The next morning Agricola summoned them once again and tried to persuade them. When the soldiers remained unmoved, they were again sent to prison for a week to await the arrival of Licinius. During this time they prepared themselves for the trial of martyrdom.
 
When Licinius arrived, the soldiers marched to the interrogation singing the psalm, "O God, in Thy name save me" (Ps. 53), as they always did when enter upon the field of contest. He repeated Agricola's arguments of persuasion, alternating between threats and flattery. When he saw that words were of no avail, he ordered the soldiers sent to jail.
 
After prayers that night, for a second time the soldiers heard the voice of the Lord: 
"He who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live. Be bold and have no fear of short-lived torment which soon passes; endure...that you may receive crowns."
 
The next day the soldiers were led to a lake, were stripped of their clothes and ordered to stand through the night in the freezing waters. A guard was set to watch over them. In order to tempt them, warm baths were set up on the side of the lake. Anyone who agreed to sacrifice to the idols could flee the bitterly cold waters and warm his frozen bones in the baths. This was a  major temptation which in the first  hour of the night overpowered one of the soldiers. Scarcely had he reached the baths, however, than he dropped to the ground and died. 
 
Seeing this, the rest of the soldiers prayed more earnestly to God to help them and save them from the freezing water. Their prayer was heard. At the third hour of the night a warm light bathed the soldiers and the ice was melted.

By this time all but one of the guards had fallen asleep. The guard who was still awake was amazed by the death of the soldier who had fled to the baths and about those in the water were still alive. Seeing this extraordinary light, he looked up to see where it came from and saw thirty-nine radiant crowns descending onto the heads of the soldiers. Immediately, his heart was enlightened by the knowledge of the Truth. He roused the sleeping guards and threw his clothes, ran into the lake shouting for all to hear, "I am a Christian too!" His name was Aglaius and he brought the number of martyrs once again back to forty.
 
The next morning when the judges came to the lake, they were enraged to find that not only were the captives still alive but that one of the guards had joined them. The soldiers were then taken back to prison and were tortured. The bones  were crushed by sledge-hammers. The mother of one of the youngest, Meliton, stood by and encouraged them to endure this trial. To their last breath the martyrs sang out, "Our help is in the name of the Lord," and they all surrendered their souls before God. Only Meliton was alive but he was barely breathing.
 
Taking her dying son on her shoulders, mother followed the cart on which the bodies of the soldiers were being taken to be burned. At last when her son took his last breath  she placed him on the cart with his fellow martyrs.
 
The funeral-pyre burned out, leaving only the martyrs' bones. Knowing that Christians would collect these relics to the eternal glory of the martyrs and their God, the judges ordered them to be thrown into the nearby river. That night, however, the holy martyrs appeared to the blessed bishop of Sebaste and told him to recover the bones from the river. Together with some of his clergy, the bishop went secretly that night to the river where the bones of the martyrs appeared as stars in the water, enabling them to collect the very last fragment. The holy martyrs still shine like stars in the world, encouraging and inspiring believers everywhere to be faithful to Christ till the end.
 
The names of these forty Martyrs of Sebaste were Acacius, Aetius, Aglaius, Alexander, Angus, Athanasius, Candidus, Chudion, Claudius, Cyril, Cyrion, Dometian, Domnus, Ecdicus, Elias, Eunoicus, Eutyches, Eutychius, Flavius, Gaisus, Gorgonius, Helianus, Heraclius, Hesychius, John, Lysimachus, Meliton, Nicholas, Pholoctemon, Priscus, Sacerdon, Servian, Sisinus, Smaragdus, Theodulus, theophilus, Valens, Valerius, Vivanus, and Zanthias.

Other Saints of the Day

1. Saint Marie-Eugénie de Jésus
2. Saint John Ogilvie
3. Pope Saint Simplicius
4. Saint Attalas of Bobbio
5. Saint Kessog

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