Feast of St. Sebastian's Church, Enderamulla today

by Basil WIJETUNGE

The 121st annual feast of St. Sebastian's Church at Enderamulla, a popular shrine dedicated to St. Sebastian, will be celebrated today following ten days of novenas and vespers.

Sebastian was born to a noble family in 255 AD. in Narbonne, France but was brought up in Milan in Italy where he lived a virtuous and exemplary life and was called "The most sweet flower of Narbonne'.

In 283 AD he went to Rome whose emperor at the time was Diocletian, and enlisted in the army as a soldier and due to his zeal and bravery coupled with his highly dedicated service was very soon promoted to the rank of a captain in the Praetorian Guards.

At that time the Emperor and his empire were Pagan worshippers but Christianity too was spreading fast and when the Emperor came to know of this he made a decree that anyone found engaged in Christianity would be put to death.

Sebastian was already a servant of Christ but this fact was not largely known until he approached two Christian martyrs, Marcus and Marcellianus who were under sentence and appeared shaken in their faith by the tears of their friends, and by delivering them the holy fire, encouraged them to remain in their faith right up to the time of their martydom and went about making numerous converts and curing illnesses.

Nicostratus, the master of the rolls in Rome brought his wife Zoe who had lost her speech ability for six years due to palsy in her tongue, before Sebastian made the sign of the cross on her mouth she immediately began to speak distinctly.

Overjoyed Nicostratus took Zoe, the parents of Marcus and Marcellinus, Claudius the jailer and sixteen prisoners whom he selected, to his house and invited Polycarp a holy priest, to convert and baptise them.

Curing many diseases, he was raised to the position of Saint by the church, as patron of plagues.

People even now seek his blessings relief and comfort, especially against all forms of contagious diseases and plagues, and have immense faith in his cures. St. Sebastian is a highly venerated saint of the Catholic church.

The miraculous statue of St. Sebastian of Enderamulla church will be carried in procession around the village following the festive High Mass at 8.00 am. today.