Last Thursday, we mentioned Saint Ambrose’s sermon on Psalm 118 as one of our sources about our patron saint. The sermon says:

“To enter the kingdom of God, we must endure many tribulations. If there are many persecutions, there are many testings; where there are many crowns of victory, there are many trials of strength. It is then to your advantage if there are many persecutors; among many persecutions, you may more easily find a path to victory.

Take the example of the martyr Sebastian, whose birthday in glory we celebrate today. He was a native of Milan. At a time when persecution either had ceased or had not yet begun or was of a milder kind, he realized that there was only slight if any, opportunity for suffering. He set out for Rome, where bitter persecutions were raging because of the fervor of the Christians. There, he endured suffering; there, he gained his crown. He went to the city as a stranger and established a home of undying glory there. If only one persecutor had existed, he would not have gained a martyr’s crown.

The persecutors who are visible are not the only ones. There are also invisible persecutors, much greater in number. This is more serious. Like a king bent on persecution, sending orders to persecute his many agents and establishing different persecutors in each city or province, the devil directs his many servants in their work of persecution, whether in public or the souls of individuals. The Scripture says of this kind of persecution: “All who wish to live a holy life in Christ Jesus suffer persecution.” “All” suffer persecution; there is no exception. Who can claim an exemption if the Lord himself endured the testing of persecution? How many there are today who are secret martyrs for Christ, giving testimony to Jesus as Lord. The Apostle knew this kind of martyrdom, this faithful witnessing to Christ; he said: “This is our boast, the testimony of our conscience.”