MAY 6 / APRIL 23
The Holy Martyr Sabbas Stratelates (“the General”) of Rome (272)
This glorious Sabbas lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Aurelian and held the rank of By ancestry, he was of a Gothic tribe. He often visited Christians in prison and assisted them from his own estate. Because of his great purity and fasting, God gave him authority over unclean spirits. When Sabbas was accused of being a Christian, he courageously stood before the emperor, threw down his military belt, and openly confessed Christ the Lord. Sabbas was tortured in various ways: he was flogged, scraped with iron claws, and burned with candles. He did not succumb to these deadly tortures but appeared alive and healthy. His military companions, seeing that God was obviously helping him, embraced the Christian Faith, and seventy of them were immediately behead- ed by order of the emperor. Christ the Lord Himself appeared in a great light to St. Sabbas in prison and encouraged His martyr. After that, Sabbas was condemned to death by drowning. He was thrown into a deep river, where he gave up his soul to God in the year 272. His soul went to the Lord, to Whom he had remained faithful through many tortures.
