This week in Christian history: Thomas Aquinas dies, 40 martyrs of Sebaste

40 martyrs of Sebaste – March 9, 320

This week marks the traditional date for when 40 soldiers of the Roman Empire were sentenced to freeze to death in Sebaste, Armenia, for their Christian faith.

According to an account from St. Basil, 40 Christian members of the Roman 12th Legion were stripped and forced onto a frozen lake to freeze to death.

Reportedly, their pagan peers set aside hot baths to tempt the Christian soldiers to renounce their faith, with one of them doing so. However, another soldier converted to Christianity and was added to their number.

“In the morning the judge ordered both those that were dead with the cold, and those that were still alive, to be laid on carriages and cast into a fire,” recounted Basil.

“Their bodies were burned and their ashes thrown into the river; but the Christians secretly carried off or purchased part of them with money.”