About Today
Tuesday 20 January 2026
Tuesday of week 2 in Ordinary Time
or Saint Fabian, Pope, Martyr
or Saint Sebastian, Martyr
A mighty God is the Lord: come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Green.
St Sebastian
Nothing is known about St Sebastian except the fact that he was martyred early on in the persecutions of Diocletian. St Ambrose knew of him and states that he was already venerated in Milan in the fourth century. One of the seven chief churches of Rome was built over his grave in 367.
All else (his youth, his martyrdom by arrows) is fiction, some of it dating from more than a thousand years after his death. But what we know is what we need to know. For the Christians of the fourth century the important, the true, the sufficient fact about Sebastian was that he was a martyr, and they venerated him as such. It should be enough for us as well. See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Pope St Fabian (- 250)
He became Pope in 236 and was martyred on 20 January 250, during the persecution of the Emperor Decius. See the articles in Wikipedia and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Other saints: Bl Angelo Paoli (1642-1720)
20 Jan (where celebrated)
Angelo Paoli, a professed priest of the Carmelite Order, was born in Tuscany on 1 September 1642. In the convents in which he lived, he served others in a multitude of ways with dedication and humility, and held the post of master of novices several times. Everywhere he sought to help the poor in their need. In 1687 the Prior General called him to Rome, to entrust him with the formation of the novices. A much sought after animator and spiritual director, he devoted himself without reserve to the poor, the sick and the imprisoned, whom he assisted in every way, including by recourse to original and novel initiatives. He established a hospice for the convalescent poor of the hospital of S. Giovanni, in which they could recover their strength in order to rejoin society and the labour market. His devotion to the cross led him to place the sign of Christ in a number of places. He died in Rome on 20 January 1720 in the odour of sanctity. He was beatified on 25 April 2010.
Saint Sebastian, Martyr
Gospel: Mark 2:23-28
One Sabbath the Lord was going through the cornfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck ears of corn. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’
Reflection on the large Public Sculpture
Saint Sebastian is one of the great early Christian martyrs, venerated for his courage and unwavering faith. He was a Roman soldier in the late 3rd century, traditionally serving in the elite Praetorian Guard under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Secretly, however, he was a committed Christian, offering encouragement to imprisoned believers and inspiring others to remain strong in the face of persecution. When his faith was discovered, he was sentenced to death by being tied to a stake and shot with arrows. This dramatic scene made him one of the most depicted saints in Western art. Left for dead, he was found still alive by a Christian woman named Irene (Saint Irene of Rome, celebrated 3 April), who nursed him back to health. Rather than flee, Sebastian confronted the Emperor again, boldly denouncing the persecution of Christians.
This fearless act led to his second and final martyrdom: he was beaten to death and his body thrown into Rome’s sewers, later recovered and lovingly buried in the catacombs along the Appian Way — now the site of the Basilica of St Sebastian. Over the centuries, Sebastian became a symbol of resilience and hope, often invoked for protection against plagues, because arrows were seen as metaphors for sudden, deadly illness.
Ricardo Motilla’s Saint Sebastian is a monumental bronze sculpture created in 2008 that greets visitors at the entrance to the Art and History Museum of Guanajuato in the city of León, Mexico. The work, which stands around five metres tall and weighs over a tonne, represents the Roman martyr pierced by arrows, capturing his immense suffering, with his body bending in pain. His steadfast witness, and this contemporary artistic interpretation serve as a powerful public symbol of faith.
Saint Sebastian,
Sculpted by Ricardo Motilla (born 1951),
Unveiled in 2008,
Patinated bronze, located at the entrance to the Art and History Museum of Guanajuato
© Wikimedia / Art and History Museum of Guanajuato in the city of León, Mexico
Tuesday of week 2 in Ordinary Time
or Saint Fabian, Pope, Martyr
or Saint Sebastian, Martyr
A mighty God is the Lord: come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Green.
St Sebastian
Nothing is known about St Sebastian except the fact that he was martyred early on in the persecutions of Diocletian. St Ambrose knew of him and states that he was already venerated in Milan in the fourth century. One of the seven chief churches of Rome was built over his grave in 367.
All else (his youth, his martyrdom by arrows) is fiction, some of it dating from more than a thousand years after his death. But what we know is what we need to know. For the Christians of the fourth century the important, the true, the sufficient fact about Sebastian was that he was a martyr, and they venerated him as such. It should be enough for us as well. See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Pope St Fabian (- 250)
He became Pope in 236 and was martyred on 20 January 250, during the persecution of the Emperor Decius. See the articles in Wikipedia and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Other saints: Bl Angelo Paoli (1642-1720)
20 Jan (where celebrated)
Angelo Paoli, a professed priest of the Carmelite Order, was born in Tuscany on 1 September 1642. In the convents in which he lived, he served others in a multitude of ways with dedication and humility, and held the post of master of novices several times. Everywhere he sought to help the poor in their need. In 1687 the Prior General called him to Rome, to entrust him with the formation of the novices. A much sought after animator and spiritual director, he devoted himself without reserve to the poor, the sick and the imprisoned, whom he assisted in every way, including by recourse to original and novel initiatives. He established a hospice for the convalescent poor of the hospital of S. Giovanni, in which they could recover their strength in order to rejoin society and the labour market. His devotion to the cross led him to place the sign of Christ in a number of places. He died in Rome on 20 January 1720 in the odour of sanctity. He was beatified on 25 April 2010.
Saint Sebastian, Martyr
Gospel: Mark 2:23-28
One Sabbath the Lord was going through the cornfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck ears of corn. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’
Reflection on the large Public Sculpture
Saint Sebastian is one of the great early Christian martyrs, venerated for his courage and unwavering faith. He was a Roman soldier in the late 3rd century, traditionally serving in the elite Praetorian Guard under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Secretly, however, he was a committed Christian, offering encouragement to imprisoned believers and inspiring others to remain strong in the face of persecution. When his faith was discovered, he was sentenced to death by being tied to a stake and shot with arrows. This dramatic scene made him one of the most depicted saints in Western art. Left for dead, he was found still alive by a Christian woman named Irene (Saint Irene of Rome, celebrated 3 April), who nursed him back to health. Rather than flee, Sebastian confronted the Emperor again, boldly denouncing the persecution of Christians.
This fearless act led to his second and final martyrdom: he was beaten to death and his body thrown into Rome’s sewers, later recovered and lovingly buried in the catacombs along the Appian Way — now the site of the Basilica of St Sebastian. Over the centuries, Sebastian became a symbol of resilience and hope, often invoked for protection against plagues, because arrows were seen as metaphors for sudden, deadly illness.
Ricardo Motilla’s Saint Sebastian is a monumental bronze sculpture created in 2008 that greets visitors at the entrance to the Art and History Museum of Guanajuato in the city of León, Mexico. The work, which stands around five metres tall and weighs over a tonne, represents the Roman martyr pierced by arrows, capturing his immense suffering, with his body bending in pain. His steadfast witness, and this contemporary artistic interpretation serve as a powerful public symbol of faith.
Saint Sebastian,
Sculpted by Ricardo Motilla (born 1951),
Unveiled in 2008,
Patinated bronze, located at the entrance to the Art and History Museum of Guanajuato
© Wikimedia / Art and History Museum of Guanajuato in the city of León, Mexico