In the year 320, Constantine was Emperor of the West and Licinius of the
East. Licinius, under pressure from Constantine, had agreed to legalize
Christianity in his territory, and the two made an alliance (cemented by
the marriage of Licinius to Constantia the sister of Constantine), but
now Licinius broke the alliance and made a new attempt to suppress
Christianity. He ordered his soldiers to repudiate it on pain of death.
In the "Thundering Legion," stationed near Sebaste in Armenia (now Sivas
in Turkey), forty soldiers refused, and when promises, threats, and
beatings failed to shake them, they were stripped naked one evening and
herded onto the middle of a frozen lake, and told, "You may come ashore
when you are ready to deny your faith." To tempt them, fires were built
on shore, with warm baths, blankets, clothing, and hot food and drink
close by. As night deepened, thirty-nine men stood firm, while one broke
and ran to the shore. However, one of the soldiers standing guard on
shore was so moved by the steadfastness of the Christians that he
stripped off his clothes and ran out to join them. They welcomed him into
their company, and so the number of the martyrs remained at forty, and by
morning, all were dead of exposure. (One source says that the few in whom
a little life remained were stabbed to death at dawn.)
O Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy holy martyrs of Sebaste triumphed over suffering and were faithful even unto death: Grant us, who now remember them with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs of Sebaste triumphed over suffering and were faithful even unto death: Grant us, who now remember them with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.