The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste/Sivas (AD 320)

In 320, when emperor Licinius (308-324) was removing Christians from his army, a military commander in Sebaste (modern Sivas) imprisoned a company of forty Christian soldiers who refused to sacrifice to pagan gods.

The soldiers joined together in prayer and sang the Psalms at night. They declared, “Take not only our military insignia, but also our lives, since nothing is more precious to us than Jesus Christ.” After these soldiers were thrown into the freezing winter water of a lake, they were later executed around 320.