Missions Patron Saints Feast Day

Little Known, Forgotten or Hidden Saints
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
A Franciscans of the Annunciation Mission
Since I will be at the synod for the Western Orthodox Catholic Church this weekend I am posting this reflection now commemorating the patron Saints of this ministry whose feast day is On Saturday October Seventh. Our little mission here in Massachusetts serves the entire New England area and through cyber space the entire world. I have often been asked “who are Saints Sergius and Bacchus?”. The answer is they are a pair of saints, among many, who most people have never heard of because they do not necessarily fit the current church political positions although they are celebrated in the Eastern churches especially the Orthodox churches. I myself had never heard of them and I have read the LIVES OF THE SAINTS from cover to cover through my more than 60 years of religious education and work.
Saints Sergius and Bacchus were soldiers in the Roman army, attached to the household of the Emperor Maximilian. They were Christians. Moreover, they were lovers. Yes you read that correctly. However, it was not for their sexuality these young men were canonized. It was for their faith -- one of history's most poignant ironies, given the church's unflinching campaign against gay love.
I came across their Icon when I was on retreat at the Benedictine monastery in Weston Vermont where I will be again next weekend. I was there trying to perceive how and under who’s patronage I would establish a ministry to the GLBT community under since none of the Roman churches in the area wanted any part of it.
While perusing the gift shop I noticed the Icon of two male saints in an embrace and wondered who they were. When I turned the Icon over and read the history of Saints Sergius and Bacchus I was totally surprised and immediately knew that God had sent me to find them. They, by the way, are not the only saints who had committed same sex relationships there are others like Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus and we all now of King David’s love for Jonathan and others both male and female couples.
Saints Sergius and Bacchus were ordered to enter the Temple of Jupiter to participate in a sacrificial ceremony to the god, they refused. For this act of defiance, the lovers were stripped of their arms and badges of rank, dressed in women's clothing and led through the streets of Arabissus (near Comana in Cappadocia) which, for a Roman soldier, was abject humiliation. Then they were sent to Resapha in Syria (Augusta Euphratesiae in Mesopotamia), where they were tortured. Bacchus was whipped until his flesh was raw and he died October 1st AD290, confessing his faith in Christ.
Sergius's faith faltered with the death of his lover, but was reinforced when Bacchus appeared to him in a vision saying, "I am still with you in the bond of our union." Sergius kept the faith and after a great deal more of torture, he was beheaded on October 7 AD290. Like his lover, he died a martyr for the love of Christ.
The tomb of S. Sergius at Resapha become a famous shrine and was honored by great gatherings of Christians because of the frequent miracles there. Sergius and Bacchus became the heavenly protectors of the Byzantine army, with the two Theodores, Demetrius, Procopius and George. Their "acts" are preserved in Latin, Greek and Syria. In AD431, Bishop Alexander of Hierapolis built a magnificent church in Sergius’s honor. In 434, the town of Resapha was raised to the rank of an episcopal see, was named Sergiopolis, and soon became one of the greatest pilgrimage centers of the East. Many churches in many towns bore the name of Sergius (sometimes with Bacchus) and in the seventh century, a church was dedicated to them in Rome. There have been two popes named after Saint Sergius.
During the Middle Ages, the relationship of Sergius and Bacchus was considered an exemplar of compassionate union, and possibly even marriage, based on agape (brotherly love) and mutual respect. In the East, Sergius and Bacchus were universally honored. Since the seventh century they have had a celebrated church in Rome. Christian Art represents the two saints as soldiers in military garb with branches of palm in their hands. Their feast is observed on 7 October.
Theirs is just one of many sometimes hidden or not made much of because the saints do not fit exactly the current political thinking of the church. I strongly recommend that all who love Christ and believe that he is our savior and redeemer take it upon themselves to read the many histories of the church, not just the Roman version, but the versions that preceded the establishment of Rome as the “central” seat of the church. What we now call the Eastern Orthodox churches were all, except for Russia, established before Rome and their historical records are more intact and open than those of Rome.
I am ending this brief history lesson with a prayer I wrote in honor of the patron saints of our ministry.
Almighty and merciful God, Your Holy Martyrs, Sergius and Bacchus loved each other and You with such complete abandon that they were pleased to suffer torments and give their earthly lives rather than deny you. They were subjected to disgrace, humiliation and ridicule in an attempt to embarrass and discredit them and force them to renounce you, O Lord. Their love for each other and You, O Lord, sentenced them to earthly degradation and loss of their earthly lives but gained for them eternal live and glory with you. I pray that they will intercede on my behalf to you, O Blessed Lord, and plead my case so that I may join them and all the saints, when my days here on earth are over, in giving endless praise honor and glory to You Almighty God and father. Amen