Last Updated on March 19, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry

Saints Sergius and Bacchus were third-century Roman soldiers, Christian martyrs and men who loved each other. Their story is told here in words and images for their feast day on Oct. 7.

They are by far the best documented, most widely worshiped and most influential male paired saints in Christian history. They are some of the earliest Christian martyrs.  The close bond between Sergius and Bacchus has been emphasized since the earliest accounts, and recent scholarship has revealed their homosexuality. The oldest record of their martyrdom describes them as erastai (Greek for “lovers”). Scholars believe that they may have been united in the rite of adelphopoiesis (brother-making), a kind of early Christian same-sex marriage.  Their names were often included in these rites of same-sex union, along with other saintly male pairs.  Some see them as patron saints of same-sex couples. But their devotion to each other has inspired people of every sexual orientation over the centuries.

From ancient times until today these “gay saints” have inspired some of the most beautiful art depicting the holiness of same-sex couples, sometimes in a homoerotic way. A classic example of paired saints, Sergius and Bacchus were high-ranking young officers in the Roman army. Sergius was primicerius (commander) and Bacchus was secundarius (subaltern officer). They were tortured to death around 303 in present-day Syria after they refused to attend sacrifices to Zeus, thus revealing their secret Christianity.

Sergius and Bacchus Ukraine

Saints Sergius and Bacchus. 7th Century icon from St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. (Wikimedia Commons) Available on greeting cards and other products at Zazzle.

Yale history professor John Boswell names Sergius and Bacchus as one of the three primary pairs of same-sex lovers in the early church in his 1995 book “Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe”. (The others are Polyeuct and Nearchus and Felicity and Perpetua.)  Paired military saints were popular in the Middle Ages.  Sergius and Bacchus were the most famous and one of the earliest couples, but others include Maurice and Theofredus of the Theban legion. An appendix in the book includes Boswell’s translation of “The Passion of SS. Serge and Bacchus” from the original Greek text dated 373-395.  It was the first time that an ancient hagiography of Sergius and Bacchus was ever translated into English.

Today LGBTQ Christians in the west can get status from their religion but may hide their sexual orientation to avoid condemnation.  However Sergius and Bacchus faced the opposite dilemma. In the Roman army homosexuality was accepted and perhaps even encouraged, but Christianity was taboo.

Sergius and Bacchus were both young nobles in the court of Emperor Maximian.  Their conversion to Christianity was discovered when they tried to avoid accompanying the emperor into a pagan temple with the other guards.

Sergius and Bacchus by Jan Haen

Sergius and Bacchus refuse to go into the temple of Zeus with the emperor in an image from the book “Heavenly Homos, Etc.: Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion, and History” by Jan Haen. He draws scenes that are rarely if ever portrayed by artists.

When their Christian faith became known,  Sergius and Bacchus were arrested and paraded through the streets in women’s clothing in an unsuccessful effort to humiliate them. This punishment apparently confirms that they defied sex roles by being lovers.  Early accounts say that they responded by chanting that they were dressed as brides of Christ. In Boswell’s translation, they proclaim:

“We rejoice in you, Lord, because you have clothed us with the garment of salvation, and have covered us with the robe of righteousness; as brides you have decked us with women’s gowns and joined us together for you [or: “joined us to you”] through our confession.”

Sergius and Bacchus by Queer Catholic Icons

“Sergius + Bacchus, or, the Saints of Drag” by Matthew of Queer Catholic Icons

They told their captors that women’s dress never stopped women from worshiping Christ, so it wouldn’t stop them, either. A rare depiction of the pair in women’s clothing is presented in “Sergius + Bacchus, or, the Saints of Drag” by Matthew, a practicing Roman Catholic who shares his artwork at Queer Catholic Icons on Instagram as @queer.catholic.icons.  Their halos merge as they hold hands and lean on each other until their foreheads touch, smiling with the kind of love and inner peace that no humiliation can stop.

Then Sergius and Bacchus were separated and beaten so severely that Bacchus died.

Sergius and Bacchus: Bonded together forever

According to Boswell’s translation, Sergius wept that night in prison, heartsick over the death of Bacchus. Quoting a psalm of Biblical king David, he wailed with grief that may echo David’s lament over Jonathan.  Sergius cried out:

“No longer, brother and fellow soldier, will we chant together, ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ You have been unyoked from me and gone up to heaven, leaving me alone on earth, bereft [literally, ‘made single’], without comfort.”

That night Bacchus appeared to Sergius “with a face as radiant as an angel’s, wearing an officer’s uniform.” He urged Sergius not to give up because they would be reunited in heaven as lovers and be bound together forever. His statement is unique in the history of martyrs. Usually the promised reward is union with God, not with a lover, but not with Sergius and Bacchus.  Bacchus urges Sergius in Boswell’s translation:

“Why do you grieve and mourn, brother? If I have been taken from you in body, I am still with you in the bond of union…. Hurry then, yourself, brother, through beautiful and perfect confession to pursue and obtain me, when finishing the course. For the crown of justice for me is with you.”

Crowning was a part of heterosexual wedding ceremonies at that time. Over the next days Sergius was tortured and eventually beheaded.

A Coptic church hagiography states that the body of Bacchus was tossed into the Euphrates River and discovered by a pair of holy men. They are described as brothers, but that is sometimes a code for a gay couple:

“The Lord protected the body and the waves brought it to the shore near two ascetic holy men who were brothers. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and commanded them to go and carry away the body of the Saint. When they came to where the body was, they found an eagle and a lion protecting it. The beasts spent a whole day and a night guarding it without harming it, although they were beasts of prey, for they had been commanded by divine providence to protect the body. The two holy men took the body with great honor, singing hymns until they came to their cave where they buried it.”

Sergius’ tomb became a famous shrine, and for nearly 1,000 years the couple was revered as the official patrons of the Byzantine army. Many early churches were named after Sergius, sometimes with Bacchus. They have been recognized as martyrs by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The pair was venerated through the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Latin America and among the Slavs.

The Roman Catholic Church stripped Sergius and Bacchus from its liturgical calendar in 1969 — the same year that New York’s Stonewall riots launched the modern gay liberation movement. Supposedly they were downgraded due to a supposed lack of historical evidence, but some see it as an anti-gay action since they clearly had many churches dedicated to them since the sixth century and their earliest hagiography dates back to the mid-fourth century. Sergius and Bacchus continue to be popular saints with Christian Arabs and now among LGBTQ Christians and allies.

Sergius and Bacchus icon secretly rescued from Ukraine

A famous 7th-century icon of Sergius and Bacchus was secretly rescued from the war in Ukraine and taken to the Louvre in Paris. It is on display through Nov. 6, 2023 in the “Origins of the Sacred Image” exhibit.

Previously the icon was housed at the Khanenko National Art Museum in Kyiv. A missile attack damaged the museum building during the Russian invasion in October 2022.

Sergius and Bacchus Ukrainian postage stamp

An icon of Sergius and Bacchus from a Kyiv museum appears on a Ukrainian postage stamp. (Wikimedia Commons)

The staffs of both museums worked together “in utmost secrecy” to transfer the Sergius and Bacchus icon and 15 other emblematic works from Ukrainian national collections to France, according to a Louvre news release.

The icon appears on a Ukrainian postage stamp and on the cover of “Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe” by John Boswell.

Sergius and Bacchus were soldier-saints, and some are praying for them to bring peace and protect the people and culture of Ukraine.

Sergius and Bacchus are celebrated in contemporary art

In the powerful 2013 painting at the top of this post, Alessio Ciani of Italy shows young Sergius and Bacchus embracing in their red-and-white military uniforms. He has done a wide variety of LGBTQ illustrations and gay homoerotic art. His work has been exhibited in Milan and Perugia.

Sergius and Bacchus 2 by Andrew Freshour

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Andrew Freshour

Sergius and Bacchus kiss each other in a watercolor painting that sparked both controversy and praise when Andrew Freshour introduced it in 2023.. They have different skin tones, but the same kind of halo. The chain binding them together adds just the right note of somber grace.

Sergius and Bacchus by Andrew Freshour

Sergius and Bacchus by Andrew Freshour

Freshour is a New Hampshire artist and gay Episcopalian who earned a BFA in illustration from the New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2013. Sergius and Bacchus appear with refreshing lightness and clarity in an another Freshour painting of them.

Sergius and Bacchus photo by Scott Sella

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Robert Lentz is part of Scott Sella’s sacred art collection in Akron, Ohio. Photo by Scott Sella.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Robert Lentz is probably the best-known icon of the pair in the LGBTQ community. It was painted by Brother Robert Lentz, a Franciscan friar and world-class iconographer known for his innovative icons. They wear matching armor and lavender cloaks and their haloes overlap. The icon of the loving pair was commissioned by the Living Circle, an interfaith LGBTQ spirituality center founded by Dennis O’Neill. It was first displayed in June 1994 when they carried it in Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade for the first time. Prints of “Saints Sergius and Bacchus” are available through the “Ecumenical Icons” collection of Lentz icons at Trinity Stores.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” is one of 10 Lentz icons that sparked major controversy since 2005. Critics accused Lentz of glorifying sin and creating propaganda for a progressive sociopolitical agenda. They caused such a stir that in order to keep the peace between his Franciscan province and the Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lentz temporarily gave away the copyright for the 10 controversial images to his distributor, Trinity Stores. Lentz’ own moving spiritual journey and some of his icons are included in the book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More by Kittredge Cherry.

“Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus” from Cristianas y Cristianos de Madrid LGTB+H (CRISMHOM)

An icon of Sergius and Bacchus was painted by a member of the Cristianas y Cristianos de Madrid LGTB+H (CRISMHOM), an LGBTQ Christian community in Madrid, Spain. The artist is serving as a missionary in Mozambique. He portrays Christ inside a rainbow medallion uniting Sergius and Bacchus as they join hands and gaze into each other’s eyes. Sacred flames burn in their hearts.

“Sts. Sergius and Bacchus” by Plamen Petrov, St. Martha Church, Morton Grove, IL

Sergius and Bacchus appear on a stained glass window donated in 2011 to an Illinois church by its LGBTQ parishioners. The Sergius and Bacchus window was dedicated in September 2011 at St. Martha’s Church in Morton Grove, Illinois, as a gift from its LGBTQ members. Dennis O’Neill, pastor, believes it is the first window dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus in any church in the United States. O’Neill is the author of Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People. The book includes a chapter retelling the love story of Sergius and Bacchus with historical detail.

The Sergius and Bacchus window is part of a project in which members of St. Martha’s diverse congregation were selecting and paying for a set of 20 windows of saints from their various homelands. LGBTQ members contributed the “friendship window” depicting Sergius and Bacchus. It is a companion to the “marriage window” which shows St. Elizabeth of Hungary and her husband, Blessed Ludwig of Thuringia.

Artist Plamen Petrov worked with Daprato Rigali Studios to design and create the stained glass windows. He was born in Sevlievo, Bulgaria in 1966 and currently lives in Chicago. He graduated from University St. Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria’s Faculty of Fine Art in 1995, with an M.F.A. in graphic art – printmaking and pedagogy of figurative arts. For more than a dozen years he specialized mostly in stained glass, but his creativity takes many forms, since he also works in mosaics, murals, oil, acrylic, photography and graphic design. His artwork may be seen across Chicago and Illinois, and in many countries all over the world.

“Baccus and Sergius” by Brandon Buehring

Massachusetts artist Brandon Buehring included Sergius and Bacchus in his “Legendary Love: A Queer History Project.” He uses pencil sketches and essays “to remind queer people and our allies of our sacred birthright as healers, educators, truth-tellers, spiritual leaders, warriors and artists.” The project features 20 sketches of queer historical and mythological figures from many cultures around the world. He has a M.Ed. degree in counseling with an LGBT emphasis from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He works in higher education administration as well as being a freelance illustrator based in Northampton, Massachusetts.

The painting below is by California gay artist Rick Herold. “I over the years as a painter have been interested in the idea of the spirit and the flesh as one — began by Tantric art influences and then using my Catholic background,” he told the Jesus in Love Blog. He paints with enamel on the reverse side of clear plexiglas.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Rick Herold (details below)

Herold has a bachelor of arts degree in art and theology from the Benedictine Monastic University of St. John in Minnesota and a master of fine arts degree from Otis Institute of Art in Los Angeles. His religious artwork included a Stations of the Cross commissioned by Bob Hope for a church in Ohio before a conflict over modern art with the Los Angeles cardinal led to disillusionment with the church. Herold came out as gay and turned to painting male nudes.

“St. Bacchus and St. Sergius: Patrons of Same-Sex Couples by Maria Cristina

A banner saying “patrons of same sex couples” hangs above Bacchus and Sergius in a colorful icon by Maria Cristina, an artist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Ray Avito

On the day that California artist Ray Avito first heard the story of Sergius and Bacchus, he sketched a delightfully unpretentious portrait of the pair (pictured above). He said it was based on “the suspicion that they may have been more than just comrades in arms.”

“Marriage of Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus” (2013) by Tony de Carlo
“Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus” by Tony de Carlo

Sergius and Bacchus are among the many saints painted by Georgia artist Tony de Carlo. Raised Catholic, he started painting saints to counteract the church’s demonization of LGBTQ people. For more info, see my article Tony De Carlo: Artist affirms gay love with saints, Adam and Steve, and marriage equality paintings.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Ryan Grant Long

Historical men who loved men, including Sergius and Bacchus, are painted by American artist Ryan Grant Long in his “Fairy Tales” series. Sergius and Bacchus are usually portrayed as static icons, side by side staring straight at the viewer. But Long catches them gazing into each other’s eyes during a private moment in their prison cell. For more info, see my article Artist paints history’s gay couples: Interview with Ryan Grant Long.

“Bacchus” and “Sergius” from the series “Five Saints” (2008) by Anthony Gayton. © Anthony Gayton / www.anthonygayton.com

Noted British photographer Anthony Gayton does stylized homoerotic photos based on the history of gay culture. He shows Sergius and Bacchus stripped and bound as prisoners in two separate photos. The images are intended to be shown together, but by design they can also be separated.

Appropriate Bible quotes are on banners above them. For Bacchus: “But I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” (Psalm 89:33). For Sergius: “All thy commandments are faithful, they persecute me wrongly; help thou me.” (Psalm 119: 86)

His Sergius and Bacchus photos belong to the series “Five Saints.” In addition to exploring saints, Gayton’s work uses historical themes inspired by such diverse sources as mythology, Renaissance and Baroque painting and early photography. Gayton’s work is published in his book Sinners and Saints.

Sergius and Bacchus by Kalle Hamm

“New icon: Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Kalle Hamm

Finnish artist Kalle Hamm created an image of Sergius and Bacchus that is suitable for society now, when “icon” is more likely to mean a computer symbol than a religious figure. He writes their story using emoji with the goal of affirming LGBTQ people in a contemporary, accessible way. Hamm’s 2018 “New Icons” series includes Sergius and Bacchus along with many other same-sex pairs of saints who suffered for their beliefs.

 

A 20th-century icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus appears in the courtyard of the Monastery of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos in Maaloula, Syria. (Wikimedia Commons)

Columbian artist William Niño Neuta created a digital sculpture of Sergius and Bacchus in 2022 titled “Holy Love.”  It is available free at HolyLove.Info for anyone to download, replicate and print on any 3D printer.  “Our aim is to vindicate the love that exists in couples from the LGBTI+ community in relation to the Christian and Catholic tradition through the lives of Sergius and Bacchus,” explains the Holy Love website.

Sergius and Bacchus by William Neuta

Holy Love” is a digital sculpture of Sergius and Bacchus by William Niño Neuta

Early Christian saints Sergius and Bacchus appear as “patrons of homosexuality” on handsome handmade cufflinks from artist Shoushan of Artisan Courtyard. Sergius and Bacchus are available on shirts, cufflinks, pendants, lockets and bracelets through her My Altar shop.

Sergius and Bacchus religious medals show the couple together with the words, “Pray for us.”
 Sergius and Bacchus are celebrated in literature, dance and music
Their same-sex love story is set amid dramatic events of the Roman Empire events in the 2014 novel “The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus” by David Reddish. The explosive gay romance of the soldier-saints unfolds during the Roman Empire in the 2014 novel “The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus” by  David Reddish. Sergius and Bacchus meet, fall in love, have a commitment ceremony, and face deadly threats in a novel based on historical and archeological discoveries. It dramatizes the final gasp of paganism, the politics of newborn Christianity, and the re-discovered rites of same-sex unions performed by the early church. From the forests of Gaul to the streets of Constantinople, from the secret Christian hideaways of the deaconess Macrina to the palace of the emperor, the novel provides adventure and romance while examining questions of sexuality, faith, sacrifice, patriotism and the nature of God. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the gay romance category.
A screenwriter as well as a novelist, Reddish has won awards for his political activism as well as pop culture acclaim for his fashion design work. He graduated with a degree in film from the University of Central Florida and resides in Los Angeles.


The relationship of Sergius and Bacchus was reimagined in dance by Elastic Theatre in 2009 and is available on video. The description states, “Some have come to believe that they were lovers, and their ambiguous relationship has raised fascinating and inevitably controversial issues of gender and sexuality in early Christianity. With an original vocal score devised collaboratively by the company and choreography by Lola Maury, the piece premiered at the Arcola Theatre in July 2009 and was subsequently presented as part of the Borderline Opera season at London Metropolitan University.”

Sergius and Bacchus prayers

Q Spirit’s Litany of Queer Saints includes these lines:

“Roman soldiers united in love and death, pray for us.”

A novena to Sergius and Bacchus is widely circulated on Roman Catholic websites to be prayed for nine successive days or weeks. It includes these lines:

“Our God showed how proud He was
of your love and courage,
when after the death of Bacchus,
when Sergius,
being at his lowest and loneliest,
began to lose heart,
and so the Lord sent
the spirit of Bacchus to Sergius
to allow him to console Sergius
with the promise that the two of you
would again be together in Heaven.”

One of the many traditional hymns to Saints Sergius and Bacchus includes this verse:
How good, or how pleasant is the brotherly knowledge of Your Martyrs, O God.
For they did not know natural brothers in the flesh,
but for the faith were considered brothers who struggled until death.
Through their prayers, O God, have mercy on us.

Two new hymns to Sergius and Bacchus was written by George Staelens, the blogger at “Blogue de Georges.”  The hymns were performed at the Old-Catholic chapel of Saint Servais. Here is one stanza, which can be sung to many tunes such as “Old 100th.”

Stronger than death, the love has won ;
Sergius and Bacchus are but one ;
After their passion, they’re in heav’n ;
Together they shall rise again.

A set of historical hymns and prayers to Sergius and Bacchus are collected at andrejkoymasky.com. This part is especially striking:

“Crying out like David, O Sergius and Bacchus the Martyrs: Behold how good or how pleasant it is for Brothers to dwell together, for you were not bound by physical means, but in the manner of the faith. Therefore the Saints trampled upon the enemy, and taking up the cross, they followed Christ, and intercede to the King and God, that the great mercy may be granted to our souls.”

Sergius and Bacchus at Dignity San Fernando Valley 2019

Icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus displayed by Dignity San Fernando Valley,

Links related to Sergius and Bacchus

Many icons, statues, and churches dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus can be viewed at: http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/mar/mar01.html
 

The Passion of SS. Serge and Bacchus (translated from original Greek by John Boswell)

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Honoring (and Learning from) the Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus — at The Wild Reed
 
 
To read this article in Spanish (en español), go to:
Santos Sergio y Baco: Una pareja masculina martirizada en la antigua Roma (Santos Queer)
 
To read this article in Italian, to to:
La storia di Sergio e Bacco continua ad ispirare gli artisti contemporanei (Gionata.org)
 

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Top image credits:
“Sergius and Bacchus” by Alessio Ciani

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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

This article was originally published on Q Spirit in October 2017, was expanded with new material over time, and was most recently updated on Oct. 9, 2023.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved. Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

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