Атлеты Христовы https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athleta_ChristiAthleta Christi (Latin: "Champion of Christ") was a class of Early Christian soldier martyrs, of whom the most familiar example is one such "military saint," Saint Sebastian*.
Since the 15th century, the title has been a political one, granted by Popes to men who have led military campaigns defending Christianity. The militant Catholic hymn Athleta Christi nobilis ("Noble Champion of the Lord"), a hymn for Matins on May 18, the feast of Saint Venantius, was written in the 17th century by an unknown author.
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*) American author Richard A. Kaye claims:
"Contemporary gay men have seen in Sebastian at once a stunning advertisement for homosexual desire (indeed, a homoerotic ideal), and a prototypical portrait of tortured closet case."
Some religious images depicting Saint Sebastian have been adopted by the LGBT community. A combination of his strong, shirtless physique, the symbolism of the arrows penetrating his body, and the countenance of rapturous pain have intrigued artists (gay or otherwise) for centuries, which is claimed to be the first explicitly gay cult in the nineteenth century.