Sfințișori (Little saints) or mucenici moldovenești (Moldavian martyrs), are traditional pastries from Romania and Moldova made to commemorate on March 9 (or March 22, as per Julian calendar), the Christian feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, a traditional holiday in Romania and Moldova. The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII Fulminata (Armed with Lightning) whose martyrdom in 320 for the Christian faith is recounted in traditional martyrologies.They were killed near the city of Sebaste, in Lesser Armenia (present-day Sivas in Turkey), victims of the persecutions of Licinius, who after 316, persecuted the Christians of the East. The earliest account of their existence and martyrdom is given by Bishop Basil of Caesarea (370–379) in a homily he delivered on their feast day. The Feast of the Forty Martyrs is thus older than Basil himself, who eulogised them only fifty or sixty years after their deaths.In the historical region of Moldavia, Sfințișori were dough in large shapes of the figure 8, baked, then smeared with honey and walnuts.