Saint Stephen
| Saint Stephen The Protomartyr |
|
|---|---|
 St. Stephen (detail) by Giacomo Cavedone |
|
| Deacon and Protomartyr | |
| Born | 1st Century |
| Died | c. 34 Jerusalem |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion |
| Feast | 26 December (Western) 27 December (Eastern) |
| Attributes | stones, dalmatic, censer, miniature church, Gospel Book, martyr's palm. In Eastern Christianity he often wears an orarion |
| Patronage | Acoma Indian Pueblo; casket makers; Cetona, Italy; deacons; headaches; horses; Kessel, Belgium; masons; Owensboro, Kentucky; Passau, Germany; Serbia; Republic of Srpska; Prato, Italy [2] |
Saint Stephen (Koine Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos), the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Stephen means "wreath" or "crown" in Greek. Rembrandt depicted his martyrdom in his work The Stoning of Saint Stephen.
Contents |
Martyrdom
According to The Acts of the Apostles Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy against Moses and God (Acts 6:11) and speaking against the Temple and the Law (Acts 6:13-14). He was stoned to death (c. A.D. 34–35) by an infuriated mob encouraged by Paul of Tarsus.[1] Stephen's final speech was presented as accusing the Jews of persecuting prophets who spoke out against their sins:
- '"Which one of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute, and they killed the ones who prophesied the coming of the Just One, of whom now, too, you have become betrayers and murderers." (7:52)
Saint Stephen's name is derived from the Greek Stephanos, meaning "crown", which translated into Aramaic as Kelil. Traditionally, Stephen is invested with a crown of martyrdom for Christianity; he is often depicted in art with three stones and the martyrs' palm. In Eastern Christian iconography, he is shown as a young beardless man with a tonsure, wearing a deacon's vestments, and often holding a miniature church building or a censer.
Theophany
As he was on trial and being prosecuted, Saint Stephen experienced a theophany. His theophany was unusual in that he saw both God the Father and God the Son:
- "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts 7:56)
The fact that Stephen appears from nowhere, is sentenced to death in an emotional public trial without Romans interfering at all and is then altogether forgotten as if nothing happened, is already suspicious, but both his and James' trials also share a great deal of similarities. For example, according to Eusebius, James the Just said this as his last defence before taken to be stoned:[2]
"Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He Himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven."
which compares to Stephen's words, his last defence as well:[3]
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
As their last words, both James and Stephen ask for forgiveness to their executioners.
Mention of the Province of Cilicia at Acts 6:9 seems to indicate that Stephen's story is written at least a decade after the death of James the Just. The Roman province by that name had been on hiatus from 27 BC and re-established by Emperor Vespasian only in AD 72.[4]
St. Stephen's Day
In Western Christianity, 26 December is called "St. Stephen's Day", the "feast of Stephen" mentioned in the English Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas". It is a public holiday in many nations that were historically Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, the United Kingdom (where it is also called "Boxing Day"), the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Germany, Finland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In Catalonia (though not elsewhere in Spain), it is called Sant Esteve and is a bank holiday. In France, the day of Saint Étienne is a bank holiday in the Alsace-Moselle region, but not elsewhere. December 26 is also a holiday in Tuguegarao City, Philippines, which celebrates a fiesta in honour of St. Stephen Protomartyr, its patron saint.
The General Roman Calendar included also on August 3 a feast of the Invention of the Relics of St Stephen — "Invention," (Latin: inventio), meaning "finding" or "discovery" — to commemorate the finding of St Stephen's relics during the reign of Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius. In the Tridentine Calendar, this feast was celebrated as a "Semidouble", a rank that it lost in 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced it to the rank of "Simple". It was one of the second feasts of a single saint removed from the calendar by Pope John XXIII in 1960, and, while it is celebrated by those traditionalist Catholics who observe earlier versions of the Roman calendar, it is not celebrated by those who, in accordance with Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, observe the 1962 calendar.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, Saint Stephen's feast day is celebrated on December 27. This day is also called the "Third Day of the Nativity".
The Republika Srpska claims Saint Stephen as its patron saint. The Republika was proclaimed on January 9 (Saint Stephen's Day), and that date is a national holiday as "Republic Day".
In India, the Feast of Saint Stephen is celebrated in Goa, where Santo Estevam Island is named after him. The Santo Estevam Church on the island of Jua was built in 1759.[5]
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the discovery (opening) of the Saint's relics on September 15 and the translation of the Relics of Protomartyr Stephen on August 2. The September 15 feast day celebrates the discovery of Stephen's relics in 415, after which they were solemnly transferred to a church built in his honour in Jerusalem. Later, during the reign of Theodosius the Younger, the relics were transported to Constantinople, the event commemorated on August 2. January 4 marks the commemoration of the "Synaxis of the 70 Apostles". Since Stephen was included in these 70 Apostles mentioned in the "Acts of the Apostles", he is also remembered on January 4.
Tomb
Many churches are named in honour of Saint Stephen, but there was no official "Tomb of St Stephen" until 415. When Christian pilgrims were traveling in large numbers to Jerusalem, a priest named Lucian said he had learned by a vision that the tomb was in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem.
Gregory of Tours reported that the intercession of Stephen preserved an oratory dedicated to him at Metz, in present-day France. His relics were preserved when the oratory was left standing, after Huns burned the remainder of the city on Easter Eve, 451.[6]
Commemorative places
- See also: St. Stephen's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Church
- Vienna, Austria - Stephansdom, the Cathedral of St. Stephen, founded 1147 and seat of Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna. Symbol of the city of Vienna and of Austria, has the tallest spire in Austria and is the country's most famous church
- Rome - San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, where his remains are interred with those of the eponymous saint under the altar
- Old city of Jerusalem - the "Lions' Gate" is also called St. Stephanus Gate, after the tradition that Stephen's stoning occurred here, though it probably occurred at Damascus Gate
- London - St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster was originally built in the reign of Henry III of England; it became the first site of the debating chamber of the British House of Commons
- Dublin - St. Stephen's Green
- Manila, Philippines - St. Stephen's Parish and St. Stephen's High School
- San Salvador, El Salvador, San Esteban, San Salvador
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - The Cathedral of St. Stephen, Brisbane
- St Stephen's House, Oxford - Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford and Anglican Theological College
- St Stephen's Church, Bristol - the first city church built outside the walls around c.1250, rebuilt c1430-1490.
References
- ↑ gnpcb.org
- ↑ Eusebius quoted Josephus' account, and also recorded otherwise lost passages from Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria (Historia Ecclesiae, 2.23). See [1].
- ↑ Acts 7:55-56.
- ↑ Bunson, Matthew. A Dictionary of the Roman Empire ISBN 0195102339. Page 90.
- ↑ <Santo Estevam Church
- ↑ Paul Halsall, ed., "Gregory of Tours (539-594)", History of the Franks: Books I-X, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, accessed 4 Aug 2009
External links
- "St. Stephen, the First Martyr"
- The Life of St. Stephen, The First Martyr of the Christian Church
- "St. Stephen". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14286b.htm.
- Apostle Stephen the Archdeacon of the Seventy
|
|||||||||||
Pope Portal 
Catholicism Portal
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||