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Also known
as: Stephen the Deacon
Profile
First Christian Martyr. Deacon. Preacher. All we know of him is related in
the Acts of the Apostles. While preaching the Gospel in the streets, angry
Jews who believed his message to be blasphemy dragged him outside the
city, and stoned him to death. In the crowd was a man who would later be
known as Saint Paul.
Died: stoned to death c.33
Name Meaning: crown
Patronage: casket makers, coffin makers, deacons, headaches, horses,
masons, diocese of Owensboro Kentucky, stone masons
Representation: deacon carrying a pile of rocks; deacon with rocks
gathered in his vestments; deacon with rocks on his head; deacon with
rocks or a book at hand; stones; palm of martyrdom
Reading
At that time,
as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained
against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily
distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples
and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at
table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with
the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we
shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." The
proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a
man filled with faith and the holy Spirit....
Now Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and
signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of
Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the
wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. Then they instigated some men
to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and
God." They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted
him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They presented false witnesses who testified, "This man never stops saying
things against (this) holy place and the law. For we have heard him claim
that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the
customs that Moses handed down to us."
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his
face was like the face of an angel. Stephen preaches to the Sanhedrin,
concluding: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which
of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those
who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and
murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by
angels, but you did not observe it."
When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at
him. But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he
said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God."
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon
him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The
witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As
they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not
hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep.
- Acts 6:1-15, 7:51-60
Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we
celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier. Yesterday our king,
clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin's womb and
graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of
his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.
Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet
he did not come empty-handed. He gave of his bounty, yet without any loss
to himself. In a marvelous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his
faithful followers while remaining in full possession of his own
inexhaustible riches. And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to
earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it
later shone forth in his soldier. His love of God kept him from yielding
to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those
who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to
make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save
them from punishment.
Love, indeed, is the source of all good things; it is an impregnable
defense, and the way that leads to heaven. He who walks in love can
neither go astray nor be afraid: love guides him, protects him, and brings
him to his journey's end.
My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all
Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all
sincerity, give one another practical proof of it, and by your progress in
it, make your ascent together.
from a sermon by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe
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From early times this saint was venerated as patron of horses. A poem of
the tenth century pictures him as the owner of a horse and dramatically
relates how Christ Himself miraculously cured the animal for His beloved
Disciple. Though there is no historical basis for this association with
horses in the life of Saint Stephen, various explanations have been
attempted. Some are founded on ancient Germanic ritual celebrations of
horse sacrifices at Yuletide. Others use the fact that in medieval times
"Twelfth Night" (Christmas to Epiphany) was a time of rest for domestic
animals, and horses, as the most useful servants of man, were accorded at
the beginning of this fortnight something like a feast day of their own.
It was a general practice among the farmers in Europe to decorate their
horses on Stephen's Day, and bring them to the house of God to be blessed
by the priest and afterward ridden three times around the church, a custom
still observed in many rural sections. Later in the day the whole family
takes a gay ride in a wagon or sleigh (St. Stephen's ride). In Sweden, the
holy deacon was changed by early legend into the figure of a native saint,
a stable boy who is said to have been killed by the pagans in Helsingland.
His name -- Staffan -- reveals the original saint. The "Staffan Riders"
parade through the towns of Sweden on December 26, singing their ancient
carols in honor of the "Saint of Horses."
Horses' food, mostly hay and oats, is blessed on Stephen's Day. Inspired
by pre-Christmas fertility rites people threw kernels of these blessed
oats at one another and at their domestic animals. In sections of Poland
they even toss oats at the priest after Mass. Popular legends say this
custom is an imitation of stoning, performed in honor of the saint's
martyrdom. The ancient fertility rite, however, can still be clearly
recognized in the Polish custom of boys and girls throwing walnuts at each
other on Saint Stephen's Day.
In the past centuries water and salt were blessed on this day and kept by
farmers to be fed to their horses in case of sickness. Women also baked
special breads in the form of horseshoes (St. Stephen's horns: podkovy)
which were eaten on December 26.
In some parts of the British Isles, Saint Stephen's Day is the occasion
for boys (the Wren Boys) to go from house to house, one of them carrying a
dead wren on a branch decorated with all kinds of gay, streaming ribbons.
Stopping in front of each door they sing a song and receive little gifts
in return. The wren is "stoned" to death in memory of Saint Stephen's
martyrdom. Actually, though, this represents a relic of the ancient
Druidic sacrifice of wrens at the time of the winter solstice."
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saints04.htm |
