Saint Stephen
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| Saint Stephen The Protomartyr And Archdeacon | |
|---|---|
 Saint Stephen, depicted by Carlo Crivelli in 1476 with three stones and the martyrs' palm. He is depicted with the clerical tonsure, vested in a dalmatic and holding a Gospel Book in his right hand. |
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| Deacon and Protomartyr | |
| Born | 1st century |
| Died | c. 35, Jerusalem |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion |
| Feast | {{{feast_day}}} |
| 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 [1] |
Saint Stephen (Koine Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos), known as the Protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Stephen means "wreath" or "crown" in Greek. He was one of the first in the early Church to bear the title Archdeacon.
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[edit] Martyrdom
Acts tells the story of how 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) (see also Antinomianism) and was then stoned to death (c. A.D. 34–35) by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus, the future Saint Paul: "And Saul entirely approved of putting him to death" (8:1). [2]. Stephen's final speech is presented as making an accusation against the Jews of continuing to persecute 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 simply derived from the Greek Stephanos, meaning "crown", which translated into Aramaic as Kelil. Saint Stephen is traditionally invested with a crown of martyrdom for Christianity and 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.
[edit] Theophany
As he was on trial and being prosecuted, Saint Stephen experienced a theophany. His theophany was unusual in that he saw both the Father and the Son:
- "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts 7:56)
[edit] St. Stephen's Day
In Western Christianity, 26 December is called "St Stephen's Day", the "feast of Stephen" of the Christmas carol, "Good King Wenceslas"; it is a public holiday in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Republika Srpska, United Kingdom, 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. It is called "Saint Étienne" in France, where it is a bank holiday in the Alsace-Moselle region (but not elsewhere). 26 December is also a holiday in Tuguegarao City, Philippines, which celebrates a fiesta in honor of St Stephen Protomartyr, its patron saint.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, his feast day is celebrated on December 27. (This date in the Julian Calendar currently corresponds to January 9 in the Gregorian Calendar.) This day is also called the "Third Day of the Nativity".
The General Roman Calendar included also on 3 August 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 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".[1] It was one of the second feasts of a single saint removed from the calendar by Pope John XXIII in 1960,[2] and so is not celebrated by those who, in accordance with Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, observe the 1962 calendar.
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the discovery (opening) of the Saint's relics on Sep 15 and the Translation of the Relics of Protomartyr Stephen on August 2. The Sep 15 feastday celebrates the discovery of Stephen's relics in 415, after which they were solemnly transferred to a church built in his honor in Jerusalem. Later, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) they were translated to Constantinople, which is commemorated on Aug 2. Jan 4 marks the commemoration of the Synaxis Of The 70 Apostles, and since St. Stephen was included in these 70 Apostles mentioned in the Acts Of The Apostles, he is also remembered on Jan 4. Saint Stephen was a great leader of the Catholic Church.
[edit] Tomb
Many churches are named in honor 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 reports that the intercession of Stephen preserved an oratory dedicated to him at Metz, in which his relics were preserved when the Huns burned the entire city, leaving only the oratory standing, Easter Eve, 451 ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#book3
[edit] Commemorative places
- See also: St. Stephen's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Church
- In Batroun, Lebanon - The Church of St. Stephen
- In 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
- In Rome - Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls where his remains are interred with those of the eponymous saint under the altar
- In Toronto, Canada - "St. Stephen's Community House"
- In East Jerusalem - St. Stephen's Church
- In the 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 [3]
- In the village of Kafarbe, southeast Turkey - Mor Stephanus Church
- In the village of Saint Stefan - Sveti Stefan in the Ohrid region, Republic of Macedonia St.Stefan church
- St. Stephen's Church at Bernburg, Germany, dated in the year 964
- In London - St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster was originally built in the reign of King Henry III and eventually became the first location of the debating chamber of the House of Commons
- In Dublin - St. Stephen's Green
- In Croghan - St. Stephen's Church
- In Manila, Philippines - St. Stephen's Parish (established by the American Episcopal Mission to the Philippines in 1903) and St. Stephen's High School
- In San Salvador, El Salvador, St. Stephen's Church is a major worship site.
- Near St Austell in Cornwall, UK, a village called St Stephen (in Brannel)
- In Riverview, Florida USA - St. Stephen's Church
- St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ, one of the oldest ethnic (Polish) Catholic parishes in New Jersey
- In Honolulu, Hawaii USA - St. Stephen's Diocesan Center
- In Plainfield, Indiana USA - St. Stephens Lutheran Church http://www.ststephensplainfield.com/
- In Phoenix, Arizona, USA- St. Stephen Pro-Cathedral, A Parish of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys
- In Wintersprings, Florida- St.Stephen's Catholic community
- In San Francisco, California, USA - St. Stephen's Parish
- In Cleveland, Ohio, USA - St. Stephen Catholic Church http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SSC1
- In Omaha, Nebraska, USA - St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church, the largest Roman Catholic Parish in Nebraska: http://www.stephen.org
- In Watertown, Massachusetts, [USA] - Stephen's Armenian Apostolic Church Սուրբ Ստեփանոս Հայաստանեաց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի http://www.soorpstepanos.org
- In Venice, Italy: The Church of "Santo Stefano": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Stefano,_Venice
- In Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - The Cathedral of St. Stephen, Brisbane
- In Heathsville, Virginia, United States - St. Stephen's Anglican Church
- In Heathsville, Virginia, United States - St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
- In Greendale, Wisconsin, United States - St. Stephen the Martyr - ELCA : http://www.ststephenthemartyr.com/
- St. Louis is the home of the Stephen Ministries, an organization of volunteers that works with many congregations: http://www.stephenministries.org/
- St Stephen's House, Oxford - Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford and Anglican Theological College
[edit] References
- "Stephen, Saint". Encyclopedia Britannica. Volume 11 (15th edition ed.). 1974. pp. 250-251.
- Latourette, Kenneth Scott (1975). "The Sweep of Christianity Across the Græco-Roman World". A History of Christianity (1st paperback edition ed.). New York: Harper & Row. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0060649526.
- Nixon, R. E. (1962). "Stephen". in J. D. Douglas. The New Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 1216. ISBN 0-8028-2282-7.
[edit] External links
- "St. Stephen". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14286b.htm.
- WikiChristian: Stephen (Acts)
- Apostle Stephen the Archdeacon of the Seventy Orthodox icon and synaxarion
- Translation of the relics of the Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople
- St Stepehens orthodox cathedral Kudasanad
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