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Saint Stephen
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Saint Stephen |
| Saints: Stephen(1) |
Stephen (d. c.35), deacon and protomartyr of the Christian Church. All that we know of his life is in the Acts of the Apostles (6–7). He was one of the seven deacons, probably a Hellenistic Jew, appointed by the apostles to look after the distribution of alms to the faithful (especially the widows) and to help in the ministry of preaching. To judge by his famous discourse, even if it is somewhat ‘retouched’, Stephen was learned in the Scriptures and the history of Judaism, besides being eloquent and forceful. The gist of his defence of Christianity was that God does not depend on the Temple, in so far as, like the Mosaic Law, it was a temporary institution and destined to be fulfilled and superseded by Christ, who was the prophet designated by Moses and the Messiah whom the Jewish race had so long awaited. He finally attacked his hearers for resisting the Spirit and for killing the Christ as their fathers had killed the prophets. They then stoned him for blasphemy apparently without a formal trial, while he saw a vision of Christ on God's right hand. The witnesses placed their clothes at the feet of Saul (afterwards Paul), who consented to his death.
At least from the 4th century (or earlier) his feast has been kept in both East and West. But the cult was given further popularity by the discovery of his supposed tomb by the priest Lucian at Kafr Gamala in 415. The translation of the relics, first to Constantinople and then to Rome, with some dismemberment and with the addition of the stones allegedly used at his martyrdom, contributed powerfully to the diffusion of his cult. This, with a short account of local cures, is mentioned by Augustine in the last book of The City of God. From early times he was the patron of deacons, in the later Middle Ages he was invoked against headaches. By this time he was patron of innumerable churches, including several French cathedrals such as Bourges, Sens, and Toulouse. In England forty-six ancient churches are dedicated to him, most of them being built after the Norman Conquest. In art his usual attributes are a book of the Gospels with a stone and sometimes a palm of martyrdom. There are several splendid ancient examples of his representation; perhaps the most attractive one of the early Renaissance is by Jean Fouquet at Berlin. There is a fine cycle by Fra Angelico at the Vatican. Feast: in the West, 26 December: in the East, 27 December; feast of the finding of his relics, formerly on 3 August, was widely celebrated.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- C.M.H., pp. 10–11
- M. Simon, St. Stephen and the Hellenists in the Primitive Church (1958)
- M. H. Scharleman, Stephen: a singular saint (1968)
- F. M. Abel, ‘Étienne (saint)’, Dict. Bibl., suppl. ii (1934), 1132–46
- Bibl. SS., xi 1376–92. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, xxii. 8 (tr. H. Bettenson, 1981). H.S.S.C., 2, 136–47 (includes texts of the translation)
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Saint Stephen |
Stephen, Saint, d. A.D. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending his beliefs further enraged his accusers, who were Hellenistic Jews, and he was taken out and stoned to death. His teachings showed the growing differences between Judaism and the Jewish-Christian community in Jerusalem. Acts 6; 7. Feasts: Martyrdom on Dec. 26; Finding of St. Stephen's Body (415) on Aug. 3.
Dictionary:
Ste·phen (stē'vən)  , Saint Died c. A.D. 36. |
Christian protomartyr who, according to the New Testament, was stoned to death after his defense of Christianity before the Sanhedrin.
| Wikipedia: Saint Stephen |
"St. Stephen" redirects here. For other uses, see St. Stephen (disambiguation).
| Saint Stephen The Protomartyr and Archdeacon |
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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 | 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 [1] |
Saint Stephen (Koine Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos), known as 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. He was one of the first in the early Church to bear the title Archdeacon.
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Martyrdom
Acts of the Apostles tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin (priests) for blasphemy against Moses and God (Acts 6:11) and speaking against the Temple and the Law (Acts 6:13-14) (see also Antinomianism). He was 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 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 simply derived from the Greek Stephanos, meaning "crown", which translated into Aramaic as Kelil. Traditionally, Saint 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 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)
St. Stephen's Day
Main article: St. Stephen's Day
In Western Christianity, 26 December is called "St Stephen's Day", the "feast of Stephen" of the English Christmas carol, "Good King Wenceslas". It is a public holiday in many nations that were historically Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Republika Srpska, United Kingdom (where it was also called "Boxing Day"), 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. 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, St. Stephen's 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 September 15 and the Translation of the Relics of Protomartyr Stephen on August 2. The September 15 feastday celebrates the discovery of Stephen's relics in 415 CE, 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), the relics were translated to Constantinople, the event commemorated on Aug 2. Jan 4 marks the commemoration of the "Synaxis of the 70 Apostles". 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.
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 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.[3]
Commemorative places
- See also: St. Stephen's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Church
nn
- 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 King Henry III; it became the first site of the debating chamber of the 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
References
- ^ General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII
- ^ General Roman Calendar of 1962
- ^ Paul Halsall, ed., "Gregory of Tours (539-594)", History of the Franks: Books I-X, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, accessed 4 Aug 2009
- "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.
External links
- "St. Stephen". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14286b.htm.
- 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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