Saint Stephen
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Saint Stephen, Protomartyr, depicted by Carlo Crivelli in 1476 with three stones and the martyrs' palm. |
Saint Stephen is the
Protomartyr, or first
martyr, of
Christianity and is venerated as a
saint of the
Roman Catholic Church and its
Eastern Rite, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, the
Church of England and its
Anglican Communion among other
religious denominations. He is identified as one of the first
deacons chosen by the
early church in
Acts of the Apostles. The
Feast of Saint Stephen is celebrated on
December 26 in the
Western Church and
December 27 in the
Eastern Church. Until
1955, a
simple octave was also kept by the
Roman Catholic Church in honor of this feast, with the Octave day on
January 2. A second feast, the Invention of St. Stephen, was kept on
August 3, commemorating the finding (
Latin:
inventio) of his body during the reign of Emperor
Honorius.
Upon the death of
Jesus, Stephen began to work hard to spread what was then called
The Way. He preached the teachings of Jesus and participated in the conversion of Jews and Gentiles.
Acts tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the
Sanhedrin for
blasphemy and was then
stoned to death by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus, the future
Saint Paul [
1].
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 deacon's
vestments, and often holding a miniature church building and censer.
Many churches are named in honor of Saint Stephen but there was no official "Tomb of St Stephen" for centuries until
415, when Christian pilgrims were traveling in large numbers to Jerusalem and a certain priest named Lucian said he had learned by revelation that 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. (
Historia Francorum ii.6).
Main article St. Stephen's Day.
December 26, the "feast of Stephen" referred to in the
Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas, is called "St. Stephen's Day"; it is a
public holiday in
Ireland,
Italy,
Finland and
Romania. In
Catalonia (though not elsewhere in Spain) it is called "Sant Esteve" and is a
bank holiday. It is called "Saint Étienne" in
France and bank holiday in
Alsace and
Moselle only.
In
Irish it is called
Lá Fhéile Stiofán or
Lá an Dreoilín, literally the "Day of the Wren"; several
Irish legends link episodes in the life of
Jesus to the
wren. In parts of Ireland persons carrying either an effigy of a wren, or an actual caged wren, travel from house to house playing music, singing and dancing. Depending on which region of the country, they are called
Wrenboys,
Mummers or
Strawboys. A Mummer's Festival is held at this time every year in the village of
New Inn,
Co. Galway.
A popular rhyme, known to many Irish children and sung at each house visited by the mummers goes as follows:
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,:On St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,:Up with the penny and down with the pan,:Give us a penny to bury the wren.
In the
United Kingdom,
Australia,
New Zealand and
Canada, St. Stephen's Day is known as
Boxing Day.
* In Eastern Jerusalem , Israel - St. Steven's Church.
* In the old city of Jerusalem - the "Lions gate" is called also St. Stephanus gate
*
Saint Stephen of Hungary*
Saint Stephen of Perm*
Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint Stephen
*
St. Stephen's Day at IrishFestivals.net
*Robert Eisenman, 1997.
James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls makes a case for the figure of Stephen as an invented cover for the actual historical career of
James the Just.
