Saint Stephen the Protomartyr and Archdeacon
First martyr, first of the seven deacons
- Feast day
- December 27
- Lived
- 1st century
- Patronage
- Deacons, those persecuted for the faith, stonemasons
The first Christian to die for Christ, Saint Stephen was stoned outside Jerusalem while praying for his killers, with the young Saul of Tarsus watching.
Life
Chosen as one of the seven deacons to serve the widows of the Hellenist Christians in Jerusalem, Stephen was 'full of grace and power' and worked signs among the people. Brought before the Sanhedrin on charges of speaking against the Temple, he answered with the long speech of Acts 7, tracing Israel's history of resisting the Spirit.
As they raged, he saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. They dragged him out and stoned him; he died praying, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'
Veneration
His relics were discovered in 415 and translated to Constantinople; the Church commemorates the finding on September 15 and the translation on August 2. His feast on December 27 falls inside the Nativity festal period, joining the first martyr to the birth of Christ.