Saint Stephen, the Law of the Cross, and a Church that Would Rather Die than Kill By Eugene R. Schlesinger Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Luke 23:34 Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Acts 7:60 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. ... Read More...
Be Emptied That You Might Be Full: On the Feast of Stephen By Steve Rice The Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine’s medieval commentary on the saints, says the Church has kept the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John, and the Holy Innocents on the days immediately followin... Read More...
The Second Day of Christmas: The Feast of Stephen By Jean McCurdy Meade Thanks to the charming carol, “Good King Wenceslas,” most Christians know that the day after Christmas is the Feast of Stephen. But why? To begin with, Stephen is the “protomartyr,” the first Christian believer to be killed for witnes... Read More...
The Martyr’s Death and the Birth of Christ Stephen’s brief ministry and death participate in and therefore set before us the continuous act of suffering known as the incarnation of the Divine Word.
Christmas is about martyrdom: The lesson of St. Stephen Christmas is a season of joyous celebration because God loves us so very much that he was willing to give up everything for us.
Stephen, full of power and grace Could I ask, with the martyr St. Stephen, "O Lord, give me every disadvantage, every difficulty, every hardness. Send me out with no tools, no friends, no worldly hopes of vengeance or reward. Put me among the hateful, the violent, the diseased, the unstable"?
