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St
Stephen
(–c. 35)
Other names: St Stephen the Protomartyr,
Stephen the Deacon
Biographical
St Stephen was one of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the name of St Stephen occurs for the first
time on the occasion of the appointment of the first deacons. Dissatisfaction
concerning the distribution of alms from the community's fund having arisen
in the Church, seven men were selected and specially ordained by the Apostles
to take care of the temporal relief of the poorer members. Of these seven,
Stephen, is the first mentioned and the best known. Stephen's life previous
to this appointment remains for us almost entirely in the dark. His name
is Greek and suggests he was a Hellenist, i.e., one of those Jews who
had been born in some foreign land and whose native tongue was Greek;
however, according to a fifth century tradition, the name Stephanos was
only a Greek equivalent for the Aramaic Kelil, which may be the protomartyr's
original name and was inscribed on a slab found in his tomb. It seems
that Stephen was not a proselyte, for the fact that Nicolas is the only
one of the seven designated as such makes it almost certain that the others
were Jews by birth. That Stephen was a pupil of Gamaliel is sometimes
inferred from his able defence before the Sanhedrin; but this has not
been proved. Neither do we know when and in what circumstances he became
a Christian; it is doubtful whether the statement of St Epiphanius numbering
Stephen among the seventy disciples is deserving of any credence. His
ministry as deacon appears to have been mostly among the Hellenist converts,
with whom the Apostles were at first less familiar; and the fact that
the opposition he met with sprang up in the synagogues of the 'Libertines'
(probably the children of Jews taken captive to Rome by Pompey in 63 BC
and freed hence the name Libertini), and 'of the Cyrenians, and of the
Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia' shows that he
usually preached among the Hellenist Jews. That he was pre-eminently fitted
for that work, his abilities, and character, which the author of the Acts
dwells upon so fervently, are the best indication. The Church had, by
selecting him for a deacon, publicly acknowledged him as a man 'of good
reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom'. His uncommon oratorical
powers and unimpeachable logic, no one was able to resist. Great as was
the efficacy of 'the wisdom and the spirit that spoke', still it could
not bend the minds of the unwilling; to these the forceful preacher was
fatally soon to become an enemy. The conflict broke out when the cavillers
of the synagogues 'of the Libertines, and of the Cyreneans, and of the
Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia', who had challenged
Stephen to a dispute, came out completely discomfited; wounded pride so
inflamed their hatred that they suborned false witnesses to testify that
'they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against
God'. Stephen was arrested, not without some violence it seems, and dragged
before the Sanhedrin, where he was accused of saying that 'Jesus of Nazareth
shall destroy this place [the temple], and shall change the traditions
which Moses delivered unto us'. No doubt Stephen had by his language given
some grounds for the accusation, but the accusation left him unperturbed,
and all that sat in the council.saw his face as if it had been the face
of an angel. Stephen's answer (given in Acts VII) was a long recital of
the mercies of God towards Israel during its long history and of the ungratefulness
by which, throughout, Israel repaid these mercies. This discourse contained
many things unpleasant to Jewish ears; but the concluding indictment for
having betrayed and murdered the Just One whose coming the Prophets had
foretold, provoked the rage of an audience made up not of judges, but
of foes. When Stephen said: 'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the
Son of man standing on the right hand of God', they ran violently upon
him and cast him out of the city to stone him to death. For centuries
the location of St. Stephen's tomb was lost sight of, until 415 a certain
priest named Lucian learned by revelation that the sacred body was in
Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. The relics were
then exhumed and carried first to the church of Mount Sion, then,
in the same year,
to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot
where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place. The site of
the Eudocian basilica was identified in the late 19th century, and a new
edifice had been erected on the old foundations by the Dominican Fathers.
St Stephen is the patron saint of bricklayers, deacons, and stonemasons.
Place of death: Jerusalem
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