De inventione sancti Stephani
The Vision of Lucian
The priest Lucian receives a series of divine visions from Gamaliel, revealing the burial place of Saint Stephen and his companions.
They say the body of the first martyr, Stephen, was discovered in the year of our Lord 417, during the seventh year of the reign of Honorius. However, the account of its discovery, translation, and reunion is as follows. The discovery of his body happened in this way. For when a certain priest named Lucian, whom Gennadius mentions among illustrious men and who wrote this account, was resting in his bed in the territory of Jerusalem on a Friday and was nearly awake, a certain old man appeared to him—tall in stature, with a noble face, a long beard, and dressed in a white cloak embroidered with golden gems and crosses, wearing shoes with gilded surfaces. Holding a golden staff in his hand, he touched him and said, "With the greatest diligence, uncover our tombs, for we have been buried in a place that is shamefully neglected. Go, therefore, and tell John, the Bishop of Jerusalem, to place us in an honorable location, because when drought and tribulation shake the world, God has decreed that the world will be appeased through our intercession." Lucian the priest asked him, "Master, who are you?" "I am Gamaliel," he replied, "who raised the Apostle Paul and taught him the Law at my feet."✦ "The one who lies with me is Saint Stephen, who was stoned by the Jews and cast outside the city to be devoured by wild beasts and birds."✦ But he absolutely forbade this, because the martyr had kept his faith with him intact; I, however, gathered him up with great reverence and buried him in my own new tomb. Another man who lies with me is Nicodemus, my nephew, who came to Jesus by night and received holy baptism from Peter and John; for this reason, the chief priests were so angry with him that they would have killed him, had they not held back out of reverence for us. Nevertheless, they plundered all his property, stripped him of his position, and, after beating him with many lashes, left him half-dead. When I had brought him into my house, he survived for a few days, and when he died, I had him buried at the feet of blessed Stephen. The third, however, who is with me... is my son Abibas, who received baptism with me at the age of twenty and, remaining a virgin, studied the Law with my disciple Paul. But my wife Aethea and my son Selemias, because they refused to accept the faith of Christ, were in no way worthy of our burial; you'll find them buried elsewhere, and their tombs empty and void. Having said this, Saint Gamaliel disappeared; Lucianus, however, waking up, prayed to the Lord that if this vision were true, He would appear to him a second and a third time. On the following Friday, he appeared to him again as before and asked why he had neglected the things he had told him. "No, sir," he replied, "I haven't been negligent. Instead, I asked the Lord that if this vision were truly from God, it would appear to me a third time." Gamaliel said to him, "How did you think in your mind that, if you found us, you could distinguish the relics of each one? I will teach you the burial places and the relics of each one from these things I am offering you as a sign." He showed him three golden baskets and a fourth made of silver; one was full of red roses, and the other two were full of white roses. He also showed him the fourth, silver basket, filled with saffron, and Gamaliel said, "These baskets are our burial places, and these roses are our relics." "The basket full of red roses is the burial place of Saint Stephen, who alone among us deserved to be crowned by martyrdom; the other two, full of white roses, are the burial places of myself and Nicodemus, who persevered with a sincere heart in the confession of Christ; the fourth, the silver one filled with saffron, is that of my son Abibas, who shone with the purity of virginity and left the world pure." After saying this, he disappeared again. On Friday, however... ...he appeared to him again, angry, and severely rebuked him for his delay and negligence.
The Discovery and Translation
The relics of Saint Stephen are unearthed, moved to Zion, and later translated to Constantinople by the widow Juliana.
Lucian went immediately to Jerusalem and told Bishop John everything in order. He then went with other bishops who had been summoned to the place previously shown to Lucian, and when they began to dig, the earth shook and a most sweet fragrance was sensed. At the wonderful fragrance of this scent, seventy people were freed from various illnesses by the merits of the saints, and thus in the church... They moved the relics of the saints with great joy to Zion, which is in Jerusalem, where Saint Stephen had served as archdeacon, and they buried them there with honor. At that hour, however, a great rain fell. Bede mentions this vision and discovery in his chronicle. This discovery of Saint Stephen was made on the day his passion is celebrated, and it is said that his passion occurred on this day. However, the Church changed the feast days for two reasons. The first reason is that Christ was born on earth so that man might be born in heaven. It was fitting that the birthday of Saint Stephen, who was the first to endure martyrdom for Christ—which is to be born in heaven—should follow the birth of Christ, so that this might signify that one follows from the other, and so on. As the song goes: 'Yesterday Christ was born on earth, so that today Stephen might be born in heaven.' The second reason is that the feast of the finding was celebrated more solemnly than the feast of the passion, both out of reverence for the Lord's nativity and because of the many miracles the Lord showed during the finding itself. Because his passion is more worthy than the finding and for that reason ought to be more solemn, the Church moved the feast of the passion to a time when it might be held in greater reverence. His translation, however, as Augustine says, happened this way. For Alexander, a senator of Constantinople, went to Jerusalem with his wife and built a very beautiful oratory for the protomartyr Stephen, and after his death, he had himself buried next to his body. Fifty-five years later, his wife Juliana, wishing to return to her own country because she was suffering injustice from the princes, wanted to take her husband's body with her.1 When she had asked this of the bishop with many prayers, the bishop brought out two silver caskets, saying, "I do not know which of these is the casket of your husband." And she replied, "I know," and making a rush, she embraced the body of Saint Stephen. So, while she thought she was taking the body of her husband, by chance she took the body of the protomartyr; and when she had boarded the ship with the body, angelic hymns were heard, a fragrance spread, and the demons cried out, "A savage..." ...such a storm, saying, "Woe to us, because the protomartyr Stephen is passing by, striking us with a terrible fire." When the sailors feared a shipwreck, Stephen was invoked, and he immediately appeared, saying, "It is I; do not be afraid." And a great calm followed immediately. Then the voices of demons were heard crying out, "Impious prince, set the ship on fire, because our adversary Stephen is in it." Then the prince of the demons sent five demons to set the ship on fire, but the angel of the Lord plunged them into the deep; and when they had come to Chalcedon, the demons cried out, "The servant of God comes, who was stoned by the wicked Jews." They arrived safely in Constantinople and placed the body of Saint Stephen in a church with great reverence.
The Union of Saints
The relics of Saint Stephen are brought to Rome to be united with those of Saint Lawrence, fulfilling a divine purpose.
Augustine wrote this; the joining of Saint Stephen's body with the body of Saint Lawrence happened in this order. It happened that Eudoxia, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius, was being severely tormented by a demon. When this was reported to her father in Constantinople, he ordered his daughter to be brought there so she could be touched by the relics of the holy protomartyr Stephen. But the demon within her cried out, "Unless Stephen comes to Rome, I won't leave, because this is the apostle's will." When the emperor heard this, he obtained from the clergy and people of Constantinople the agreement that the body of Saint Stephen would be given to the Romans, and that they would receive the body of the blessed Lawrence in return. Then the emperor wrote to Pope Pelagius about this, and the pope, on the advice of the cardinals, consented to the emperor's request. Cardinals were therefore sent to Constantinople to bring the body of Saint Stephen to Rome, and the Greeks followed to receive the body of Saint Lawrence. Stephen's body was received in Capua, and his right arm was obtained through the devout prayers of the Capuans, and a metropolitan church was built in his honor. But when they arrived in Rome and tried to carry the body into the church of Saint Peter in Chains, the carriers stopped and couldn't move any further, and the demon in the girl cried out: “You are working in vain, because he has not chosen this place, but has chosen his seat beside his brother Lawrence.” So the body was carried there, and upon its arrival, the girl was freed from the demon. Lawrence, as if congratulating and smiling at his brother’s arrival, moved to the other side of the tomb and left half of it empty for his brother. But when the Greeks laid their hands on Lawrence to carry him away, they fell to the ground as if lifeless; yet, after the Pope, the clergy, and the people prayed for them, they barely came to themselves by evening. Still, all of them died within ten days, and even the Latins who had agreed with them were struck with madness and couldn't be healed until the bodies of the saints were buried together. Then a voice was heard in heaven: "O happy Rome, you who enclose the body of Lawrence the Spaniard and Stephen the Jerusalemite in one tomb, glorious... pledges." This union was accomplished! 10th of the Kalends.
Miracles and Testimonies
Augustine recounts the many miracles performed through the intercession of Saint Stephen and reflects on the martyr's holy life.
May, around the year of our Lord 425. In book 22 of The City of God, Augustine reports that six people were raised from the dead through the invocation of Saint Stephen. Specifically, there was a man who, while lying dead to the point that his thumbs were already being bound, was immediately raised when the name of blessed Stephen was invoked over him. Also, a boy crushed by a wagon, whom his mother brought to the church of Saint Stephen and received back alive and healthy. Also, a nun who, when she was at the point of death and had been carried to the church of Saint Stephen and had expired there, rose up healed while everyone watched in amazement; also a girl near Hippo, whose tunic her father had carried to the church of Saint Stephen, and later threw it over the body of the dead girl, and she rose up immediately; also a young man whose body, when it had been anointed with the oil of Saint Stephen, rose up at once. Also, a boy who had been brought dead to the church of Saint Stephen was immediately restored to life at the invocation of Saint Stephen. Regarding this martyr, Augustine says: Gamaliel revealed this martyr while wearing his robes, Saul praised him while stripped of his, Christ enriched him while wrapped in swaddling clothes and crowned him with a precious stone. The same author says: In Stephen shone the beauty of the body, the flower of youth, the eloquence of the speaker, the wisdom of a most holy mind, and the working of divinity. The same author says: This strong pillar of God, when held between the hands of those throwing stones with a grasping force, was fired up by the forge of faith; he was struck and driven, constrained and tormented, beaten, and yet not conquered. The same author, regarding that passage about the stiff-necked, and so on. He doesn't flatter here, but rebukes; he doesn't soothe, but challenges; he doesn't tremble, but stirs to action. The same author says: Consider Stephen, your fellow servant. He was a human being just like you; he was from the same mass of sin as you, redeemed by the same price as you. And when he was a deacon, he read the Gospel that you also read or hear. He found written there: 'Love your enemies.' He learned it by reading, and he perfected it by obeying.2 May. M. Words...
Read the original Latin
Inventio corporis protomartiris Stephani anno domini CCCCXVII Honorii principis anno VII facta fuisse narratur. Reperitur autem ejus inventio, translatio et conjunctio. Inventio ipsius hoc ordine facta fuit. Nam cum quidam presbiter nomine Lucianus in territorio Hierosolimitano, quem Gennadius inter illustres viros commemorat et haec scripsit, feria sexta in stiratu suo quiesceret et paene vigilaret, quidam vir senex statura procerus, vultu decoras, barba prolixa, pallio candido amictus, cni gemmulae aureae et cruces inerant contextae, calceatus caligis in superficie deauratis eidem apparuit. Qui manu auream virgam tenens tetigit eum dicens: summa cum diligentia nostros patefacito tumulos, quia indecenter despecto loco reconditi sumus, vade igitur et dic Johanni episcopo Hierosolimitano, ut nos in honorabili loco reponat, quia, cum siccitas et tribulatio mundum concusserit, nostrorum suffragiis Deus mundo propitiari decrevit. Cui Lucianus presbiter dixit: domine, quis es? 'Ego sum, inquit, Gamaliel, qui Paulum apostolum enutrivi et ad pedes meos legem perdocui. Qui autem mecum jacet, sanctus est Stephanus, qui a Judaeis lapidatus extra civitatem projectus est, ut a feris et avibus devoraretur.
Sed hoc omnino ille prohibuit, cui idem martir illaesam fidem servavit, ego autem ipsum cum reverentia multa collegi et in meo novo tumulo sepelivi, Alius autem, qui mecum jacet, est Nicodemus, nepos meus, qui nocte Jesum adiit et a Petro et Johanne sacrum baptisma suscepit, quapropter indignati in eum principes sacerdotum eum occidissent, nisi ob nostri reverentiam destitissent. Verumtamen omnem substantiam ejus diripuerunt et a principatu deposuerunt, multisque eum afficientes verberibus semivivum reliquerunt. Hune cum ego in domo mea duxissem, diebus aliquibus supervixit et defunctum juxta pedes beati Stephani sepeliri feci. Tertius vero, qui mecum. est, est ipse Abibas filius meus, qui anno aetatis suae XX mecum baptisma suscepit et virgo permanens cum Paulo discipulo meo legem didicit. Uxor vero mea Aethea et Selemias filius meus, quia fidem Christi noluerunt recipere, nostra nequaquam digni sepultura fuere, sed eos alibi sepultos invenies et eorum tumulos vacuos et inanes. Hoc dicto sanctus Gamaliel disparuit, Lucianus vero evigilans dominum exoravit, ut, si haec visio in veritate fieret, eidem secundo ac tertio appareret. In sequenti igitar feria VI eidem sicut prius apparuit et cur ea, quae sibi dixerat, neglexerit, requisivit.
Non, inquit, domine, neglexi, sed rogavi dominum, ut, si haec visio ex Deo esset, mihi tertio appareret. Dixitque ei Gamaliel: quomodo in mente tua cogitasti, si nos invenires, quomodo reliquias singulorum discernere posses, ex his, quae tibi sub similitadine offero, singulorum locnlos et, reliquias edocebo. Ostenditque ei tres calathos aureos et quarlum argenteum, quorum unus erat plenus rosis rubentibus et alii duo rosis albis. Quartum etiam ostendit argenteum plenum croco dixitque Gamaliel: hi calathi nostri sunt loculi et nostrae reliquiae sunt hae rosae. Calathus plenus rubeis rosis est loculus sancti Stephani, qui solas ex nobis martirio meruit coronari, alii duo rosis albis pleni mei et Nicodemi sunt loculi, qui sincero corde in confessione Christi perseveravimus, quartus vero argenteus croco plenus est Abibae filii mei, qui candore virginitatis pollebat et mundus de mundo exivit. His dictis iterum disparuit. Feria autem Vl. sequentis hebdomadae eidem iratus apparuit et de dilatione et negligentia eum graviter increpavit.
Continuo igitur Lucianus Hierosolimam adiit et Johanni episcopo cuncta per ordinem enarravit. Pergunt igitur cum aliis episcopis accersitis ad locum praedictum Luciano ostensum, cumque coepissent fodere, terra concntitur et suavissimus odor sentitur. Ad cujus odoris miram fragrantiam meritis sanctorum LXX homines à diversis infirmitatibus liberantur sicque in ecclesia !) Syon, quae est in Jerusalem, ubi sanctus Stephanus archidyaconi officio functus est, um magno gaudio sanctorum reliquias transtulerunt et eas ibidem honorifice condiderunt. Ea autem hora pluvia magna descendit. Hujus visionis et inventionis mentionem facit Beda in chronica sua. Haec inventio sancti Stephani facta est ea die, qua ejus passio celebratur et ejus passio in hac die fuisse dicitur. Festa autem ab ecclesia mutata sunt duplici ratione.
Prima est, quoniam Christus ideo natus est in terris, ut homo nasceretur in coelis. Decuit enim, ut nativitati Christi continuaretur natale- sancti Stephani, qui primus pro Christo martirium sustinuit, quod est nasci in coelo, ut per hoc notaretur, unam ex alia sequi, unde etiam. cantatur de ipso: heri Christus natus est in terris, ut hodie Stephanus nasceretur in coelis. Secunda ratio est, quoniam festum de inventione sollemnius agebatur, quam festum de passione et hoc tum propter reverentiam nativitatis domini, tum propter multa miracula, quae in ipsius inventione dominus ostendit. Quia ergo passio ipsius dignior est quam inventio et ob hoc sollemnior debet esse, ideo ecclesia festum de passione ad illud tempus transtulit, in quo in ampliori reverentia habeatur. Translatio autem ejus, ut ait Augustinus, hoc modo fuit. Nam Alexander senator Constantinopolitanus Jerusalem cum uxore sua adiit et protomartiri Stephano pulcherrimum oratorium construxit ac post ejus obitum juxta ejus corpus se sepeliri fecit. Evolutis ergo VH annis Juliana ejus uxor in patriam suam volens redire, utpote quae a principibus injuriam patiebatur, corpus viri voluit deferre.
Quod cum ab episcopo multis precibus postulasset, episcopus duos loculos argenteos protnlit dicens: non novi, quis sit ex his loculus viri tui. Et illa: ego novi, et impetum faciens amplexata est corpus sancti Stephani. Sic ergo dum corpus viri putat accipere, casu corpus protomartiris accepit, Cum antem navim cum corpore conscendisset, hymni audiuntur angelici, odor effragrat, clamant daemones, saevam susci. tant tempestatem dicentes: vae nobis, quia protomartir Stephanus transit diro nos verberans igne. Cum ergo nautae naufragium formidarent, Stephanus invocatur et continuo apparuit dicens: ego sum, nolite timere. Statimque tranquillitas magna subsecuta est. Tunc anditae sunt voces daemonum clamantium: impie princeps, navem accende, quia adversarius noster Stephanus est in ea. Tunc princeps daemonum V daemones, qui navem incenderent, misit, sed angelus domini in profundum cos demersit, et cum Chalcedonem venissent, daemones clamabant: servus Dei venit, qui ab iniquis lapidatus est Judaeis.
Constantinopolim igitur incolumes pervenerunt et in quadam ecclesia corpus sancti Stephani cum magna reverentia condiderunt. Haec Augustinus, Conjunctio autem corporis sancti Stephani cum corpore sancti Laurentii hoc ordine facta fnit. Contigit enim Eudoxiam filiam Theodosii imperatoris a daemone graviter cruciari. Quod cum patri suo Constantinopolim constituto intimatum fuisset, jubet filiam Constantinopolim adduci, ut sacrosancti protomartiris Stephani reliquiis tangeretar. Daemon autem in ea clamabat: nisi Stephanus Romam veniat, non exibo, quoniam sic est apostoli voluntas. Quod cum imperator audivisset, a clero et populo Constantinopolitano obtinuit, ut corpus sancti Stephani Romanis daretur et ipsi beati Laurentii corpus acciperent. Tunc imperator Pelagio papae super hoc scripsit, papa vero de consilio cardinalium imperatoris petitioni consensit. Missi igitur Constantinopolim cardinales corpus sancti Stephani Romam deferunt et Graeci pro accipiendo corpore sancti Laurentii prosequuntur.
Capuae igitur corpus Stephani recipitur et brachium ejus dextrum a Capuanis devotis precibus obtinetur et metropolitana ecclesia in ejus honorem fabricatur. Cum autem Romam venissent et in ecelesiam sancti Petri ad vincula corpus deferre vellent, vectores subsistunt nec ultra procedere possunt, daemon autem in puella clamabat:. frustra laboratis, quia non hic, sed apud fratrem suum Laurentium sedem elegit, llluc igitur corpus defertur et ad ejus factum puella a daemone liberatur. At Laurentius adventui fratris sni quasi congratulans et arridens in alteram partem sepulchri secessit et medietatem illius vacuam fratri reliquit, Graeci vero dum manus apponunt, ut Laurentium ferant, ad terram velut exanimes corruerunt, sed orantibus pro iis papa, clero et populo vix ad se ad vesperam redierunt, omnes tamen infra decem dies mortui sunt, Latini etiam, qui sibi consenserant, in frenesin versi sanari non potuerunt, quoadusque sanctorum corpora insimul tumulata fuerunt. Tunc vox in coelo audita est: o felix Roma, quae corpus Laurentii Hispani et Stephani Hierosolimitani uno claudis mausoleo, gloriosa . pignora. Facta est ista conjunctio !) X cal.
Maji circa annos domini CCCCXXV. Refert Augustinus in libro XXII de civitate Dei VI mortuos ad invocationem sancti Stephani suscitatos. Videlicet quendam, qui cum mortuus sic jaceret, ut ei jam pollices ligarentur, invocato super eum nomine beati Stephani continuo suscitatus est. Jtem quendam puerum a plaustro contritum, quem mater ad ecclesiam sancti Stephani deferens vivum el sanum recepit. Item quandam sanctimonialem, quae, cum in extremo spiritu constituta et ad ecclesiam sancti Stephani delata fuisset et ibidem exspirasset, videntibus omnibus et stupentibus sanata surrexit, Item quandam puellam apud Hypponem, eujus )tunicam eum pater ad ecclesiam sancti Stephani deportasset, eam postmodum super corpus defunctae puellae projecit et illastatim surrexit, Item quendam juvenem, eujus corpus cum inunctum fuisset oleo sancti Stephani, statim surrexit. Item quendam puerum, qui eum ad ecclesiam saneti Stephani mortuus fuisset delatus, ad invocationem sancti Stephani vitae est protinus restitutus. De hoc martire sie dicit Augustinus: marlirem istum Gamaliel stolatus revelavit, Saulus spoliatuslaudavit, Christus pannis involutus ditavit et pretioso lapide coronavit, Idem: in Stephano emicuit pulchritudo corporis, flos aetatis, eloquentia sermocinantis, sapientia sanctissimae mentis et operatio divinitatis. Idem: fortis columna Dei cum inter lapidiferas manus captatorio forcipe teneretur, )fidei fundibilis igniebatur, feriebatur et producebatur, constringebatur et angebatur, caedebatur et non vincebatur.
Idem super illud, dura cervice etc. : hic non blanditur, sed invehitur, non palpat, sed provocat, non trepidat, sed instigat. Idem: attende Stephanum conservum tuum, homo erat sicnt et tu, de massa peccati erat, Sicut et tu, eo pretio redemtus, )quo et tu, et cam dyaconus erat, evangelium legebat, quod legis vel audis et tu, ibi invenit scriptum: diligite inimicos vestros, didicit legendo, perfecit obediendo.
Maji. M. Verba Oo o
Scripture echoes
- ↩Acts.22.3 — I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, trained according to the exactness of the ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as you all are today.
- ↩Acts.7.58-Acts.7.60 — And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Acts.7.59 — And they were stoning Stephen, who was calling upon the name of the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Acts.7.60 — Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And having said this, he fell asleep.
Notes
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