De sancto Stephano
The Meaning of the Name Stephen
The name Stephen is explored through its etymological meanings as a crown, a norm, and a strenuous preacher.
In Greek, the name Stephen means 'crown,' while in Hebrew, it means 'norm.' He was a 'crown'—that is, the beginning of the martyrs in the New Testament, just as Abel was in the Old. He was also a 'norm'—that is, an example and rule for others in suffering for Christ, in living and acting truthfully, and in praying for one's enemies. Alternatively, Stephen is said to mean 'strenuously speaking,' which is clear from his sermon and his brilliant preaching of the divine Word. Or, Stephen is said to mean 'strenuously standing' or 'speaking to the widows'—that is, strenuously or laudably standing, instructing, and governing the widows whom the apostles had placed under his care, who were literally widows. He is, therefore, a 'crown' because he is the beginning of martyrdom; a 'norm' because he is an example of suffering and living well; 'strenuously speaking' because of his brilliant preaching; and 'strenuously standing' because of his laudable instruction of the widows.
The Ministry and Conflict of the Deacon
Stephen is ordained as a deacon and faces three distinct trials of faith.
Stephen was one of the seven deacons the apostles ordained for this ministry. As the number of disciples grew, those who had converted from the Gentiles began to grumble against those who had converted from the Jews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. The reason for this grumbling can be understood in two ways: either because their widows were not being admitted to the ministry, or because they were being burdened more than the others in the daily service. The apostles, so they could focus more readily on preaching, had entrusted the ministry to the widows. Seeing the grumbling that had arisen over the administration of the widows, the apostles wanted to settle this complaint, so they gathered the whole multitude and said: It isn't right for us to abandon the word of God to serve tables. Gloss: Because the dishes of the mind are better than the feasts of the body. Therefore, brothers, look among yourselves for men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this work. (Gloss: so that they might serve, or preside over those who serve.) We, however, will remain steadfast in prayer and preaching. This proposal pleased the whole multitude, and they chose seven men—of whom blessed Stephen was the first and chief—and brought them to the apostles, who laid their hands upon them. Stephen, however, full of grace and fortitude, performed wonders and signs among the people. The Jews, therefore, envious and desiring to overcome and convict him, set out to defeat him in three ways: through disputation, the production of witnesses, and the infliction of torments. Yet he overcame those who disputed with him, convicted the false witnesses, and triumphed over his torturers; for in every battle, help was given to him from heaven. In the first battle, the Holy Spirit was given to him to provide wisdom. In the second, an angelic face, which terrified the false witnesses. And in the third instance, Christ appeared ready to help, to strengthen the martyr. In every battle, therefore, the account presents three things: the engagement of the conflict, the aid provided, and the victory achieved. By briefly reviewing the story, we'll be able to see all of this.
The Three Battles of the Martyr
Stephen defends himself against the Jews through debate and refutes false accusations regarding God, Moses, the Law, and the Temple.
As blessed Stephen performed many signs and preached to the people more frequently, the Jews, envious of him, began their first battle with him, hoping to defeat him through debate. For some arose from the synagogue of the Libertines, so called from their region, or Libertines, that is, the sons of freedmen. Libertines are known as the sons of freedmen, meaning those who have been manumitted from slavery and granted their freedom. And so, those who first resisted the faith were of servile stock, and... Cyrenians from the city of Cyrene, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia all debated with Stephen. Behold the first battle. Then he adds the triumph, and they could not resist the wisdom; finally, he sets forth the aid and... the Spirit who was speaking. Seeing, then, that they couldn't overcome him through this way of fighting, they cunningly turned to a second method, intending to defeat him with false witnesses. For they brought forward two false witnesses to accuse him of a fourfold blasphemy. Bringing him into the council, these false witnesses accused him of four things: blasphemy against God, against Moses, against the law, and against the tabernacle or temple. Behold the battle. And all who sat in the council, looking at him, saw his face as if it were the face of an angel. Behold the help. Next, the victory of this second battle is set forth, when the false witnesses are refuted on all these points; for the high priest said, 'If these things are so.' Then blessed Stephen defended himself in order against those four charges the false witnesses had brought against him. First, he defended himself against the charge of blasphemy against God by saying that the God who spoke to the patriarchs and prophets was the God of glory. In this, he praised God in three ways, according to the three ways this term can be interpreted. He is the God of glory—meaning the giver of glory, as in 2 Kings: 'Those who honor me, I will honor'—or the God of glory, meaning the container of glory, as in Proverbs. Or: 'With me are riches and glory'; or the God of glory, meaning the God to whom glory is owed by every creature, that is, the immortal King of the ages, and so on. He therefore praises God in three ways: that He is glorious, has been glorified, and is to be glorified. Next, he defended himself against the second charge of blasphemy against Moses by praising him in many ways. For he praises him especially for three things: namely, for his fervor of zeal in striking down the Egyptian, for the performance of miracles which he did in Egypt and in the desert, and for his intimacy with God, because he spoke with God familiarly many times. Afterward, he defended himself against the third charge of blasphemy—the one concerning the Law—by commending the Law itself in three ways: the nature of the Giver, who was God; the nature of the minister, Moses, a man so great and significant; and the nature of its purpose, because it gives life. Next, he began to clear himself of the fourth charge of blasphemy, which concerned the Tabernacle and the Temple, by commending the Tabernacle itself in four ways: it was commanded by God, it was shown to Moses in a vision, it was completed by him, and it contained the Ark of the Testimony. He also stated that the Temple had succeeded the Tabernacle. Thus, the blessed Stephen reasonably cleared himself of the crime brought against him.
The Final Conflict and Martyrdom
Stephen confronts his persecutors with shame, fear, and love before being stoned to death while praying for his enemies.
When the Jews saw that they couldn't overcome him in this second way, they took up a third method and began a third fight, so that they might at least overcome him with torments and punishments. When blessed Stephen saw this, wanting to follow the Lord's command regarding fraternal correction, he tried to correct them and hold them back from such great malice in three ways: through shame, fear, and love. First, through shame, by reproaching them for their hard hearts and the murder of the saints. "You stiff-necked people," he said, "with uncircumcised hearts and ears, you've always resisted the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did, and so do you." "For which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute?" "And they killed those who announced the coming of the Just One." In this, as the Gloss says, he sets out three degrees of their malice. The first is that they resisted the Holy Spirit; the second is that they persecuted the prophets. The third is that, as their malice grew, they killed them. This was because they had become as shameless as a prostitute; they neither knew how to blush nor would they stop the malice they had conceived. In fact, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him. Afterward, then, he tried to correct them through fear by declaring that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, as if He were ready to help him and condemn his adversaries. For when Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, he looked into heaven and saw the glory of God and said, 'Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the power of God.' Although he had already corrected them through shame and fear, they still didn't stop, but became worse than they were before. For they cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears. The Gloss says: so that they would not hear the one blaspheming. And they rushed at him together, and throwing him out of the city, they began to stone him. They thought that in this, they were acting according to the law. because the law had commanded that a blasphemer be stoned outside the camp. And those two false witnesses, who were supposed to cast the first stone at him according to the law which says, "The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death," etc. They then laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, who was later called Paul, either so they wouldn't be defiled by touching him or to be more agile for the stoning. While he was guarding the garments of those who were stoning him—and by doing so, making them more agile for the stoning, he was effectively stoning him with the hands of all—when he could not hold them back from such great wickedness by shame or fear, he employed a third method, so that he might at least restrain them with love; for was it not an extraordinary love he showed them, since he prayed for himself and for them? For himself, he prayed that his suffering might not be prolonged and that they might not be held guilty of a greater sin; but for them, he prayed that this might not be held against them as a sin. They were stoning Stephen, he says, as he was calling out and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." But falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them, for they do not know what they are doing." Look at his amazing love: he stood while praying for himself, but he knelt to pray for those who were stoning him, as if he were more eager for his prayer for them to be heard than the one he poured out for himself. He knelt for them rather than for himself because, as the Gloss says on this passage, those whose wickedness was greater required a greater remedy of prayer. In this, the martyr also imitated Christ, who in his own passion prayed for himself, saying, 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,' and for those who crucified him, saying, 'Father, forgive them.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. The Gloss says: 'It is beautifully said that he fell asleep, and not that he died, because he offered the sacrifice of love and fell asleep in the hope of the resurrection.' Stephen’s stoning took place in the same year that the Lord ascended, in the early days of August. The holy Gamaliel and Nicodemus, who were for the Christians in all the councils of the Jews, buried him in Gamaliel’s own field and mourned greatly for him. A great persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem followed, because once the blessed Stephen, one of their leaders, had been killed, they began to persecute others severely, to such an extent that all the Christians except the apostles, who were stronger than the rest, were scattered throughout the province of the Jews, just as the Lord had commanded them: 'If they persecute you in one city, flee to another.'
Miracles of the First Martyr
Augustine recounts various miracles performed through the intercession of Saint Stephen, including healings and conversions.
Augustine, that outstanding doctor, reports that blessed Stephen shone with countless miracles, raised six people from the dead through his merits, and cured many of various illnesses. Beyond these, he reports other miracles worth remembering. He says that flowers were placed on the altar of blessed Stephen and, once taken from there, were placed on the sick; cloths taken from his altar and placed on the ailing also proved to be a remedy for many who were ill. Indeed, as he says in Book XXII of The City of God, these same flowers taken from the altar were placed on the eyes of a certain blind woman, and she immediately received her sight. He also reports in the same book that when a leading man of the city named Martialis was an unbeliever and refused to convert, even while very ill, his son-in-law—a man of great faith—went to Saint Stephen's church. He took some flowers from the altar and secretly placed them at his father-in-law's head. After sleeping on them, the man cried out just before dawn that he should be sent to the bishop. But since the bishop was away, a priest came to him and baptized him, as he said he believed. For the rest of his life, he always included this phrase in his prayer: 'Christ, receive my spirit,' even though he didn't know these were the final words of blessed Stephen. He records another similar miracle: a noblewoman named Petronia had been tormented for a long time by a very severe illness, and after trying many remedies without finding any sign of relief, she finally consulted a Jew who gave her a ring set with a stone, telling her to tie it to her bare skin with a cord so that she might receive the benefit of healing through its power. But when she saw it wasn't helping, she hurried to the church of the first martyr and prayed earnestly to blessed Stephen for her health. Then, suddenly, the cord came undone and the ring fell to the ground undamaged, and she felt herself perfectly healed. Another equally remarkable miracle is recorded in the same place: near Caesarea in Cappadocia, there was a noble woman who, though she had lost her husband, was surrounded by a large family—she reportedly had ten children, seven boys and three girls. Once, when she was offended by them, she cursed her children; but suddenly, divine judgment followed the mother's curse, and they were all struck by a similar and horrible affliction. They were all seized by a violent trembling in every limb, causing them great pain. Unable to bear the stares of their fellow citizens, they began to wander the world, drawing everyone's attention wherever they went. Two of them, a brother and sister named Paulus and Palladia, came to Hippo and told Augustine, who was the bishop there, what had happened to them; and since they had already spent fifteen days before Easter visiting the church of the blessed Stephen and praying for healing from him, on the very day of Easter, while a large crowd was present, Paulus suddenly entered the chancel and prostrated himself in prayer before the altar with great faith and reverence, and while the bystanders waited to see the outcome, he suddenly rose up healed, and from then on, he was free from the trembling of his body. When he was brought to Augustine, the bishop presented him to the people and promised to have a written account of his story read to them the next day. While he was speaking to the people, his sister—who had been standing there trembling in every limb—rose from the crowd, entered the chancel of the blessed Stephen, and suddenly stood up healed, as if waking from sleep. She, too, was brought into the midst, and immense thanks were given to God and the blessed Stephen for the healing of them both. Orosius, returning to Augustine from Jerome, had brought back certain relics of Saint Stephen, and it was before these that these miracles and many others were performed.
The Liturgical Significance of the Feast
The Church places the feast of Stephen alongside John and the Innocents to represent the three types of martyrdom.
It should be noted, however, that blessed Stephen didn't suffer on this day, but on the day when his finding is celebrated, as is said. His finding is said to have occurred on this day, but why the feast days were changed will be explained when we cover the finding itself. For now, it's enough to say that the Church wanted to arrange these three feasts that follow the Lord's Nativity in this way for two reasons. The first is so that all his companions might be joined to Christ, the Bridegroom. When Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church, was born into this world, he joined three companions to himself, of whom it is said in the Song of Songs: 'My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.' He is white in regard to John the Evangelist, a precious confessor; ruddy in regard to Stephen, the first martyr; and chosen out of thousands in regard to the host of the Holy Innocents. The second reason is that the Church might thus gather together all types of martyrs according to their degrees of dignity, whose martyrdom was caused by the Nativity of Christ. There is a threefold martyrdom: one in will and in deed, the second in will but not in deed, and the third in deed but not in will. The first is in blessed Stephen, the second in blessed John, and the third in the Holy Innocents.
Read the original Latin
Stephanus graece, latine dicitur corona, sed hebraice norma. Fuit autem corona, id est, principium martirum in novo testamento, sient Abel in veteri, Fuit etiam norma, id est, exemplum et regula aliis patiendi pro Christo, sive vere agendi et vivendi, vel pro inimicis orandi. Vel Stephanus dicitur, quasi strenue fans, quod patet in suo sermone et in luculenta divini verbi praedicatione ). Vel Stephanus dicitur quasi strenue stans vel fans anus, id est strenue sive laudabiliter stans et instruens et regens anus, id est viduas, quibus ab apostolis fuerat praefectus, quae ad litteram anus erant. Est ergo corona propter principium martirii, norma propter exemplum patiendi et bene vivendi, strenue fans propter luculentam praedicationem, strenue stans propter viduarum laudabilem instructionem.
Stephanus fuit unus de septem dyaconibus, ab apostolis in ministerium ordinatis. Crescente enim numero discipulorum conversi ex gentibus adversus conversos ex Judaeis murmurare coeperunt, ex eo quod viduae eorum in ministerio quotidiano contemnebantur. Hujus autem murmuris causa dupliciter potest intelligi, aut quia viduae eorum in ministerio non admittebantur, aut quia prae caeteris in quotidiano ministerio gravabantur. Apostoli enim, ut expeditius praedicationi insisterent, viduis ministrationem commiserant. — Videntes itaque apostoli murmurationem ortam pro administratione viduarum, volentes hoe murmur sedare congregata omni multitudine dixerunt: non est aequum nos derelinquere verbum Dei et ministrare mensis. Glossa. Quia meliora sunt fercula mentis quam dapes corporis. Considerate ergo, fratres, ex vobis viros boni testimonii Vll plenos spiritu sancto et sapientia, quos constituamus super hoc opere.
(Glossa: ut ministrent vel ministrantibus praesint. Nos vero orationi et praedicationi instantes erimus. Et placuit sermo omni populo et multitudini et elegerunt septem, quorum beatus Stephanus primus et primicerius exstitit et adduxerunt eos ad apostolos et imposuerunt super eos manus. Stephanus autem plenus gratia et fortitudine faciebat prodigia et signa in populo. Invidentes igitur Judaei et eum superare et convincere cupientes triplici modo eum vincere aggressi sunt, scilicet disputatione, testium productione et tormentorum illatione. Sed tamen ipse disputantes superavit, testes falsos convicit et de suis tortoribus triumphavit, Etin qualibet pugna adjutorium sibi de coelo datum est. In prima enim ei datus est spiritus sanctus, qui sapientiam ministraret. In secunda vultus angelicus, qui falsos testes terreret.
Et in tertia visus est Christus adjuvare paratus, qui martirem confortaret. In qualibet igitur pugna ponit historia tria, scilicet aggressum praelium, collatum adjutorium et adeptum triumphum. Historiam igitur breviter percurrentes haec omnia videre poterimus.
Cum igitur beatus Stephanus multa signa faceret et frequentius populo praedicaret, Judaei sibi invidentes primum praelium cum eo inierunt, ut eum per disputationem vincerent. Surrexerunt enim quidam de synagoga libertinorum a regione sic dictorum, vel libertinorum, id est filiorum libertorum. Libertini enim dicuntur filii Hbertorum , id est eorum, qui de servitute manumissi sunt et libertate donati. Et sic de stirpe servili fuerunt, qui primo fidei restiterunt et. Cyrenensium à Cyrene civitate et Alexandrinorum et eorum qui erant a Cilicia et Asia disputantes cum Stephano. Ecce primum praelium. Deinde subjungit triumphum et non poterant resistere sapientiae, postremo ponit adjutorium et !) spiritum, qui loquebatur.
Videntes igitur, quod per hunc modum pugnandi cum non possent superare, ad secundum modum se callide convertunt, ut scilicet eum falsis testibus supcrarent. — Submiserunt enim duos falsos testes, qui eundem de quadruplici blasphemia accausarent. Adducentes itaque eum iu concilium falsi testes eum de quatuor accusabant, scilicet de blasphemia in Deum, in Moysem, in legem et in tabernaculum sive templum. Ecce praelium. Et intuentes eum omnes, qui sedebant in consilio, videbant faciem ejus tamquam faciem angeli. Ecce auxilium. Deinde ponitur hujus secundae pugnae victoria, cum falsi testes de his omnibus confutantur, Dixit enim princeps sacerdotum, si hoc ita se haberet. Tunc beatus Stephanus de illis quatuor, quae sibi falsi testes imposuerunt, se per ordinem excusavit.
Et primo excusavit se de blasphemia in Deum dicens, Deum, qui locutus fuit patribus et prophetis, Deum gloriae fuisse. Ubi Deum tripliciter commendavit, secundum quod hoc verbum potest tripliciter exponi. — Est enim Deus gloriae, id est collativus gloriae, in Regum II: qui honorificaverit me, glorificabo eum; vel Deus gloriae, id est, contentivus gloriae, Proverb. VHI: mecum sunt divitiae et gloria; vel Deus gloriae, id est, Deus cui à creatura debetur gloria, id est regi saeculorum immortali etc. Commendat igitur Deum tripliciter, scilicet quod sit gloriosus, glorificatus et glorificandus. Deinde excusat se de secunda blasphemia in Moysem multipliciter commendando. — Commendat enim enm praecipue a tribus, scilicet a zeli fervore, quod percutientem. Acgyptium interfecit, a miraculorum operatione, quae in Aegypto et in deserto fecit, et a Dei familiaritate, quia pluries cum Deo fami4 liariter locutus fuit.
Postmodum excusat se de tertia blasphemia, quae erat in legem, ipsam tripliciter commendando, scilicet ex ratione dantis, qui fuit Deus, ex ratione ministrantis , qui fuit Moyses talis et tantus, et ex ratione finis, quia dat vitam. Postmodo coepit se purgare de quarta blasphemia, quae erat in tabernaculum et in templum, ipsum tabernaculum quadrupliciter commendando, scilicet quod fuit a Deo praeceptum, fieri in visione ostensum a Moyse consummatum et arce testimonii contentivum. Templum autem dixit tabernaculo successisse. Sic ergo beatus Stephanus crimine sibi objecto rationabiliter se purgavit.
Videntes igitar Judaei, quod nec in isto secundo modo eum superare valerent, tertinm modum assumunt el tertiam pugnam ineunt, ut scilicet saltem tormentis et suppliciis eum superarent. Quod ut vidit beatus Stephanas, volens praeceptum dominicum de fraterna correctione servare, tribus modis eos conatus est corrigere et a tanta malitia cohibere, scilicet pudore, timore et amore, Primo pudore, ejus duritiam cordis et sanctorum necem improperando. Dura, inquit, cervice et in cireumcisis cordibus et auribus vos semper spiritui sancio restitistis, sicut et patres vestri, ita et vos. Qnem enim prophetarum patres vestri non sunt persecuti? et occiderunt eos, qui pronuntiabant de adventu justi. Ubi, sicut dicit Glossa, tres gradus malitiae eorum ponit. Primus est, quod spiritui sancto restiterunt, Secundus est: prophetas persecuti sunt. Tertius est: crescente malitia eos occiderunt.
Scilicet quia frons mulieris meretricis facta erat iis et nesciebant erubescere nec sic a concepta malitia destiterunt. Immo audientes haec dissecabantur cordibus suis et stridebant dentibus in eum. Postmodum ergo correxit eos timore per hoc scilicet, quod Jesum stantem a dextris Dei se videre perhibuit, quasi paratum se adjuvare et adversarios condemnare. Cum enim esset Stephanus plenus spiritu sancto intuens in coelum vidit gloriam Dei et ait: ecce video coelos apertos et filium domini stantem a dextris virtutis Dei. —Licet igitur jam padore et timore correxerit eos, non tamen adhuc destiterunt, sed deteriores quam prius fuerunt. Exclamantes enim voce magna continuerunt aures suas. Glossa: ne blasphemantem audirent. Et impetum fecerunt unanimiter in eum et projicientes eum extra civitatem lapidabant.
In hoc secundum legem se agere arbitrantes . quod blasphemum extra castra mandaverat lapidari. Et illi duo falsi testes, qui in eum primum lapidem mittere debebant, secundum legem dicentem: prima manus testium lapidabit ctc. , tum deposuerunt vestimenta sua, ne illius tactu coinquinarentur vel ut ad lapidandum expeditiores redderentur, secus pedes adolescentis, qui vocabatur Saulus et postea vocatus est Panlus. Qui dum lapidantium vestimenta custodiret, et eo quod ad lapidandum eos expeditiores redderet, quasi manu omnium lapidavit, Cum autem eos nec pudore nec timore a tanta posset nequitia retrahere, tertiam modum adhibuit, ut saltem eos amore coerceret, An non eximius amor fuit, quem iis ostendit, quoniam pro se et pro ipsis oravit? Pro se quidem oravit, ne sua passio prolongaretur et sic ipsi rei noxa majori tenerentur, pro ipsis autem oravit, ne iis hoc in peccatum imputaretur. Lapidabant, inquit, Stephanum invocantem et dicentem: Domine Jesu accipe spiritum meum. — Positis autem genibus clamavit voce magna dicens: domiue ne statuas illis hoc peccatum, quia nescinnt quod faciunt.
Et vide amorem mirabilem, quia orando pro se stetit, orando pro suis lapidatoribus genua flexit, quasi plus orationem, quam pro ipsis faciebat, quam illam, quam pro se effundebat, cuperet exaudiri. Pro ipsis autem potius quam pro se genua flexit, quia, ut dicit Glossa ibidem, quorum major iniquitas majus supplicandi remedium postulabat. In hoc ctiam martir Christum imitatus est, qui in passione sua pro se oravit dicens: pater in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum, et pro suis crucifixoribus dicens: pater ignosce illis ete, Et cum hoc dixisset, obdormivit in domino. Glossa: pulchre dictum est, obdormiit, et non, mortuns est, quia obtulit sacrificium dilectionis et obdormivit in spe resurrectionis Facta est autem lapidatio Stephani eodem anno, quo dominus ascendit, in proximo mense Augusti, tertia die intrante, Sanctus vero Gamaliel et Nicodemus, qui erant pro christianis in omnibus consiliis Judaeorum, sepelierunt eum in agro ipsius Gamalielis et fecerunt planctum magnum super eum et facta est magna persecutio christianorum, qui erant in Jherusalem, quia occiso beato Stephano, uno de principibus, alios graviter persequi coeperunt, in tantam quod omues christiani praeter apostolos, qui eraut caeteris fortiores, per totam Judaeorum provinciam sunt dispersi, juxta quod dominus praeceperat iis: si vos persecuti fuerint in una civitate, fugite in aliam.
Refert Augustinus doctor egregius beatum Stephanum innumeris miraculis claruisse et mortuos sex suis meritis excitasse, multos a variis languoribus curasse. Praeter haec autem alia refert miracnla, digne memoriae commendanda. Ait enim, quod flores super altare beati Stephani ponebantur et inde ablati super infirmos ponebantur, panni etiam de ejus altari sumti et super aegros impositi multis exstiterunt infirmantibus in medelam, nam sicut ait in libro XXII de civitate Dei, flores ipsi de altari assumti cujusdam mulieris caecae ocnlis impositi sunt et illa continuo lumen recepit. Refert quoque in eodem libro, quod, cum quidam vir primarias civitatis, nomine Martialis, infidelis esset et nequaquam converti vellet, cum tamen plurimum aegrotaret, gener suus valde fidelis ad ecclesiam sancti Stephani venit et de ipsis floribus, qui super altari erant, accipiens et ad caput sui soceri flores ipsos latenter posuit, Super quos cum ille dormiisset, protinus ante diluculum clamavit, ut ad episcopum mitteretur. Cum autem episcopus abesset, sacerdos ad eum venit et ipsum, cum et credere diceret, baptisavit. Hic quamdiu vixit, hoe verbum semper in oratione habuit: Christe accipe spiritum meum, cum tamen hic beati Stephani ultima verba nesciret.
Aliud similiter in eodem refert miraculum, quod quaedam matrona, nomine Petronia, cum diu infirmitate gravissima torqueretur et muita adhibens remedia nullum sentiret liberationis vestigium, tandem quemdam Judaeum consuluit, qui annulum quendam cum quodam lapide ei tribuit, ut ipso annulo cum chorda ad nuda corporis cingeretur, nt ex virtnte illins beneficium reciperet sanilatis. Sed dum hoc sibi nil valere conspiceret, ad ecclesiam protomartiris properavit et pro salute sua instantius beatum Stephanum exoravit. Tunc subito insoluta chorda et illaeso annulo remanente annulus in terram prosiliit et continuo perfecte sanatam se sensit.
Q. Aliud similiter in eodem non minus mirabile refert miraculum Apud namque Caesaream Capadociae quaedam nobilis matrona erat, viri quidem destituta solatio, sed nobili vallata multitudine filiorum, nam decem filios habuisse dicitur, quorum septem mares et tres feminae fuisse perhibentur. Quadam igitur vice dum mater ab iis offenditur, maledictionem suam filiis imprecatur, subito autem maledictionem matris divina vindicta subsequifur, et omnes poena simili et horribili feriuntur. Nam omnes tremore membrorum omnium horribiliter sunt percussi, quapropter nimium dolentes et eorum civium oculos non ferentes per totum orbem vagari coeperunt et quocumque ibant, omnium in se convertebant aspectum. Ex his autem duo, frater et soror, Paulus et Palladia Hypponem venerunt et ipsi Augustino ibidem episcopo, quae sibi contigerant, narraverunt, Cum ergo jam quindecim diebus ante Pascha ecclesiam beati Stephani frequentantes sanitatem ab ipso multis precibus postulassent, in ipso die Paschae cum frequens populus praesens esset, unus ex iis Panlus repente cancellum introivit et ante altare cum multa fide et reverentia se prostravit in oratione, et cum adstantes rei exitum exspectarent, subito surrexit sanus, A tremore corporis deinceps alienus. Cum autem ad Aungustinum fuisset adductus, ipse eum ad populum protulit et sequenti die libellum de narratione ejus iis recitandum promisit. Cum autem sic ad populum loqueretur et soror illius ibidem omnibus membris tremens assisteret, surgens illa e medio beati Stephani concellos intravit et statim velut obdormiens subito sana surrexit. Ipsa similiter in medium producitur et de utriusque sanitate Deo et beato Stephano immensae gratiae referuntur. — Orosius namque a Hieronymo ad Augustinum rediens quasdam reliquias sancti Stephani detulit, ad quas praedicta et plura miracula facta sunt.
Notandum autem, quod beatus Stephanus hoc die passus non est, sed ea die, ut dicitur, qua ejus inventio celebratur. Cujus antem inventio hac die dicitur exstitisse, sed quare festa mutata sunt, dicetur, cum de inventione agetur. Ad praesens autenr hoc dixisse sufficiat, quod duplici de causa ecclesia haec tria festa, quae sequuntur nativitatem domini, sic voluit ordinare. Prima est, ut Christo sponso et/tapiti omnes sui comites adjungantur. Natus enim Christus, sponsus sponsae ecclesiae, in hunc mundum tres sibi comites adjunxit, de quibus comitibus dicitur in Canticis: dilectus meus candidus, et rubicundus, electus ex millibus, Candidus, quo ad Johannem evangelistam pretiosum confessorem, rubicundus quantum ad Stephanum protomartirem , electus ex millibus, quantum ad turbam innocentium virginalem, Secunda ratio est, ut sic ecclesia omnium martirum genera secundum gradus dignitatis in simul adunaret, quorum quidem martirii Christi nativitas causa fuit. Est enim triplex martirium, unum voluntate et opere, secundum voluntate et non opere, tertium opere sed non voluntate. Pri(8 mum in beato Stephano, secundum in beato Johanne, tertium in innocentibus.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks