AD SANCTUM STEPHANUM. Cum retractatione charitatis, et obdormitionis ejusdem.
Stephen's Glory and the Sinner's Hope
The soul extols Stephen's holiness, vision of God, and prayer for his persecutors, then turns in humble fear to seek Stephen's intercession before the just Judge.
Holy Stephen, blessed Stephen, kind Stephen, brave soldier of God, first in the blessed rank of God's martyrs, mighty leader, one of the great princes of heaven—I have learned, Lord, and I have believed, and rejoicing I embrace the fact that, while still placed on earth, you shone with so great a light of holiness that your venerable face gleamed with angelic dignity; that you shone with so great a purity of heart that your blessed eyes saw God in his glory; that you burned with so great a devotion of love that your holy mouth prayed piously for the godless who were killing you.✦✦✦ So it was, good Stephen, so it was. So I rejoice that it was so; and so I rejoice, I am glad, and I exult to have known it. Indeed, fearing the strict sentence of the just Judge—fearing, I say, I who am a sinner and guilty, deserving punishment—I need a helper, and I consider it sweet and safe to send you as my intercessor, so that you may please the Almighty, your friend, my Lord and Creator and yours, on my behalf.✦ For I know, Lord, and I am certain from your great merits that you can; I trust from your abundant love that you will wish to; I hope from the immense mercy of the Judge that he will not refuse.✦ Anxious, therefore, and trembling, the sinner who is ill-aware of himself flees to you.
The Accused Before the Dread Judge
The sinner stands accused before God's strict judgment, convicted by conscience, without merit or advocate, facing an irreversible sentence and eternal imprisonment.
See, then, holy Stephen, my distress, and pour out your love upon it. For here stands the accused before a dreadful Judge. He is charged with many and great offenses. He is convicted by the witness of his own conscience and by the testimony of the Judge's very eyes. He has done no good that might make up for the wrongs he has committed. By no past act of service has he earned a friend of the Judge as his advocate; by offending them all, he has earned every one of them as his accusers. The Judge is terribly strict, unbearably severe, immeasurably offended, furiously angry. His sentence, once pronounced, is unchangeable; the prison from which there is no return stands open.
The Torments That Await
Endless tortures and tireless tormentors stand ready; the accused, paralyzed by fear, cries out to Stephen—who prayed for his own murderers—for swift aid.
In prison, enormous tortures are arranged, torturers stand ready, so that once sentence is given they may drag the condemned man off to his torments. Torments without end, without relief, without mercy — horrible torturers who never grow weary, who never show pity.1 Fear throws the accused into turmoil, conscience overwhelms him, his thoughts rebuke him — and he's not permitted to flee. So he stands, suspended, facing the most severe sentence. Look at this wretch — in a tight place of danger, in a dangerous strait.2 Look at a man in need of swift help. Where is he now? Let him come to my aid now — he who, under the press of stones, took pity on those who stoned him.✦3
Stephen, Crowned Advocate
The soul urgently invokes Stephen as advocate, acknowledging constant spiritual danger, God's ever-present gaze upon sin, and the ever-open mouth of hell.
Now let me pray for the one who stood as my advocate before that same judge on behalf of my murderers. Stephen, Stephen — truly Stephen, because truly crowned! Stephen, I say — look, a place of piety; look, a time for mercy; look, at last, a chance to show love. I'm in constant danger — I don't always keep it in mind, and that's when I'm more wretched and more pitiable: when I can forget it. God always sees me — and my sins; his strict justice is always threatening this sinful soul of mine. Hell is always open, its torments always ready; invisible ambushers are always lying in wait to drag my wretched soul down there.
A Portrait of Universal Sinfulness
The sinner catalogues his sinfulness in every state of life and urgently pleads with Stephen to hasten before damnation consumes him.
This is how I am placed — when I'm awake, this is how I am; when I sleep, this is how I am; when I laugh, this is how I am; when I joke, this is how I am; when I'm proud, when I tear others down, this is how I am; when I'm angry, when I avenge myself, this is how I am — this is how I am when I miserably cling to the pleasures of the body. In short, this is how I am — always and everywhere. Hasten, then — I pray you, devout one, hasten — before I'm condemned, before the torturers seize me, the enemies of the human race, before the prison of hell swallows me whole, before the torments of hell consume me.✦
Great Sin, Greater Mercy
The sinner confesses the enormity of his sins, yet finds hope in the greater mercy that pardons the most desperate, and appeals to Stephen's abundant merits shared within the communion of saints.
But O you, O you, my sins — you are exceedingly great, exceedingly many, so that forgiveness is rightly denied to my soul on your account. I know — yes, certainly, it is so. I confess: it is so. But the more serious my unhappiness, the more desperate my need, the more wonderful will be the mercy of the one who grants pardon, and the greater will appear, before the pardoner, the grace of the intercessor. I know well enough, Lord, beloved of God, Stephen: I have offended God himself, and I have offended you too, and all his saints. But my need is so great that it compels me to seek help even from those by whom I have deserved punishment. And you and the other saints are so filled from that abundant, that priceless fountain of mercy, that it delights you even to mercifully set free those whom you could justly condemn. Great are your merits, great Stephen — so great that they can suffice for you and for me; and if they benefit me, nothing will be diminished from you. Behold, before God and before you, blessed Stephen, are all my sins — they terrify, they trouble, they weigh down my soul.
The Final Plea and Amen
The soul asks Stephen to speak to Christ the Lover on the sinner's behalf, echoing Christ's own prayer for his killers, and trusts that God's mercy will forgive all.
Speak then, O faithful one, to your most devoted and most beloved Lover — speak, Lord, and do not hold these sins against him.✦ Say, I say, on behalf of this needy one who begs you — say what you said for the people who were killing you.✦ Let your loving charity say only this: and I am certain that the most merciful God will forgive all my wrongs. For he himself is merciful — and he is my Creator; I am wretched, and I am his handiwork; you are his beloved friend, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Sancte Stephane, beate Stephane, benigne Stephane, fortis miles Dei, primus in beato agmine martyrum Dei, potens princeps, unus de magnis principibus coeli; didici, Domine, et credidi, et gaudens amplector quod adhuc in terris positus tanta sanctitatis luce splenduisti, ut venerabilis vultus tuus angelica dignitate fulgeret; quod tanta cordis munditia nituisti, ut beati oculi tui Deum in gloria sua viderent; quod tanta charitatis pietate arsisti, ut pium os tuum pie pro impiis te perimentibus oraret. Sic fuit, bone Stephane, sic fuit. Sic gaudeo fuisse; et sic gaudeo, laetor, et exsulto me cognovisse. Quippe metuens justi judicis districtam sententiam, metuens, inquam, ego peccator et reus, meritam poenam, opus habeo adjutore, et dulce et tutum habeo te mittere intercessorem, ut places mihi omnipotentem amicum tuum, Dominum et Creatorem meum et tuum. Scio enim, domine, et certus sum ex magnis meritis tuis quia potes; confido ex copiosa charitate quia voles; spero ex immensa misericordia judicis quia non negabit. Anxius itaque et tremens refugit ad te male conscius sibi peccator.
Vide ergo, pie Stephane, angustiam meam, et dilata super eam charitatem tuam. Ecce enim astat reus ante tremendum judicem. Accusatur multis et magnis offensis. Convincitur teste propria conscientia, et testibus oculis ipsius judicis. Bona non egit, quae male actis compenset. Nullum familiarem judicis aliquo praeterito obsequio meruit intercessorem, omnes offendendo meruit accusatores. Judex terribiliter districtus, intolerabiliter severus, immoderate offensus, vehementer iratus. Sententia ejus semel prolata immutabilis, carcer irremeabilis apertus.
In carcere tormenta immania disposita, tortores parati, ut, data sententia, damnatum ad tormenta rapiant. Tormenta sine fine, sine intervallo, sine temperamento, tortores horribiles, qui nusquam lassescunt, qui nunquam miserentur. Timor reum turbat, conscientia confundit, cogitationes increpant, fugere non licet. Sic stat suspensus ad gravissimam sententiam. Ecce miserum in angusto periculo, in periculosa angustia. Ecce hominem indigentem festino auxilio. Ubi nunc est? Nunc subveniat, qui sub pressura lapidum misertus est se lapidantium.
Nunc oret pro eo, qui apud eumdem judicem exstitit pro suis homicidis orator. Stephane, Stephane, et vere Stephane, quia vere coronate. Stephane, inquam, Stephane, en locus pietatis, en tempus misericordiae, en utique occasio exhibendae charitatis. In hoc namque periculo consisto incessanter, nisi quia non semper hoc cogito; et tunc miserior et miserabilior, cum oblivisci possum. Semper enim videt me Deus, et peccata mea; semper minatur districta justitia ejus peccatrici animae meae. Semper infernus apertus, et tormenta ejus parata, semper invisibiles insidiatores parati, ut illuc rapiant miseram animam.
Sic sum positus, cum vigilo; sic sum cum dormio, sic sum cum rideo; sic sum cum jocor; sic sum cum superbio, cum detraho; sic cum irascor, cum me vindico; sic sic sum cum delicias corporis miserabiliter amplector. Denique sic sum semper et ubique. Accelera ergo, pie, precor, accelera antequam damner, antequam me rapiant tortores, hostes humani generis, priusquam me absorbeat carcer infernalis, priusquam me consumant tormenta gehennae.
Sed o vos, o vos, peccata mea, magna estis nimis, multa estis nimis, ut merito negetur animae meae venia vestra. Scio: etiam certe, ita est, confiteor, ita est. Sed quanto gravior mea infelicitas, quanto angustior mea necessitas; tanto mirabilior erit pietas indultoris, tanto major apparebit apud indultorem gratia intercessoris. Scio satis, Domine, dilecte Dei Sephane, quia eum Deum offendi, te quoque et omnes sanctos ejus offendi. Verum tanta est necessitas mea, ut cogat me poscere subsidium etiam ab iis a quibus merui supplicium. Et tantum repleti estis tu et alii sancti illo copioso, illo inaestimabili fonte pietatis, ut delectet vos etiam eos pie liberare, quos juste potestis damnare. Magna sunt, magne Stephane, magna sunt merita tua, ut sufficere possint tibi et mihi; et si prosunt mihi, nihil tibi minuetur. Ecce coram Deo, et coram te, beate Stephane, sunt cuncta peccata mea, quae territant, quae sollicitant, quae gravant animam meam.
Dic ergo, o pie, piissimo et dilectissimo dilectori tuo, dic, Domine, ne statuas illi haec peccata. Dic, inquam, pro egeno tibi supplicante, quod dixisti pro populo te trucidante. Dicat tantum pia charitas tua; et certus sum quia remittet benignissimus Deus cuncta mala mea. Ipse enim est misericors et Creator meus, ego miser et opus ejus, tu dilectus amicus ejus qui est benedictus in saecula. Amen
Scripture echoes
- ↩Acts.7.59-Acts.7.60 — 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.
- ↩Acts.6.15 — And all who were sitting in the council fixed their eyes on him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
- ↩Matt.5.8 — Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
- ↩Luke.18.13 — But the tax collector, standing far off, was not even willing to lift his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner.'
- ↩1John.5.14-1John.5.15 — And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1John.5.15 — And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
- ↩Acts.7.59-Acts.7.60 — 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.
- ↩1Pet.5.8 — Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- ↩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.
- ↩Luke.23.34;Acts.7.60 — Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided his garments by casting lots. 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
- 1 ↩The triple 'sine' (without) construction is rendered with parallel English phrases to preserve the rhetorical force.
- 2 ↩The Latin plays on angustus/angustia (narrowness/distress); 'tight place of danger' and 'dangerous strait' attempt to preserve the wordplay's force.
- 3 ↩The relative clause refers to Stephen's prayer for his persecutors at Acts 7:59–60 (sub lapidum pressura). The reflexive 'se lapidantium' is rendered as 'those who stoned him' for clarity.
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