Saint Stephen Totally Explained

Everything about Saint Stephen totally explained

Saint Stephen (Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos), known as the Protomartyr (Greek: Πρωτομάρτυρας, Protomartyras) (or first martyr) of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His name means 'laurel wreath' or 'crown' in Greek.

Christian deacon

According to the Acts of the Apostles, during the early time frame of the Christian church in Jerusalem, Stephen was one of seven men, probably Hellenistic Jews, chosen to attend to the distribution of aid to elderly widows within the church community. (This role came to be known as deacon.) Stephen was also recognized for his gifts as an evangelist, preaching the teachings of Jesus to the people of Jerusalem, including members of the place of the Hellenistic synagogues.

Theophany

As he was on trial and being prosecuted, Saint Stephen experienced a . His theophany was unique in that he saw both the Father and the Son: ť "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."

St. Stephen's Day

In Western Christianity, December 26, the "feast of Stephen" referred to in the Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslas, is called "St. Stephen's Day"; it's a public holiday in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Republika Srpska, England and Wales, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Finland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In Catalonia (though not elsewhere in Spain) it's called "Sant Esteve" and is a bank holiday. It is called "Saint Étienne" in France, where it's a bank holiday in the Alsace-Moselle region (but not elsewhere). December 26 is also a holiday in Ligao City, Philippines, which celebrates fiesta in honor of St. Stephen Protomartyr, its patron saint.
   In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, his feast day is celebrated on December 27 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, December 27 currently falls on January 9 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). This day is also called the Third Day of the Nativity.
   Another feast day, the Invention of the Relics of St. Stephen—"Invention", from the Latin inventio, meaning "discovery"—was historically kept in the Western Church on August 3, commemorating the finding of his relics during the reign of Emperor Honorius.
   The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Translation of the Relics of Protomartyr Stephen on August 2 (August 15). The feast celebrates the discovery of Stephen's relics in 415, after which they were solemnly transferred to a church built in his honor in Jerusalem. Later, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) they were translated to Constantinople. persecuted for talking against the word of god

Cult of Saint Stephen

Many churches are named in honor of Saint Stephen, but there was no official "Tomb of St. Stephen" until 415. When Christian pilgrims were traveling in large numbers to Jerusalem, a priest named Lucian said he'd learned by a vision that the tomb was in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. Gregory of Tours reports that the intercession of Stephen preserved an oratory dedicated to him at Metz, in which his relics were preserved when the Huns burned the entire city, leaving only the oratory standing, Easter eve, 451 (Historia Francorum ii.6

In popular culture

The Grateful Dead released the song "Saint Stephen" on the album Aoxomoxoa in 1969. Performed in many concerts over the years, it isn't clear how much the lyrics relate to the actual life of the saint.

Commemorative places

In Rome - Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls where his remains are interred with those of the eponymous saint under the altar
In Toronto, Canada - "St. Stephen's Community House"
In East Jerusalem - St. Steven's Church
In the old city of Jerusalem - the "Lions' Gate" is also called St. Stephanus Gate, after the tradition that Stephen's stoning occurred here, though it probably occurred at Damascus Gate (External Link)
In the village of Kafarbe, southeast Turkey - 'Mor Stephanus Church
In London - "St Stephen's Chapel" in the Palace of Westminster was originally built in the reign of King Henry III and eventually became the first location of the debating chamber of the House of Commons
In Dublin - St. Stephen's Green
In Croghan - St. Stephen's Church
In Manila, Philippines - St. Stephen's Parish (established by the American Episcopal Mission to the Philippines in 1903) and St. Stephen's High School
In Vienna, Austria - Stephansdom, Cathedral of St. Stephen, founded 1147 and seat of Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna. Symbol of the city of Vienna and of Austria, has tallest spire in all of Austria

Further Information

Get more info on 'Saint Stephen'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://saint_stephen.totallyexplained.com">Saint Stephen Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.