Stephen's
name means "crown," and he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the
martyr's crown. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian Church. The apostles had found
that they needed helpers to look after the care of the widows and the poor. So they
ordained seven deacons, and Stephen is the most famous of these. God worked many miracles through St. Stephen, and he spoke with
such wisdom and grace that many of his hearers became followers of Jesus. The enemies of
the Church of Jesus were furious to see how successful Stephen's preaching was. At last,
they laid a plot for him. They could not answer his wise argument, so they got men to lie
about him, saying that he had spoken sinfully against God. St. Stephen faced that great
assembly of enemies without fear. In fact, the Holy Bible says that his face looked like
the face of an angel.
The saint spoke about Jesus, showing that He is
the Savior God had promised to send. He scolded his enemies for not having believed in
Jesus. At that, they rose up in great anger and shouted at him. But Stephen looked up to
Heaven and said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God.
His hearers plugged their ears and refused to
listen to another word. They dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned
him to death. The saint prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he fell to
his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him. After such an
expression of love, the holy martyr went to his heavenly reward.
