TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS OF THE PROTOMARTYR STEPHEN

On August 15 (2), the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the translation of the relics of the first martyr and archdeacon Stephen. This event, which is now perceived as just one of the memories in the liturgical calendar, was of enormous significance for the entire Christian history.

The fact is that in the Ancient Church the episcopal sees of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch had primacy. They were considered the main ones because they were founded by the Apostles, and therefore were called “apostolic”. It was believed that the dogmatical and moral truth should remain intact in them.

The Church of Jerusalem was, of course, originally apostolic. But in the face of the impending destruction of the Holy City by the Romans in the year 70, the apostolic community left the city and began its long wanderings.

The new capital of the Roman Empire, the City of Constantinople was founded in 330. Therefore, he could not lay claim to apostolic status. Both bishops, Jerusalem and Constantinople, were formally subordinate to the hierarchs of neighboring metropolises.

In our time, the memory of St. Stephen is solemnly celebrated by the Church on the third day after Christmas, and his summer commemoration passes unnoticed. In the Ancient Church, the veneration of Stephen was much more obvious. Stephen’s suffering is described in detail in the Book of Acts. According to the conviction of the Church Fathers, in particular St Augustine (354–430), it was his prayer that led the Apostle Paul to faith. His suffering for the faith from his fellow tribesmen, in the image of the Lord Himself, became the normative norm for determining what Christian holiness was subsequently to become.

According to the Book of Acts, at the Sanhedrin Court the judges saw Stephen’s face as the Face of an Angel. This means that the Risen Christ revealed Himself in him (Acts 6:15). In fact, Stephen is the first Christian saint in history. He is the prototype in the entire subsequent history of Christian righteousness. Tradition refers to Stephen as the “Protomartyr”.

In 415, the relics of Stephen were found in Palestine and transferred to Jerusalem. In accordance with the perception of Christians of that time, such a discovery of relics was a significant testimony from above in favor of establishing the authority of the Jerusalem Church.

At that time, relics were not acquired or transferred “just like that.” This had to be preceded by an order from above, the event had to be accompanied by visible signs. Let us remember that a much later change in this practice and the actual profanation and even commercialization of handling the relics of saints later became one of the reasons for the Reformation and split Western Christianity into Catholicism and Protestantism.

In fact, and this is very important, in the perception of Christians of that time, it was not the transfer of the relics that took place, but the Translation of St Stephen. The saint entered Jerusalem, from which, like the Lord Jesus, he had previously been lawlessly expelled, to be stoned (cf. Acts 7:58).

After about twelve years, a very symbolic biblical number, the relics of Stephen were transferred to Constantinople in 428. For contemporaries, primarily bishops, and Emperor Theodosius II the Younger (408–450), this transfer served as a colossal argument in favor of the fact that from now on Jerusalem and Constantinople were to be equated with the Churches founded by the Apostles themselves. In 451 this happened at the IV Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon.

Let us remember that around the same time, in 448, the relics of the Apostle Barnabas were found in Cyprus. For the Universal Church, this served as important proof that the Church of Cyprus was of apostolic origin, and therefore its archbishop had to be supplied not from Antioch, but from the local Church itself. This forgotten “summertime holiness” celebration in honor of St. Stephen recalls a time when the Wood of the Cross was visibly large in the Universe and the veneration of saints determined the course of history.