First Martyr Stephen

On the third day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Stephen. This is a very ancient and important feast.

In Western Christianity, the memory of Stephen is commemorated on the second day of Christmas, while in Orthodoxy it is on the third. The reason for this is the celebration of the “Synaxis of the Mother of God,” when in the Middle Ages in Constantinople, on the second day of Christmas, the patriarch would go to Blachernae — to the church of Mary in Blachernae — for a particularly solemn liturgy.

Saint Stephen is called the “first martyr.” We do not know who was the first to be killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. Among the Twelve Apostles, it was, for example, Saint James, but in the Acts of the Apostles Stephen is described as the first martyr.

The word “martyr” literally means “witness.” According to Revelation (3:14), Jesus became the Witness of the Father. According to Acts, the disciples of Jesus became witnesses of Jesus himself. Stephen was the first among them, and this is extremely important.

Stephen was killed by the Sanhedrin. The sixth chapter of Acts, consisting of many verses, is entirely devoted to the description of his trial.

We do not know the details of the trial of Jesus, which is described very briefly in the Gospels. The trial of Stephen, as described in Acts, represents an attempt to recreate, in a literal sense, the scene of the trial of Jesus. The only difference is that in the Gospels the Teacher is on trial, while here it is the disciple who bears witness in His favor before the court.

Stephen was stoned to death. Paul was among his killers. He held the garments of those who were stoning him, similar to how the soldiers at the cross of Jesus cast lots for His garments.

Like Jesus on the cross, Stephen prayed for his killers.

The early Church was convinced that it was Stephen’s prayer, the intercession of the martyr, that granted Paul the gift of faith in God. Paul soon believed in Jesus, began preaching, and became the greatest missionary of all time.

This theology was developed in detail by the Church Father Saint Augustine (354–430). “The prayer of Stephen gave Paul to the Church,” he proclaimed.

Stephen was the first person after Pentecost to experience a Christological theophany. He saw the heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.

It was precisely these words from Acts that led to Stephen’s execution by the Sanhedrin. They also became a Christian dogma in the strict sense and are repeatedly recited by Orthodox Christians in the Creed.

Let us pronounce them with caution, reverence, and awe. Saint Stephen, the first martyr, is a dogmatic saint. In this sense, there are hardly any others like him.