Stephen (First Martyr)
The character of St. Stephen , first martyr of Christianity - or appears to be the origin of the cult of saints.
Its name comes from the Greek (Stephanos), "crowned" or, according to Jacques de Voragine in The Golden Legend , the Hebrew word for "norm". This name is also taken more faithful English (Stephen) or Dutch (Stefan).
Feast: Dec. 26 in the West, December 27 in the East and even the August 2 (translation of his relics) in the East and West.
Summary |
First Deacon
Stephen appears in Acts , Chapter 6, which is presented as a Jewish Hellenist to become deacons which assist the apostles.
"In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing and the Hellenists began to grumble against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily service. The twelve then convened the Plenary of the disciples and said: "It is not appropriate for us to neglect the word of God to serve tables. Instead, look among you, brethren, seven men of good repute, full of spirit and wisdom, and we take care of this function. As for us, we will continue to provide prayer and service of the Word. This proposal was approved by all the assembly is selected Stephen, a man full of faith and Holy Spirit, Philip , Prochorus , Nicanor , Timon , Parmenas and Nicolas , a proselyte of Antioch; they appeared to the apostles, we they prayed and laid hands on. "
- Acts , 6, 1-6
Scholar and dialectician
According to the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen performs "remarkable wonders and signs among the people" ( Acts , 6, 8). Scholar, he makes light of a debate taking place in the synagogue of the Freedmen, Shrine of the descendants of Jews taken into slavery by Pompey and released .
Before the Sanhedrin , it confronts Stephen with witnesses who accuse him of four blasphemies : against God , against Moses , against the law and against the Temple of Jerusalem , a holy place. Dialectician, tienne exonerate these accusations by summarizing the history of Israel , in which he first presents a triple praise the God of glory, then he praises Moses for his enthusiasm, his miracles and the quality of its access to God, he also rents tripling the Act - which comes from God, is transmitted by Moses and gives life, and finally Stephen praises the Temple, commanded by God and built by Solomon. ( Acts , 7, 2-50).
Stoning of Stephen
But the speech of Stephen, implementing rhetoric hitherto difficult to criticize the Sanhedrin, suddenly changes direction, a movement that biographers describe as fraternal correction - vital concept of medieval Christianity, and violently attacked the meeting of the Sanhedrin, accusing the judges the hardness of their hearts and the killing of the saints . Arrested men as "stiff neck", "uncircumcised" in their hearts and ears, all threw themselves on him, dragged him outside the walls of Jerusalem and stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus, later converted beatified and covered with glory under the name Paul , keep the clothes of the murderers and then approves the killing. ( Acts , 7, 54-60).
According Voragine , stoning took place "the year of the Lord's Ascension, the following August, at the beginning of the third day."
Stephen thaumaturge
The later writings of Stephen in Acts are a true miracle worker. In particular, St. Augustine , in City of God , tell many miracles of the martyr, stories found in many hagiographies of the Middle Ages , including Jacques de Voragine , Jean de Mailly or Vincent of Beauvais. So it is with flowers that were laid on the altar of St. Stephen and then applied to patients who miraculously healed. So is it also Pattern Makers lady, gravely ill, who consults a day a Jew who gives him a ring adorned with a stone to be worn. The talisman, however, his condition improves. In desperation, Pattern Makers took refuge in the church of Saint-Etienne she implored earnestly. The ring slips down and she is healed.
The cult of Stephen
"Devout men buried Stephen and made him a splendid funeral" ( Acts , 8, 2). In the East as West, the figure of Stephen is a great place for early Christian communities and plays an important role in the division with the progressive Judaism and the rise of anti-Jewish Christian.
In 415 ( 417 according Voragine ), the martyr's body was discovered by a man named Lucien, priest Caphar-Gamal, who had the revelation of its location in a dream. Bishop John of Jerusalem have carried solemnly to the translation of the body of the martyr to the church of Mount Zion in Jerusalem on 26 December 415. Bishop Juvenal , successor of John, began construction of a basilica in Jerusalem in order to gather the remains of St. Stephen. Work is resumed in 438 under the impetus of the Empress Eudoxia (Eudocia), wife of Theodosius II. The remains of the martyr are transferred into the new basilica, which will be also completed twenty years later, during the dedication ceremony for St. Cyril , Patriarch of Alexandria, on 15 May 439. The current basilica was built at the site of the old project by the Dominicans in the late nineteenth century.
Miscellaneous
His party, the December 26 , mainly because it is the day after Christmas is a holiday in Alsace - Moselle and in other European countries like Germany or Austria , and in Catalonia (but not in the rest of Spain).
He gave his name to the town of Saint-Etienne in the Loire , and seventy-two other French towns, excluding Occitan forms such as Saint-Estephe and Saint-Esteve.
He gave his name to many churches, whose origin is often very old ( Brie-Comte-Robert , Lille -first-parish ...).
In Florence, he has been since the Middle Ages, the patron saint of the Arte della Lana , the "corporation of Wool" and his statue is in a niche of Orsanmichele.
Links
Sources
Extracts of the Acts of the Apostles come from the ecumenical translation of the Bible (NIV), published by Le Cerf, second edition, 1986. The extracts in Greek from the site of the University of British Columbia, The New Testament & The Septuagint. Details and valuable information comes from the critical apparatus integrated publishing The Golden Legend of Jacques de Voragine in the Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, edited by Alain Boureau.
References
- The Jewish Hellenists had lived outside Palestine. They had their own synagogues in Jerusalem, where we read the Bible in Greek.
- "(...) " Andras ex Humon marturomnous hept plreis pneumatosis kai sophias
- intervened So people called the synagogue of the Freedmen, the Cyrenians, the Alexandrians and others from Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen, but they were not strong enough to stand up to the wisdom and the Spirit which made him talk. ( Acts , 6, 9-10)
- Jacques de Voragine , The Golden Legend , Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, Gallimard, 2004, published under the direction of Alain Boureau, page 64.
- " (...)" Sklerotrcheloi kai pertmetoi ...
Loading ...