السيرة
Saint Stephen, whose name signifies a crown, was the first to wear the crown of martyrdom for the Lord Jesus Christ, and so the Church names him the Protomartyr. He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and he was set apart as the eldest of the seven deacons whom the holy Apostles chose to serve the tables and to care for the widows of the believers in Jerusalem. For this reason he is honored as the Archdeacon, the first servant at the altar of the New Covenant.
Filled with grace and power, Saint Stephen did great wonders and signs among the people, and he proclaimed the Gospel boldly. When the teachers of the synagogues rose up to dispute with him, they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Overcome by envy, they stirred up the people and brought him before the council, suborning false witnesses who accused him of speaking against the holy place and against the Law of Moses.
Yet as he stood among his accusers, all who sat in the council fixed their eyes upon him and saw that his face was as the face of an angel. When the high priest questioned him, Stephen opened his mouth and recounted the whole work of God, from Abraham the father of the fathers, through Moses and the giving of the Law, unto the building of the temple by Solomon. Then, with holy boldness, he rebuked them, saying: You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you. He reminded them how their fathers had slain the prophets, and how they themselves had betrayed and put to death the Just One.
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth against him. But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadfastly into heaven and beheld the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he cried out, saying: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. At this they stopped their ears, and with one accord they rushed upon him and cast him out of the city.
There they stoned the holy martyr. And as the stones fell upon him, he knelt down and prayed for his persecutors, crying with a loud voice: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Then, commending his soul to his Master, he said: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And having spoken thus, he fell asleep, and received the unfading crown which his name foretold. Among those who consented to his death was the young Saul, who guarded the garments of them that stoned him, and who afterward, by the prayers of this same martyr, became the great Apostle Paul.
Devout men buried the body of the saint with great mourning. It was secretly taken up by the teacher Gamaliel and laid in an honorable place, until in later generations, by a revelation from God, his sacred relics were uncovered and a sweet fragrance filled all that region, bringing healing to many. The Church carries his precious remains and glorifies God who is wondrous in His saints.
Saint Stephen the Archdeacon stands at the head of the noble army of martyrs, the firstfruits of those who shed their blood for the Name of Christ. The Coptic Orthodox Church commemorates his glorious martyrdom on the first day of the blessed month of Toba. Through his prayers and intercessions, may the Lord have mercy upon us. Amen.