Saint Stephen
The prose interlude of T.S. Eliot’s verse drama, Murder
in the Cathedral, is a homily given by the character Saint Thomas Becket on
Christmas day, 1170, four days before his martyrdom. He preaches, “Not only do
we at the feast of Christmas celebrate at once Our Lord’s Birth and His Death, but
on the next day we celebrate the martyrdom of His first martyr, the blessed
Stephen. Is it an accident, do you think, that the day of the first martyr
follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ? By no means. Just as we
rejoice and mourn at once, in the Birth and Passion of Our Lord; so also, in a
smaller figure, we both rejoice and mourn in the death of martyrs. We mourn,
for the sins of the world that has martyred them; we rejoice, that another soul
is numbered among the Saints in Heaven, for the glory of God and for the
salvation of men.”
In the Mass of Christmas, we have the crib, the cross, and the crown united in one unique celebration. On the feast of Our Lord’s Nativity, we celebrate the joy of His birth; however, we do so within the Mass, in which the sacrifice of Christ is made present in an unbloody manner upon the altar. Furthermore, the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is His resurrected and glorified form.
This great mystery of joy and sorrow combined is a distinctive feature of our Catholic faith. It is difficult for those outside the faith to comprehend why we see in the crucifix the symbol of the greatest love the world has ever known, or how we can find consolation in His death. When we look upon the figure of Jesus in a Christmas creche, we realize the ultimate mission of the Infant Christ was to give His life for our sins. Those who stoned Saint Stephen thought they were acting in righteousness, yet God was glorified as the protomartyr gave up his spirit. We do not mourn in the death of saints; we rejoice. We mourn only for the sins of the world.
The passion of Saint Stephen is recorded in the 7th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him… and as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7: 55-60).
Through his passion and death, Saint Stephen entered his heavenly reward.
As we celebrate the season of Christmas, we should always remember where it leads. It leads to His death on the cross, but also to His resurrection. Christmas is a perfect time to contemplate this mystery which allows us to rejoice when the world turns against us. The last words of Saint Stephen were asking God to forgive those who stoned him. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
His sacrifice and prayer were accepted by God. The last verse of Acts, Chapter 7, states “And Saul was consenting to his death.” Saul was converted while traveling to Damascus to persecute the followers of Christ. A light from heaven flashed about him, he fell to the ground, and the voice of Christ spoke to him. He became the great Apostle to the Gentiles, Saint Paul.
May we rejoice in the birth of Christ as His
passion and death are made present again in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.