Feast of St. Stephen

     After the death and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles went about preaching the good news. As Christian communities grew, there arose a need to care for widows and the poor in the name of the community. The apostles, being busy with preaching, asked the communities to recommend seven men to serve the poor. Stephen was one of those seven; the apostles laid hands on them and ordained them as the first deacons.
     Stephen spoke about the faith with great wisdom and eloquence, and he was successful in winning many to Christianity. Enemies of the Church were angry that he was converting others and they tried to argue with him, but it didn’t work. They then found someone to lie and charge him with blasphemy.
     He was taken to face a great assembly, and he remained calm and collected and defended his faith, claiming that Jesus is Son of God and fulfillment of God’s promises. He even scolded his opponents for their refusal to see the truth.
     At that, they all became incensed and they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Stephen remained faithful to the end, crying out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He knelt and begged God to forgive those who were killing him.
     St. Paul was among the crowd who opposed Stephen and witnessed his martyrdom. A number of Stephen’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. His relics also rest in the main altar of the Basilica.
     St. Stephen, first to die for his faith in Jesus, pray for us!

(From FaithND

http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=10813)