🎶Introit (Ps 118: 23, 86 and 1)
Sedérunt príncipes, et advérsum me loquebántur: et iníqui persecúti sunt me: ádjuva me, Dómine, Deus meus, quia servus tuus exercebátur in tuis justificatiónibus. Ps. Beati immaculáti in via, qui ámbulant in lege Dómini.
Princes sat, and spoke against me: and the wicked persecuted me: help me, O Lord my God, for thy servant was employed in thy justifications. Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
📜Epistle (Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59)
In those days, Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people. Now there arose some of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke. Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they, crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. And casting him forth out of the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord.
🕊️Gospel (Mt 23: 34-39)
At that time, Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees: Behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
🔥The Charity that Conquers Death in the Blood of the Protomartyr
💎Today's liturgy places the crib of Bethlehem and the blood of Jerusalem in close connection, revealing that the birth of Christ is the seed of martyrdom. While we celebrate the Word made flesh, the Protomartyr Stephen teaches us that love for God requires the totality of one's being, including the forgiveness of enemies. Charity is Stephen's weapon, for with it he overcame the cruelty of his persecutors and won for the Church its future Apostle of the Gentiles. Saint Augustine observes that if Stephen had not prayed, the Church would not have Paul (Sermon 315, on Saint Stephen). This mystical interconnection between sacrifice and grace is the heart of the Mystery of the Incarnation: Christ descends so that man may ascend; Stephen dies so that eternal life may be manifested. As the Roman Catechism teaches, martyrdom is the supreme proof of charity, and in Stephen we see the perfect fulfillment of the evangelical exhortation to love those who hate us. Upon seeing the heavens opened and Jesus at the right hand of the Father, as reported in the Acts of the Apostles, the martyr contemplates the immediate reward of those who do not love their own lives in this world. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe emphasizes that love was the ladder by which Stephen ascended to heaven, for the charity that led him to preach to the Jews was the same that made him intercede for his executioners (Sermon 3, on Saint Stephen). In the Gospel, Christ laments over Jerusalem, but in Stephen, the new spiritual Jerusalem begins to be built through the blood of the righteous which, united to the sacrifice of the Altar, purifies the Church and strengthens the faithful for spiritual combat.
🗓️See English version of the critical articles here.
📜Epistle (Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59)
In those days, Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people. Now there arose some of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke. Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they, crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. And casting him forth out of the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord.
🕊️Gospel (Mt 23: 34-39)
At that time, Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees: Behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
🔥The Charity that Conquers Death in the Blood of the Protomartyr
💎Today's liturgy places the crib of Bethlehem and the blood of Jerusalem in close connection, revealing that the birth of Christ is the seed of martyrdom. While we celebrate the Word made flesh, the Protomartyr Stephen teaches us that love for God requires the totality of one's being, including the forgiveness of enemies. Charity is Stephen's weapon, for with it he overcame the cruelty of his persecutors and won for the Church its future Apostle of the Gentiles. Saint Augustine observes that if Stephen had not prayed, the Church would not have Paul (Sermon 315, on Saint Stephen). This mystical interconnection between sacrifice and grace is the heart of the Mystery of the Incarnation: Christ descends so that man may ascend; Stephen dies so that eternal life may be manifested. As the Roman Catechism teaches, martyrdom is the supreme proof of charity, and in Stephen we see the perfect fulfillment of the evangelical exhortation to love those who hate us. Upon seeing the heavens opened and Jesus at the right hand of the Father, as reported in the Acts of the Apostles, the martyr contemplates the immediate reward of those who do not love their own lives in this world. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe emphasizes that love was the ladder by which Stephen ascended to heaven, for the charity that led him to preach to the Jews was the same that made him intercede for his executioners (Sermon 3, on Saint Stephen). In the Gospel, Christ laments over Jerusalem, but in Stephen, the new spiritual Jerusalem begins to be built through the blood of the righteous which, united to the sacrifice of the Altar, purifies the Church and strengthens the faithful for spiritual combat.
🗓️See English version of the critical articles here.