By Bishop Grigorios of Measoria
Today’s day is dedicated to the memory of the First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, who was stoned to death about three years after the Ascension of the Lord.
Saint Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew and belonged to the group of the seven deacons selected by the Apostles to carry out the charity work of the first Christian community of Jerusalem.
According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was a man filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. He preached with boldness and performed many great wonders. His action caused the animosity of the Judean priesthood, for they failed to understand and accept the ecumenical dimension and the liberating content of Christ’s preaching to every human being, and especially to those who had been wronged.
The First Martyr Stephen was considered a blasphemer and a denier of Judaism, for he declared, even before the Sanhedrin (great assembly), that Moses and the Mosaic Law, as well as all the Prophets and the Righteous of the Old Testament, were not carriers of salvation, but prepared the way for the coming of the true Savior, who is Christ.
Imitating His love, and dedicating himself to Him, he forgave his murderers, begging the Triune God not to impute to them the sin they had committed.
Source: Church of Cyprus
