Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ; the Holy Apostle, First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen; Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theodore the “Branded One” (844).
A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Acts 6:8-7:5,47-60; Matthew 21:33-42
Read Acts 6:8-7:5,47-60
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
On the third day of the feast of Nativity—Christmas— we commemorate the first Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen. We commemorate him as the fruit and first witness of the Incarnation. He gave his life for the Lord in the year 34 A.D. when he was stoned to death by the Jews. Tradition says that the Theotokos & St. John the Theologian witnessed the stoning.
Through the Incarnation of the Son of God human life is elevated to the heavens and our potential is now defined not by the first Adam—who brought sin into the world and separated us from life with God—but by Christ Jesus the perfect and new Adam who unites us with the Father. The presence of Jesus abiding in St. Stephen is witnessed by Divine grace, power of the Holy Spirit, Divine wisdom, zeal for the truth of the Gospel, courage in the face of opposition, forgiveness in the face of persecution, Christ-like love in the face of hatred and the gift of eternal life in the face of death. These are the fruits of the Incarnation of the Divine Word of God. These fruits are accessible to each of us through Christ dwelling in us by the power of the Holy Spirit unto the glory of the one God and Father.