The Saintly First-Marty and Archdeacon Stephan was the eldest among the
seven Deacons, ordained by the Apostles themselves. He is called
"Archdeacon". In the words of Asterias, he was "the starting
point of the martyrs, the instructor of the suffering for Christ in that
Stephan was the first to shed his blood for the Gospels."
Being filled of the Holy Spirit, the Saint, preached the Christian teaching
and defeated Jewish teachers of the law in disputation. For this the Jews
maligned St Stephan, saying that he had uttered blasphemy against God and
against Moses. Under such charges he came before the Sanhedrin and the
high-priest.
He spoke a fiery speech in which he boldly denounced the Jews for
persecuting the prophets and also the execution by them of the awaited Messiah,
Jesus Christ. During the time of his speaking, Saint Stephan suddenly saw the
heavens opened and Jesus Christ in glory, standing at the right side of God. He
exclaimed loudly about this. Then the Jews, covering over their ears, rushed
upon him, dragged him out of the city and stoned him, but the holy martyr
prayed for his murderers.
Before death Saint Stephan uttered: "Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit, wherein O Lord, impute this not to them in sin",
and then with joy he gave up his pure soul to Christ at age 30. His feast is
celebrated on the 27th of December.
This committee operates under the authority of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
