Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr

Take Note of St. Stephen's Liturgical Rainment

Edit: some interesting aspects of this great feast which might escape notice.  From an entry by Catholic Encyclopedia.  Some will even note that this great feast will feature vestments of crimson to commemorate the Deacon's martyrdom:

The conflict broke out when the cavillers of the synagogues "of the Libertines, and of the Cyreneans, and of theAlexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia", who had challenged Stephen to a dispute, came out completely discomfited (vi, 9 10); wounded pride so inflamed their hatred that they suborned false witnesses to testify that "they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God" (vi, 11). 

No charge could be more apt to rouse the mob; the anger of the ancients and the scribes had been already kindled from the first reports of the preaching of the Apostles. Stephen was arrested, not without some violence it seems (the Greek word synerpasan implies so much), and dragged before the Sanhedrin, where he was accused of saying that "Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [the temple], and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us" (vi, 12 14). No doubt Stephen had by his language given some grounds for the accusation; his accusers apparently twisted into the offensive utterance attributed to him a declaration that "the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands" (vii, 48), some mention of Jesus foretelling the destruction of the Temple and some inveighing against the burthensometraditions fencing about the Law, or rather the asseveration so often repeated by the Apostles that "there is no salvationin any other" (cf. iv, 12) the Law not excluded but Jesus. However this may be, the accusation left him unperturbed and "all that sat in the council...saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel" (vi, 15). 

Stephen's answer (Acts 7) was a long recital of the mercies of God towards Israel during its long history and of the ungratefulness by which, throughout, Israel repaid these mercies. This discourse contained many things unpleasant toJewish ears; but the concluding indictment for having betrayed and murdered the Just One whose coming the Prophetshad foretold, provoked the rage of an audience made up not of judges, but of foes. When Stephen "looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God", and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (vii, 55), they ran violently upon him (vii, 56) and cast him out of the city to stone him to death. Stephen's stoning does not appear in the narrative of the Acts as adeed of mob violence; it must have been looked upon by those who took part in it as the carrying out of the law. According to law (Leviticus 24:14), or at least its usual interpretation, Stephen had been taken out of the city; customrequired that the person to be stoned be placed on an elevation from whence with his hands bound he was to be thrown down. It was most likely while these preparations were going on that, "falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (vii, 59). Meanwhile the witnesses, whose hands must be first on theperson condemned by their testimony (Deuteronomy 17:7), were laying down their garments at the feet of Saul, that they might be more ready for the task devolved upon them (vii, 57). The praying martyr was thrown down; and while the witnesses were thrusting upon him "a stone as much as two men could carry", he was heard to utter this supremeprayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (vii, 58). Little did all the people present, casting stones upon him, realize that the blood they shed was the first seed of a harvest that was to cover the world. 

The bodies of men stoned to death were to be buried in a place appointed by the Sanhedrin. Whether in this instance the Sanhedrin insisted on its right cannot be affirmed; at any rate, "devout men" — whether Christians or Jews, we are not told — "took order for Stephen's funeral, and made great mourning over him" (vii, 2). For centuries the location of St. Stephen's tomb was lost sight of, until (415) a certain priest named Lucian learned by revelation that the sacred body was in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. The relics were then exhumed and carried first to thechurch of Mount Sion, then, in 460, to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place (the opinion that the scene of St. Stephen's martyrdom was east ofJerusalem, near the Gate called since St. Stephen's Gate, is unheard of until the twelfth century). The site of the Eudocian basilica was identified some twenty years ago, and a new edifice has been erected on the old foundations by the Dominican Fathers.

St. Stephen's Skull Imprisoned in Evil Dominican Reliquary

Edit: remember the film "Prince of Darkness" where the Catholic Church is the steward of an alien artifact that is a portal of evil forces bent on destroying humanity?

Well, the Dominican Museum of Dubrovnik has introduced a reliquary that looks just as evil, which imprisons the head of St. Stephen. Didymus at the Toma Blizanac blog from Croatia has just posted about this modernist statement.

Why do Dominicans have a museum anyway. These things don't belong in museums, a thing of the 1789 Revolution, but in a Church for the veneration of the people

Pope Francis' Angelus for 26 December -- St. Stephen and the True Meaning of Christmas: Bethlehem and Golgotha

 Francis: Religious freedom is often not realized in countries as they are guaranteed on paper. Persecution and discrimination: for a testimony. On the civilian level they need to be identified and eliminated.

By Armin Schwibach Rome (kath.net / as) Angelus on the Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr. The Bible presents him as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (cf. Acts 6:5), said Pope Francis in his address before praying the Angelus, who was commissioned and worked with others for the service of the widows and poor of the first community of Jerusalem. Stephen died as Jesus and asked for forgiveness for his murderers (cf. 7.55 to 60).

In the atmosphere of Christmas full of joy, it might seem that this commemoration is somehow out of place, the Pope said. In the optics of faith, however, the feast of St. Stephen is in harmony with the deep meaning of Christmas. In martyrdom, "violence is defeated by love, death by life." The Church sees in the sacrifice of the martyrs their "birth to heaven." So we are celebrating today the "Baby Shower" of Stephen, of the Nativity of Christ which springs from the depths. "Jesus turned the death of those who love him as the dawn of new life."

In the martyrdom of Stephen, the same struggle between good and evil , between hatred and forgiveness, between gentleness and violence, which had its climax on the cross of Christ is represented. Thus the memory of the first martyr dispels the false picture of Christmas: "The fabulous and sweet image that does not exist in the Gospel." Liturgy brings out the real meaning of the Incarnation by connecting Bethlehem with Golgotha ​​and thus it recalls that the divine healing is encompassed in the fight against sin and goes through the narrow door of the Cross: "This is the way Jesus has clearly shown his disciples, how the gospel is testified today, ' And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved."(Matt. 10:22).

Therefore Francis called for prayers especially for the persecuted Christians: "Let us be close to these brothers and sisters who have been, like Saint Stephen, unjustly accused and are the object of violence of various kinds. "The Pope was convinced that today there are more martyrs than in the first centuries of Christianity.

This takes place especially where freedom of religion is not yet guaranteed or fully realized, however, this also in countries and areas, which protects the freedom and human rights on paper, but in which the faithful and particularly the Christians encounter de facto restrictions and discrimination. Francis called the faithful in St. Peter's Square to to pray in silence for the persecuted Christians, and closed this prayer with a "Hail Mary". For the Christian, "it is no wonder, since Jesus had announced this as an opportunity to give testimony. Nevertheless, injustices must be exposed and eliminated eliminated on a civil level."

"Mary, Queen of Martyrs," the Pope concluded, "help to live Christmas with that fervor of faith, which shines in St. Stephen and all the martyrs of the Church". Link to kath.net...

Pope Condemns Calumny: Victims of Persecution by the Sanhedrin Yesterday and Today

Protomartyr

Edit: in today’s address, the Holy Father addresses one of the first victims of the Sanhedrin’s persecution of Catholics, St. Stephen, protomartyr and the sin of calumny, as if he could be addressing the false accusations of anti-Semitism. It’s interesting that there are many who wring their hands over these allegations, when a Christian is martyred every five to ten minutes for his faith, where Muslims are baptized in secrecy. Indeed, it’s very hard not to take the Holy Father’s words in any but the most encouraging ways. Here they are from Zenit:

[Zenit]Drawing from the First Reading account of Stephen, the first martyr, being dragged before the Sanhedrin, Pope Francis today strongly condemned the sin of calumny.

At his customary morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Holy Father noted that Stephen was accused of "false witness," and that his enemies chose "the path of calumny.”

Vatican Radio reported on the Holy Father's homily, noting that Francis described calumny as worse than sin and a direct expression of Satan.

"We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more. Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead. And let us be in no doubt, eh?: Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself," he said.

Link to Zenit…

 It’s persecution like this which not only brings to mind martyrs of the past, the very first martyrs who fell victim to the Sanhedrin, but those martyrs of the recent past:



And it so happens that even the leadership of the Church raises a hand against its own champions, in order to shame them and destroy them if possible in an autolesionistic festering. How obedient and eager to serve Roman Catholic Faithful was back in 1997 when Father Paul Marx was unjustly accused of hating Jews:

We reject in the strongest possible terms any suggestion that HLI is anti-Semitic. The allegations of "bigotry" and "anti-Semitism," made by members of the chancery staff and by the news media against HLI are serious and defamatory.

We are deeply saddened that Archbishop Harry Flynn has reneged on his previous commitment to HLI and to Father Paul Marx to celebrate the opening Mass of our international conference of pro-life leaders.

We hold Archbishop Flynn in highest regard. Even as recently as February 24, 1997, we received a warm letter of welcome from him, which included high praise for Fr. Marx. Therefore, we wholeheartedly believe that his actions today are out of character and that he has been ill-advised and ill-served by members of his staff.

Furthermore, we deplore the manner in which this matter has been handled. Since November, we have repeatedly contacted the chancery to request a meeting between the Archbishop and any one of the members of our Board of Directors, all Catholic priests. These requests were repeatedly denied.

Then, upon receipt of false, inflammatory and defamatory information about HLI, rather than communicate directly with our office, the chancery communicated with us through the media, with a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Holy Thursday, casting aspersions on the integrity of Fr. Marx and HLI. This news report went statewide. Continuously, our requests to speak with the Archbishop have been denied.

At the same time however, it is evident that a "dialogue" has been conducted between members of the chancery bureaucracy and groups that oppose HLI and the pro-life cause. It is emphatically clear that such groups have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with "interfaith cooperation." Has ecumenism come to mean abandoning one's own to the lies and calumny of the pro-abortion opposition?

One only need to examine the past — the HLI 1995 World Conference in Montreal for example — to see the well-orchestrated campaign against HLI, which has as its genesis a 1994 report about HLI by Planned Parenthood.

The charge of anti-Semitism is a smokescreen to hide the real agenda of the Culture of Death that HLI meets at World Conferences: Planned Parenthood, the Fight the Right Coalition, Refuse and Resist, Love and Rage, radical feminists, radical gay activists and anarchists.

The Archbishop has been deceived.

PRO-LIFE RABBI REFUTES HLI's JEWISH CRITICS

Front Royal, VA — Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Jewish Advisor to Human Life International expressed his extreme dismay at allegations of anti-Semitism made by the American Jewish Congress against HLI Founder and Chairman, Father Paul Marx.

"I've been involved with Father Marx in furthering protection for unborn Jewish babies in Israel and North America for more than ten years. Father Marx is providing seed money to mobilize public support for Jewish pro-life efforts. What kind of Anti-Semite does this?" said Levin.

Rabbi Levin pointed out the close working relationship that Fr. Marx has with other Jewish leaders such as Midge Dector, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Norman Kurland and Dr. Judith Reisman. He also noted that for the past two years Fr. Marx has spearheaded interfaith cooperation with the Jewish community by signing the Judeo Christian Pro-Life Alliance, a document that binds both groups to work on behalf of the unborn of all faiths: Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

"I agree with my Jewish colleague Midge Dector, former contributing editor to Commentary magazine, that 'the charge of anti-Semitism has become, alas, a sinfully cheapened currency, and we feel that it is long since time to put a stop to its...tendentious circulation.'"

"Many secular Jews tend to be overwhelmingly liberal, even supporting abortion on demand. Why else would B'nai Brith or the American Jewish Congress or other such organizations not take a stand on saving the lives of pre-born babies, Jewish or non-Jewish" Levin added.

Rabbi Levin concluded with an invitation to members of the American Jewish Congress to join Human Life International's efforts to protect unborn Jewish babies and support their mothers.

Link to source at Roman Catholic Faithful…

 Image taken from here...