Saint Stephen

Originally one of the seven deacons or "servers" chosen to assist the Apostles, Stephen, d. AD c.36, became an important preacher and the first Christian martyr. According to Acts 6-7, Stephen's charge before the Sanhedrin that the Jews had persistently disobeyed God so enraged his Jewish audience that they stoned him to death. Parallels drawn with the crucifixion of Jesus make the story of Stephen's death important in Christian tradition. Feast day: Dec. 27 (East); Dec. 26 (West).

Bibliography
Simon, Marcel, St. Stephen and the Hellenists in the Primitive Church (1958).

Stephen

Stephen was one of the seven deacons, who became a preacher of the gospel. He was the first Christian martyr. His personal character and history are recorded in Acts 6. "He fell asleep" with a prayer for his persecutors on his lips (7:60). Devout men carried him to his grave (8:2). It was at the feet of the young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, that those who stoned him laid their clothes (comp. Deut. 17:5-7) before they began their cruel work. The scene which Saul then witnessed and the words he heard appear to have made a deep and lasting impression on his mind (Acts 22: 19, 20). The speech of Stephen before the Jewish ruler is the first apology for the universalism of the gospel as a message to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. It is the longest speech contained in the Acts, a place of prominence being given to it as a defence.

(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)