(Act. 6, 15). Let us crown the athlete Stephen, the first of Christ’s athletes, and plant the seed of the word. And so, he was numbered among the choir of the apostles, and among the disciples of piety; he surpassed all men in gentleness, and was outstanding in kindness; and he was not so much stung by his own labors as by the labors of others, and he considered his neighbor’s need his own, and concerned himself with another’s burden as though it were his own A. In the first preaching of the word, when faith was flourishing greatly, those with wealth were immediately setting down their burden of money, while the needy were receiving what was lacking. Such a beautiful harmony and order had a steward in Stephen; he had poverty as his patron and advocate, and wealth as his charioteer. The power of the Spirit rested upon him, and grace had his man as its own home. Let us, therefore, beloved, praise with the proto-martyr Stephen the One who bestows crowns, the holy and consubstantial Trinity, for to Him belongs glory, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ON SAINT STEPHEN III
Many and wondrous are the trophies of the blessed Stephen, and even death did not tear him away from the pious rank. For while he lived he fought against the Jews, and though dead he is armed against the heretics, having as an indomitable weapon the faith of the Trinity. And look at the phalanxes of the adversaries at that time, and be astonished at the fortitude of the soldier. The Alexandrians attacked, and the Libertines pelted him; the Cilicians and Asians besieged him; they dragged him into the council; they hired false witnesses; they prepared a great hailstorm of stones, and like lions they gnashed their teeth against him B. Nevertheless, the soldier, armed with wisdom and the Spirit, conquered; by the radiance of his form he struck those who looked upon him, and by his words he enervated the God-fighters. But did you see the ranks of your enemies? Look again also at the divine assistance: He opened the arches of the heavens, shaking out the rewards of the prizes to the athlete, decking his face with angelic form, and repelling the hailstorm of stones with the hail of his words; and some were throwing, but others were bringing, and offering the crown to Stephen. Look, therefore, even now, and you shall see the kinship of the trophies. Then he pleaded at the voice of the cross, and now Stephen is the crown of the Church; for he was the first to tread upon the stings of death. A crown in the royal palace; for the Queen and Virgin housed him. A crown among princes; for he has made the son of the King who showed him hospitality a father. A crown in love for the poor; for he became a wealthy and faithful steward of widows and orphans. A crown against the Jews; for he denounced the synagogue adulterated by the worship of idols. A crown against the heretics; for he stops the mouths of the God-fighters, shouting, *Great is the Lord our God*. Great; for he is not subject to the measure of a tongue. Great; for he surpasses the grasp of the mind. Great; for the uncircumscribed is proper to the divine nature. Great; for he rose from the paternal bosom without beginning. Great; for as the Word he was born without passion. Great; for the divine birth did not divide the substance. Great; for he sits upon the throne, and has not been cast down to the footstool C. Great; for such as the root is, such is the branch. Great; for he who has seen the Son has seen the Father. Great; for there is nothing unequal in the Trinity. Great; for through water he has regenerated many. Great; for being seen he does not grow old. Great; for he had no small Father. Great, therefore, is the Lord the Son, even if he does not seem so to the neighbors. The Son is Almighty; for all things were made through him. The Son is a King without beginning; for our King is before the ages. The Son is consubstantial with the Father; *For I came forth from God and have arrived*. The Son is the true light; *For I am the light of the world*. Why do I say much? He is God and Almighty, the Son of God who was incarnate from the Virgin, and who shepherds the Church, as the prophet confirms saying: *Let the Lord God Almighty visit his flock* (Zach. 10, 3): to whom be glory and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ON HOLY PENTECOST
Every day is bright, bearing the solar ray, and adorned with the common light; for thus the Master, having beautified the creation, brought it forth into the midst. But the festival day has something more for joy, honored by the word and worship of God. For it shows a double decorum, bearing both the flower of nature and displaying the beauty of piety. Such is also today’s festival, illuminating the sensible eye of the body, and brightening the intellectual eye of the mind with the rays of the Word. For today is one of the three equal [in honor], both those preached in the Law and those sung through evangelical grace. On this day according to the Old Testament the Law was given; on this day according to the new grace was given the visitation of the Spirit; on this day Moses received the tablets of the Law; on this day the choir of the apostles received the descent of the Spirit instead of the tablets D. For the blessed Paul says in the Epistle to the Corinthians: *You are our epistle, written not in tablets of stone, but in tablets of flesh of the heart* (2 Cor. 3, 3). You ask, if the Law was truly given on this day? For it is not explicitly written in the Old Testament that the law was given at Pentecost; but for those who search the divine scriptures, the treasure of knowledge emerges. Let us see, therefore, in what day, when God was shown according to the Old Testament, there were many terrors accompanying him; for both darkness and storm and trumpet and thunder surrounded the mountain, in order to prepare the people for the fear of the Lawgiver; so also when the Holy Spirit was about to descend, that the suddenness of the presence should not cast those who were receiving it into negligence, but that they might learn the dignity of the arrival of the Spirit in glory; so that in the darkness and the storm he might proceed, just as the Spirit did in the descent. When Pentecost was being fulfilled, *there was a sound as of a rushing spirit* (Ibid. v. 4); and then the Holy Spirit was seen, and shook the house; he was divided, not the Spirit, but the operations were divided. For the Spirit is not divided, he is divided as it testifies Paul: *But all these things work one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one as he wills* (1 Cor. 12, 11); dividing, not being divided; subject to the intent/power, not the authority. But he, whom he attributes to the Father, Paul attributes the honor of authority to him, *but God is he who works all in all* (Ib. v. 6); and he attributes to the Spirit saying: *But all these things work one and the same Spirit*. But the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete: unless he encourages men, who is the consoler? In Scripture this property is observable: the Apostle calls him by the name of consolation, but he encourages not as after God, but as God: for it is proper to God to encourage, as the Apostle says, *either the name of Paraclete or of encourager: We act as ambassadors for Christ, as though God were encouraging through us* (2 Cor. 5, 20). And let not Paul, brethren, be thought to introduce something new in the dogmas, that God is encouraging