How is this one A or how is that one? The former, by putting on human nature for our sake; the latter, by putting off human nature for His sake. The former, by entering for our sake the cave of life; the latter, by departing from the cave for His sake. The former, by being wrapped in swaddling clothes for us; the latter, by being stoned for Him. The former, by destroying death; the latter, by trampling upon death as it lies prostrate. Truly, brothers, let us also run in word to the theater where that great athlete labors and prepares for the struggle against the wicked adversary of human life in the arena of confession. For in truth, according to the voice of Paul B (1 Cor. iv, 9), the great Stephen was made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, who—first to be garlanded and adorned with the "Stephen," that is, the crown of confession—made an entrance for the chorus of martyrs; who was the first to resist sin even to the point of bloodshed. And it seems to me that the entire army of those above the world, and every legion of angels, as many as are ministering and standing by—and if we hear of any others endowed with dignity in the supernal regions, who reside in principalities, and powers, and thrones, and dominions—and the entire heavenly assembly had at that time proposed to themselves the sight of the athlete struggling with his adversary. C For human life lay open like a certain arena to the contestants; both pressed on, mutually hostile to one another—on one side, the wicked adversary of human life, exercised in the victories gained over men from the first fall of the created humans down to the times of Stephen; on the other side, that great athlete of the faith, counting the onset of the adversary as nothing. But the weapons for both against one another were: for the inventor of death, the terror of death; and for the disciple of life, the confession of the faith. For who would not have admired this new form of contest, when the truth was being judged by life and death, and death became the proof of the truth? For the herald of the hidden faith and the unknown life was proclaiming the message to men by his deed; D for by the fact that he abandoned this life without burden and without hesitation, it was demonstrated to those who judge rightly that the life which was being left behind was being exchanged for one that is more excellent. But it will not be inconvenient, as if on a tablet, to depict the struggle accurately in speech, so that the order of the miracles might be suitably demonstrated through the sequence of the events. For recently, that violent and vehement blast borne from above, having scattered and dispersed all the aerial and deceitful hosts of the demons, had filled the dwelling of the apostles; and the Spirit, divided in the form of fiery tongues, had rested upon each one according to the number of those receiving the gift. And now, astonishment and confusion had seized those who, having set out from every nation, were residing in Jerusalem at the unexpected and unheard-of miracle of voice and tongue, as all who had been divided into various and diverse forms of languages had suddenly become of the same tongue as the disciples, when no previous discipline or training [had taken place], but rather from the inspiration…
of the Spirit and by this gift A represented in an instant, the faculty of speaking had come to the apostles. For it was fitting that those who—in the building of the tower on earth—had dissolved the communion of language and the concord of voice, should again, in the spiritual building of the Church, come into an exchange of language; and therefore the dispensation of the grace of the Holy Spirit rightly begins from this point, so that the common benefit of mankind might be distributed into every understanding of the human tongue, lest if the preaching of piety were confined to one language alone, it should remain B ineffectual and useless to men of a different language.
Now when the Pharisees, not even believing their own ears, were mocking and contending that others who were astonished by the miracle were deceived, as if sweet wine had produced in them such madness and frenzy; and when Peter, by one embrace of his discourse, had as if by a net brought three thousand souls to Christ, and the Church subsequently grew in number and multitude by the constant addition of those who were being saved; and when he who had been lame from birth had again opened the Beautiful gate of the temple to those who were being saved, C sitting by which he had led those who were lame in soul to faith by the miracle of his own healing: when, therefore, many were flowing together to the preaching of the faith, and the need demanded a greater number of hands to minister to the grace, then Stephen, who abounded in wisdom and grace, was called by the Spirit to the aid of the apostles. And let no one, moved by the name of “ministry,” suspect that he held a place inferior to the apostolic dignity; since even Paul acknowledges himself a minister of the mysteries of Christ D, and the Lord of all things, who was administering human salvation through the flesh, was not ashamed of the name of ministry, saying that he was in the midst as one who ministers, who works the divisions of ministries, as the Apostle says. For just as fire, having laid hold of suitable fuel, raises the flame on high and makes the light more distinct, so the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the great capacity of Stephen’s soul, made the rays of grace clearer. For this reason, all who possessed some share of knowledge and learning looked toward him; and those who seemed to have more than the rest formed groups—as if into certain phalanxes—crowding together through one another, and thus they endeavored to withstand the assault of Stephen. But he was invincible against all alike, whether he engaged with many alone or with a few. Then, therefore, in appearance, the Alexandrians and Libertines and Cyrenians, and the men who had come together from everywhere, were struggling against the athlete of the truth. But he who is understood through what appeared—the father of lies—was raising himself up through human figures against the truth which was being spoken by Stephen. But the truth was indeed winning a trophy against the lie, since that strenuous man had brilliantly put all the champions of fraud to flight: but the minister of the truth
A was being plotted against by the enemy, as if he were not manifesting the truth which exists, but rather inventing a truth which does not exist. Why do you contrive these things against the herald—I would say to the devil—if you have any strength? Do injury to the truth which shines forth in Stephen; but if that truth is higher than your machinations, why do you busy your malice against the vessel of truth, and destroy what contains it, while leaving aside what is contained? It is just like what dogs do, snarling at the stones with which they are struck, but not touching the one who is striking. Since, therefore, the lie was refuted by those who resisted it, and that Wicked One was no longer able to find any other champion of his deceit, as all eyes were turned toward the manifestation of the truth, he remembers his own wrestling match, and dividing his energy among both the accusers and the B judges. Having entered into both, he urged the former to speak false things against Stephen, and led the latter to receive the calumny with anger. Having thus in various ways insinuated himself into the Jews, he becomes everything to Stephen: accuser, judge, executioner, and the entire remainder of the ministry of death, not knowing with what great ruin, after such a sentence against Stephen, he was himself about to fall headlong. For just as expert athletes, slipping beneath the bodies of their opponents with a certain artificial agility and skill, cause them a more severe fall, so too the great Stephen, once laid upon the ground, brought about that heavy crushing of his adversary.
C From this point forward, the running of the apostles into the world begins; this is the beginning of the spreading of the word to all places. For if the people of the Jews had not raged against the apostles because of the murder of him, the grace of the Gospel might perhaps have been confined to Jerusalem alone. But now, driven out by the Jews, they were scattered, one here and one there, among the nations throughout the world, everywhere driving out the devil through the teaching of the mysteries. In this way Samaria receives the word; in this way, in passing, the salvation of the eunuch is accomplished by Philip; thus that great instrument of the Church, Paul, armed—or rather, armed by rage and threats by the devil—turns his weapons against the armorer himself, D driving him from the entire world, so that he left no place inaccessible to the faith of Christ. From this point on, Egyptians, Syrians, Parthians and Mesopotamians, Italians and Gauls, Illyrians, Macedonians recognize Christ, and the word, traversing the world, brings all nations everywhere to the faith. Do you see the athletic science of Stephen? By how many falls was the adversary crushed, when he seemed, through his calumny, to have become superior to the one wrestling with him? But let us return again to the stadium. With what words do the calumniators stir up the people? "He does not cease," they say, "to speak insults against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him saying that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us." And as for
A the accusation of these orators of the devil, it is of such a nature. But what of the senselessness of those who heard it? For what crime do they rage against the accused? What wickedness did they detect in the things said? For those things which were brought forward against him were things that were to happen in the future. For they said he had claimed that the place would be destroyed and that the customs of Moses would be changed. What then is the injustice in these words, whether he is speaking falsely or truthfully? For if he is lying, that which causes them grief will not come to pass; but if he is speaking the truth, what injustice is contained in a statement that foretells what is to come? For things that are to happen will indeed happen, whether we are silent or speak; but what correction of these evils does the slaughter of the one who foretold them bring?
Then, too, Jesus of Nazareth is the one accused, but the sentence of punishment is passed against Stephen. And yet, if it is he who does wrong that stirs one to anger, and if the change of the place and the customs is a crime—and the accuser says that these things are to be done not by Stephen, but by Jesus—the judges ought by all means to have been moved against the one who was accused. O the unjust sentence of those who heard it! "Because," they say, "Jesus will change the laws, let Stephen be stoned." But how will Jesus abolish the law, he who was so disposed toward the law, he who ordered all things for the confirmation of the ancient laws, he who said: "I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. v, 17)? B He who confirmed the law against murder by the fact that he did not wish anyone to be angry at all, he who cast out adultery along with lust and concupiscence, he who ruled that no one should even provoke another by injury, because he did not wish anyone to avenge himself on one by whom he had previously been harmed, he who rooted out the vice of avarice through the sharing of possessions?
How does it happen, then, that these things were neither mentioned nor investigated together in the trial? I would have wished now that the council of those bloodthirsty judges were present to me, and to ask them about the places for which they rage so fiercely: where is that renowned Temple, where are the unbelievable sizes of the stones, where is that gold which almost equaled the rest of the temple’s materials in value, where are the lawful sacrifices—the ram, the calf, the lamb, the heifer, the dove, the turtledove, the scapegoat used to avert evils? C If they condemn Stephen to death for this reason, that none of those dismal things might come to pass, let them show what they have preserved for themselves by that bloodthirsty deed. But if none of these things remains, for whose sake they passed that sentence, let them say for what reason the slaughter was perpetrated by them.
But let us see in the subsequent contest how he who was covered by the snowflakes of the stones as if by a shower of hail, defends himself against those bloodthirsty men; with what missiles he attacks those who were casting upon him the missiles of stones. Let the children of the Jews learn the weapons of the Christians, ones which the great Stephen used in avenging the injury done to him, and made that deed his rule of life. For while they, in a certain beastly and cruel madness, stood around the holy man in a circle D and all looked toward one goal, every instrument under their hand
serving as a weapon against Stephen, he, like a priest according to the spiritual law, offering a pure sacrifice—not presenting another’s body, but his own, and instead of a libation shedding his blood—was reconciling God, whom he beheld in the heavenly sanctuary, to those who were sinning. A Rewarding their murderous intent with a benefit, he cried out in the ears of his murderers, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And he, indeed, by his prayer blotted out the sin which the murderers were, as it were, inscribing with their lawless hands; but they were only further provoked by the prayer, and did not cease their assault until the great Stephen, as if showered by tender flowers or some light dew, was lulled into a sweet and blessed sleep. Yet, the victory preceded the contests, and before the struggle we behold the victor fully crowned. For before we have even surveyed the contest, the discourse has already carried us to the end of the struggle. For it was fitting, I think, not to pass over those points in the narrative by which the virtue of the martyr was most especially shown: what manner of assembly were those murderers, and how the rage of all was equally stirred up toward the murder; how great was the conspiracy of those gathered for evil; what was the gaze of each, what their bearing, what the movement and passion of their teeth, as the divine Scripture indicates, that "they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth." B And standing in the midst of so many and such men, and rousing himself against all the opposing power that was active in those murderers, he excelled in all things by the greatness of his spirit, opposing to their wrath his long-suffering, to their threats his disdain, to the fear of death his contempt for life, to their hatred his love, to their hostility his kindness, and to their calumny the proclamation of the truth. For the champion of the truth was not declared a victor by one means only, but distributing himself through various virtues against every form of malice that was then being employed by the Jews, he grappled with them all and overcame them all. Thus I hear that in the gymnastic contests, those who exceed others in strength, often girding themselves for the whole gymnastic stadium, carry off the prizes of victory over all their opponents. C Such was the leader of the stadium of the martyrs; for having set himself against all the forces of the adversary, he is marked as glorious in his victory over all. For the false wisdom which contended against him through the Libertines, the Cyrenians, and the wise men from the city of Alexander, he defeated by the true wisdom; he overcame terror by his boldness of speech, threats by his disdain, cruelty by his beneficence, and falsehood by the truth. They indeed were looking toward the murder and were already arming their hands with stones, and by their gaze, their panting, and the gnashing of their teeth they indicated their bitterness... D
A while he beheld them as brothers and greeted them as fathers. “Men,” he says, “brothers and fathers, hear me.” While they were plausibly weaving their calumny, for him that council of murderers was a school of truth. He did not cut short his discourse through fear, nor did he become faint-hearted at the prospect of dangers, nor did he look toward death; but, keeping his soul at the heights and regarding all things at his feet as if they were foolish children playing in vain, he guided them with his words, using those very instances in which they themselves believed as proof that they were wandering in their doctrines.
Abraham is brought forward in his discourse, and all the history concerning him is set before their eyes in a few words; then the succession of the holy men who followed him. Following these, Moses is born, is nurtured, is educated, is initiated into the sacred mysteries upon the mountain; he scourges Egypt, he saves Israel, he proclaims beforehand the mystery concerning the Lord. This is what most stirs the council and kindles the malady, that even Moses, of whom they pretended B to be such devoted followers, is shown to be an advocate for this doctrine. For which cause, rising up, they brought about an end worthy both of their own bitterness and of Stephen's desire. For he, having departed from his nature, and even before departing from his body, sees with clear eyes the heavenly gates opened to him, and that which appeared within the sanctuary—both the divine glory itself and the radiance of that glory. And while no figure is described by discourse for the glory of the Father, the radiance is beheld by the athlete in the form in which it was seen by men, appearing as the human nature was able to contain it.
He, then, having moved beyond human nature and being transformed into angelic grace—so as even to be a wonder to those very murderers—with the form of his countenance changed into angelic dignity, when he saw things that escape sight, announced with a loud cry the grace that appeared to him. They, however, stopped their ears and did not receive the account of the vision—a thing they did well, at least, in all respects; for the ears of the profane and impure were not worthy to receive accounts of a divine manifestation. Now he, for his part, shared the grace with those present, putting forth for the general benefit, in the account, those things of which he alone had been deemed worthy, saying, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” But they, crying out with a loud voice and covering their ears, rushed upon him with one accord. The history concerning them rightly added the “clamor” to their deeds, in order to show the kinship of their resolution with the Sodomites. For the wickedness of those men was named a “clamor” by the Judge. For, He says, “The clamor of Sodom and Gomorrah has ascended to Me.” These men, therefore, also cried out, so that their own clamor against Stephen might also be heard. Yet the athlete was not ignorant, being benefited by the bitterness of the murderers. For by their...
stones of those throwing them, as if by a circuit, he received what was being done as if a crown of victory were being woven for him in the hands of his adversaries. Wherefore he also rewards those bloodthirsty men with a kindly prayer, asking that the crime being perpetrated upon him might not be divided into contrary outcomes—that it should bring life to him, but destruction to his adversaries; rather, he does not wish that even his enemies, as authors in some part of his blessings, should be excluded from whatever he himself was deemed worthy of. Thus does he who beholds Christ know how to conduct himself toward his enemies. For since he saw the lawgiver of patience, he remembered the laws that had been laid down by Him, commanding to love enemies, and to do good to those pursuing one with hatred, and to pray for those doing hostile things. B But the athlete indeed is not glorified by human praises, nor did he have as his goal in the struggle a glory fashioned for him by men; rather, having surpassed the whole world in the magnificence of his achievement, he outran even the measures of human strength, casting every eulogistic power behind him.
Therefore, let him indeed possess the rewards of victory in every human discourse, but let his history assist us for the salvation of our souls. For just as among bodily athletes, those who have ceased from the contests train their juniors in athletic exercises, teaching them through a certain technical agility how to frustrate and elude the holds of their opponents, C so do I think it necessary that we too should be trained in piety by the great Stephen, so that through him we may flee and avoid the holds of the Pneumatomachi—that is, the enemies of the Holy Spirit. For they who rage against the glory of the Holy Spirit claim that Stephen is an advocate of their absurdity, he who with intent eyes gazed upon heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. They say, therefore, to the subversion of the doctrines of piety, "If the Spirit must by all means be numbered with the Father and the Son, how is it that Stephen in the vision did not see the Spirit with the Son?" How then will Stephen stretch out his hand to those who are being tripped up by such arguments? How will he raise up those who are stumbling by the art of the struggle? D Yet from that very place arises the help that overturns the incredulity of the opponent. Do you ask, O Pneumatomachian, "If the glory of the Father was seen, and the Son held his station at the right hand, where is the Spirit?" If the Spirit were in you, the statement concerning Him set before you would not have escaped you, just as those who are afflicted in their eyes pass by the gold lying before their feet, ignoring it. But now at least listen, unless by chance you hold your ears, as the Jews did: How did Stephen see the supercelestial glory? Who opened the gates of the heavens to him? Was this the work of human strength? Did any of the angels lift up to that height a nature that lies below? These things are not so; for the history concerning him does not say that Stephen was great in terms of the power of his own strength, or that he became full of angelic assistance, and thus saw what he saw. But what is…
A what does it say? "Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, saw the glory of God and the only-begotten Son of God." For it is not possible, as the Prophet says, for light to be seen unless it is beheld in the light. For, he says, "In your light we shall see light." If, then, it is not possible for the contemplation of light to occur otherwise than in the light—for how is it possible to look at the sun having gotten outside the rays?—since, then, the only-begotten Light is beheld in the light of the Father, that is, in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from Him, for this reason, having been pre-illuminated by the glory of the Spirit, he arrives at the perception of the glory of the Father and the Son. For how are we to say that the evangelical pronouncement is true, that "no one has ever seen God"? And how is it that we do not cry out that the Apostle says things contrary to what is recorded when he says, "No man has seen Him, nor is he able to see Him"? For if the glory of the Father and the Son were graspable by human nature and power, he who declared that the divine vision is ungraspable to men would be altogether a liar. But clearly, it is necessary that neither that man lies, nor is the history untrue. Therefore, the malice of the Pneumatomachi is openly detected, because it is testified by Scripture that like things are beheld by like things. For Stephen did not behold the divine while remaining in human nature and power; but having been mingled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, through Him he was raised up to the contemplation of God. Therefore, if "no one can say 'Lord Jesus'" without the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says, nor contemplate the paternal glory, it is clearly demonstrated that where the Spirit is, there the Son is also beheld, and the paternal glory is grasped. B But another weapon of impiety is cast at us from the things recorded by the Christomachoi, that is, the enemies of Christ. For they say that the inferiority of the Only-Begotten is signified through this. For they make the fact that He stands at the right hand of the Father a demonstration that He is subject to the authority of the Father. What then, I might say to them, would Paul say? Or further, before him, the prophet David, both explaining the glory of the Only-Begotten through the teaching of the Spirit? For David says, "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand." And the Apostle says that the Lord is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. If, then, standing is a sign of lowering, sitting is surely a sign of equality of honor. Either, therefore, let them discard the divine testimonies, through which the loftiness of the right hand is signified, or let them also piously accept this. For the teacher of each of the things said is one: the grace of the Spirit. For Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, both saw what he saw, and spoke of what he saw. And David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord, as the Gospel says. And Paul, just as he himself says, speaks the mysteries in the Spirit. If, therefore, the teacher is one, having no disagreement with himself C and D indeed, before him also the prophet David, both explaining the glory of the Only-Begotten through the teaching of the Holy Spirit? For David also says: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand": and the Apostle says that the Lord sits at the right hand of the throne of God. If, therefore, standing is a sign of diminution, sitting is certainly a sign of the same lot, condition, and honor. Either, therefore, they must reject the august and divine testimonies through which the sublimity of the right hand is signified, or they must receive this also piously. For the one mistress and teacher of each saying is the grace of the Holy Spirit. For Stephen, indeed, when he was full of the Holy Spirit, both saw what he saw,
and spoke what he saw. But David in the Spirit A calls Him Lord, as the Gospel says; and Paul, as he himself says, speaks mysteries by the Spirit. If, therefore, there is one teacher, who has no discrepancy with himself (for the master is the Spirit of truth, who was in those who were breathed upon by the divine and rapt in divinity), by what reasoning could one suspect a diversity and discrepancy of doctrines? But, he says, sitting signifies one thing, and standing another, as it is ready and easy to understand. Nor do I deny it. But it is not right to think that what the signification of words points to in bodies, this is also to be thought of the incorporeal nature. For in a human being, indeed, sitting designates the position of the body upon the buttocks, so that the tension of the hams and knees may not labor by constantly supporting the weight of the body upon itself. And conversely, standing signifies a person erect and upright upon the knees, not resting by sitting on the buttocks. But in the supernal and excellent nature, both sitting and standing are empty and alien to such understandings, both being equally separated from the signification which is ready and easy to understand. For we shall not understand His standing to be in the ham, nor His sitting to be in the buttocks, as He is incorporeal and devoid of figure; but through either word, we shall piously understand that which is stable in every good, and immutable in every good. For as many as say the divine power stands, and as many as say it sits, do not differ from one another, as far as the meaning is concerned, by the diversity of words: the former judging the divine power to stand firmly, the latter judging it to be immutably constituted and founded in the good. B And just as the prophet David and the apostle Paul, in their writings, both mentioning the sitting of the Only-Begotten, did not give one to understand that the Father is standing while the Son is on the throne, even though they made mention only of the Son's sitting; in the same way, when you hear of the Son's standing in the history of Stephen, you should not for any reason, nor rightfully, entertain any suspicion concerning the Father's sitting. For just as in the case of Paul and David, that the Father sits is acknowledged by the fact that the Son sits at the right hand, even though the discourse taught nothing beforehand concerning the Father; in the same way, in the history of Stephen, the Son's standing indicates the same thing also regarding the glory of the Father. For thus the account of the image might be preserved, if everything that is understood and discerned in it were believed to be the same also in the archetypal form; and as good is in the good, and light in the light, and in all things the primitive and principal beauty is characterized in the image through its proper marks; so also, in the sitting of the Son, whatever understanding this name affords, the Father's sitting is also comprehended, and similarly also regarding the standing, so that the account of the image may not fall away, being alienated from the original and primitive by the abolition of the properties. These things, brethren, let them be regarded by us, in passing, toward the question proposed, as the vision of Stephen has introduced such a contemplation into our discourse. May it be granted to us not only to be spectators of the struggle of Stephen, but also participants of the grace, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, for the overthrow of our adversaries, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory D and might for ever and ever. Amen.
ANOTHER ENCOMIUM BY THE SAME ON THE SAME
and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen. D
BY THE SAME ANOTHER ENCOMIUM UPON SAINT STEPHEN THE PROTOMARTYR.
BY THE SAME ANOTHER LAUDATION OF ST. STEPHEN THE PROTOMARTYR.
Translated and annotated by Lorenzo Zacagni, V.C.Christ came into the world for our salvation, and straightway the fruits of the Church sprang forth. The witness of the truth shone forth, and together with him shone forth the witnesses of the great dispensation. The disciples followed the Master, treading in the footsteps of the Lord; after Christ, the Christ-bearers; after the Sun of Justice, the lights of the world. And first among us blossomed Stephen, not woven out of Jewish thorns, but offered to the Lord as the first fruit of the fertility of the Church. For the Jews, having plaited a crown of thorns, placed it upon the head of the Savior, exhibiting to the Lord of the vineyard fruits worthy of their evil husbandry, as once A he foretold through the prophecy, saying: "The vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah, a plant beloved. I expected that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns" (Isa. v, 7). But the laborers of the evangelical truth offer to the Master their first beginning of piety and the first-fruits of their husbandry, Stephen, the holy man, as a crown truly harmonized out of many and diverse virtues. For, in the first place, this admirable man was entrusted with the care of the widows, having been approved as a faithful man, and full of the Holy Spirit, B by the judgment and selection of the apostles, and afterwards by the virtue of spiritual wisdom. And certainly of such study and endeavor