Gospel 12-26-23. Matt 23:34-39. St Stephen, First Martyr

⁣⁣Jesus had upbraided the Jews for having killed and stoned the Prophets. Our Lord foretold their martrydom for His Name's sake. The Jews fulfilled the words of the Saviour, and Stephen is the first of the witnesses of Christ.


34 Therefore behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
Ideo ecce ego mitto ad vos prophetas, et sapientes, et scribas, et ex illis occidetis, et crucifigetis, et ex eis flagellabitis in synagogis vestris, et persequemini de civitate in civitatem :
⁠ 35 ⁠That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
ut veniat super vos omnis sanguis justus, qui effusus est super terram, a sanguine Abel justi usque ad sanguinem Zachariae, filii Barachiae, quem occidistis inter templum et altare.
⁠ 36 ⁠Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
Amen dico vobis, venient haec omnia super generationem istam.
⁠ 37 ⁠Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not?
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quae occidis prophetas, et lapidas eos, qui ad te missi sunt, quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina congregat pullos suos sub alas, et noluisti?
⁠ 38 ⁠Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate.
Ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.
⁠ 39 ⁠For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Dico enim vobis, non me videbitis amodo, donec dicatis : Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini.


Stephen, one of the seven Deacons, chosen by the Apostles amongst the most pious and holy disciples, to help them, received from them mission to organize the meals where the poor were fed in common. St Stephen was renowned for his virtues and worked such great signs and wonders among the people that the Jews from five different synagogues became alarmed and summoned him before the Sanhedrin. The Jews stoned this holy Deacon, who invoked our Lord saying: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." His name is inscribed in the Canon of the Mass.


Jesus had upbraided the Jews for having killed and stoned the Prophets. Our Lord foretold their martrydom for His Name's sake. The Jews fulfilled the words of the Saviour, and Stephen is the first of the witnesses of Christ.