Encomium in sanctum Stephanum protomartyrem

Gregory of Nyssa, Encomium to the Holy Protomartyr Stephen. How beautiful is the sequence of good things, how sweet the succession of joy. For behold, we receive feast from feast and grace in exchange for grace. Yesterday the master of all feasted us, today the imitator of the master. How is this one, and how that one? That one put on humanity for us, this one strips off humanity for that one. That one entered the cave of life for our sake, this one exits the cave for that one. That one was swaddled for us, this one is stoned for that one. That one abolished death, this one tramples upon death as it lies prostrate. But let us also run together, brothers, with the word to the theater, as the great athlete contends against the wicked antagonist of human life, stripping himself in the stadium of confession. For truly, according to the voice of Paul, Stephen became a theater for the world and for angels and for men, the first to bind on the crown of martyrdom, the first to open the entrance for the chorus of martyrs, the first to stand against sin unto blood. And it seems to me that the entire army of the supramundane and all the myriads of angels, both those serving and those standing by, and whatever we hear of the honorable ones in the higher order—in principalities and powers and thrones and authorities and dominions—and the whole heavenly assembly made a spectacle then of the athlete grappling with his antagonist.

For the human life was spread out like a stadium for the contestants, and both sides were arrayed against each other: the wicked adversary of human life, who from the fall of the first-created up to the times of Stephen had trained himself in victory over men, and the great champion of faith, who counted the enemy's attack as nothing. Their weapons against each other were, for the inventor of death, the threat of death, and for the disciple of life, the confession of faith. For who would not marvel at this new form of contest, when truth was decided between life and death, and death became the proof of truth? For the herald of the life that was hitherto hidden and unknown proclaimed the message to men by deed: for his readiness to leave this life was, for those who judge rightly, proof that he had exchanged the more honorable life for the one he was leaving. But it would be good to depict the contest precisely in speech, as if on a panel, so that along the way, through the sequence of events, the order of wonders might be shown to us. Just now the violent wind from above, having scattered all the aerial and deceitful power of the demons, filled the house of the apostles, and the Spirit, divided like fire into tongues according to the number of those who received the grace, became present in each one.

Now, at the paradox of the wonder concerning the voice and the tongue, astonishment and confusion seized those from every nation who were sojourning in Jerusalem, all who were divided into various and different forms of languages having suddenly become of one tongue with the disciples, when not from prior instruction or any practice, but from the inspiration of the Spirit, this grace having been suddenly improvised for the apostles, the power of speech was added to them. For it was necessary that those who had dissolved the harmony at the earthly tower-building should come again into harmony at the spiritual building of the Church. And for this reason, the economy of the grace of the Holy Spirit begins well from this point, so that the common benefaction of humanity might be distributed into every difference of human speech, lest the proclamation of piety, confined to a single tongue alone, remain ineffectual and inactive for those of other tongues.

Already, then, while the Pharisees were disbelieving even their own ears and were trying to prove that those astounded by the miracle were mistaken, claiming that the must had produced such derangement in them, and while Peter with a single sweep of his word had netted three thousand souls for Christ, and the church was continually increasing in number by the addition of those being saved, and the man lame from birth had again opened the beautiful gate of the temple to those being saved, by which, sitting beside his own miracle of healing, he led those lame in soul to the faith—while many, then, were flocking to the proclamation of the faith, and the need demanded a greater number of hands for those serving the grace—then Stephen, great in wisdom and grace, is called by the Spirit to the aid of the apostles. And let no one, because of the name of deacon, suspect that he is secondary to the apostolic dignity; for even Paul knows himself to be a deacon of the mysteries of Christ, and the Lord of all, who through flesh was administering human salvation, was not ashamed of the name of deacon, saying that he is in the midst as one who serves, he who effects the divisions of the services, as the apostle says. And just as fire, seizing upon suitable material, raises the flame to a height and makes its radiance more conspicuous, so the Holy Spirit, coming to be in the magnanimity of Stephen, made the rays of grace more manifest. Therefore all looked to him, all who had any share of knowledge and education.

and in companies, those who seemed to have more than the rest, as if forming some phalanxes packed closely together through one another, thus attempted to withstand Stephen's assault. But he was invincible against all equally, even when engaging with many at once and with those inferior. In this, then, the visible were Alexandrians, Libertines, Cyrenaeans, and men from everywhere, wrestling with the champion of truth; but the one understood through the visible was the father of lies, raising himself up through human faces against the truth spoken in Stephen. Yet truth was victorious over falsehood, the champion having nobly routed all the pre-fighters of deceit. And the deacon of truth was plotted against by the enemy of truth, not as one making the existing truth manifest, but as one making a truth that does not exist. Why do you contrive these things against the herald? I would say to the devil: if you have any power, harm the truth in Stephen; but if that truth is higher than your machinations, why do you occupy your malice with the vessel of truth and destroy the container, leaving the content untouched, as dogs do, snapping at the stones with which they are pelted, not touching the thrower?

Since, then, falsehood was refuted by the most truthful arguments, and the evil one was no longer able to find any other champion of deceit, with all eyes turned toward the revelation of truth, he recalled his own wrestling match and, dividing his activity between the accusers and the judges, and being present in both, he prompted some to speak falsehoods against Stephen and others to receive the slander with anger. And having variously dispersed himself among the Jews, he becomes everything to Stephen—accuser, judge, executioner, and the rest of the death-serving apparatus—not knowing by what fall he himself would be cast down after such a verdict against Stephen. For just as skilled wrestlers, having gotten under the body of their opponents, contrive a more severe fall for them through some technical dexterity, so the great Stephen, bent to the ground, works the grievous crushing of the adversary. From this, indeed, arises the journey of the apostles throughout the world; this is the beginning of the dissemination of the word everywhere. For if the Jewish mob had not raged against the apostles with that bloodshed against him, the grace of the gospel might have been confined to Jerusalem alone. But as it is, driven out by the Jews, they were scattered, each to different nations throughout the world, everywhere expelling the devil through the teaching of the mysteries. Thus Samaria receives the word; thus the salvation of the eunuch becomes a byproduct of Philip's journey.

Thus the great vessel of election, Paul, armed by the devil with wrath and threat, turns the barbs against the armorer himself, banishing him from the whole inhabited world, so that no place is left unapproachable for the faith of Christ. Hence Egyptians, Syrians, Parthians and Mesopotamians, Galatians, Illyrians, Macedonians, and the nations from everywhere are brought to the faith as the word runs through. Do you see the athletic skill of Stephen? With how many falls was the adversary crushed, thinking through slander to become superior to the wrestler? But let us return again to the stadium. With what arguments do the slanderers stir up the people? He does not cease, they say, speaking words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us. Such is the accusation of the devil's orators. But what is the folly of the hearers? At what do they become angry with the accused? What wickedness did they detect in what was said? For the things alleged against him were of those that would later come to pass. For they said that he had spoken that the place would be destroyed and the laws of Moses would be changed. What then is the injustice in these things, whether he speaks truth or falsehood? For if he lies, the painful thing will not come to pass; but if he speaks truth, what injustice does the word do in foretelling the outcome? For what happens will certainly come to pass whether they are silent or not. And what correction of the painful things does the murder of the one who foretold bring? Then—

Jesus the Nazarene is accused, but the vote for punishment is brought against Stephen. Yet if the wrongdoer provokes anger, and the wrongdoing is the alteration of place and customs, and these things, the accuser says, are done not by Stephen but by Jesus, the court ought certainly to have been moved against the accused. O the injustice of the hearers' vote! Since Jesus, they say, will change the laws, let Stephen be stoned. But how will Jesus, who is so disposed toward the law, who legislated so much to confirm the ancient laws, who said, "I did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it," who confirmed the law about not killing by not even being angry with his disciples from the beginning, who cast out adultery along with desire, who by commanding not to retaliate against one who has previously injured made it so that one does not even begin unjust hands, who by sharing what belongs to him banished the passion of greed—how will he destroy the law? Why were these things neither remembered nor examined in the judgment? I would now like to have before me the assembly of those bloodthirsty judges and to learn about the places over which they are angry: where is that temple of double name, where are the incredible sizes of the stones, where is that gold nearly equal in weight to the rest of the material around the temple, where are the lawful sacrifices—the ram, the calf, the lamb, the heifer, the dove, the turtledove, the scapegoat? If they condemn Stephen to death so that none of those grim things might come to pass, let them show what they preserved for themselves through the bloodshed. If

But none of these things is the reason for which they cast that vote. For what, then, was the murder? Let them say. But let us see in the subsequent contests how he who is buried under showers of stones defends himself against the murderers, what missiles he sends back against those who hurl the stones. Let the children of the Jews learn the weapons of the Christians, with which the great Stephen, in defending himself against those who injured him, made the deed a law for life. For they, with a bestial and harsh frenzy, standing around the saint in a circle, all threw at one target, making every weapon that came to hand a weapon against Stephen. But he, like a priest performing a pure sacrifice according to the spiritual law, offering not another's body but his own, and sprinkling his blood as a libation, through himself propitiated the God whom he saw in the heavenly sanctuary on behalf of the offenders, repaying their bloodshed with a benefit, crying out in the ears of his murderers: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And he, through prayer, erased their sin, which the murderers were inscribing with their lawless hands, but they were provoked even by the prayer and did not stop throwing until the great Stephen, as if flowing with soft flowers or light dew, sank into sweet and blessed sleep. But victory overtook the contests, and before the struggles we see the victor. For before we could observe the struggle, we were led by the discourse to the end of the contests.

For I think it was necessary not to pass over in the account those things through which the virtue of the martyr was especially displayed. For instance, what the council of murderers was like, and how equally in all of them the fury for the murder was aroused; how great was the unanimity for evil among those assembled; what each one's look was like, what their posture, what the condition of their teeth, as the divine scripture indicates, that they were gnashing their hearts and grinding their teeth at him. And he, standing in the midst of such and so many, and rousing himself against the entire opposing power active in the murderers, surpassed them all by the greatness of his spirit, opposing patience to fury, contempt to threats, disdain for life to the fear of death, love to hatred, beneficence to hostility, the manifestation of truth to slander. For the champion of truth was not shown victorious through a single means, but having divided himself through manifold virtue against every form of evil then active among the Jews, he engaged with all and surpassed them all. Thus I hear that in athletic contests also, those who excel in strength often strip for the whole stadium and carry off the victory against all opponents. Such was the one who presided over the stadium of martyrs, having arrayed himself against the entire power of the adversary, and is shown brilliant in victory over all.

the falsely-named wisdom, which wrestled against him through the Libertines and Cyrenians and the wise men from the city of Alexander, he overcame through true wisdom: fear through boldness, threat through contempt, bitterness through beneficence, falsehood through truth. They looked toward the murder and were already arming their hands with stones, signifying their bitterness by their gaze, their breath, and the gnashing of their teeth, but he saw them as brothers and greeted them as fathers. "Men," he says, "brothers and fathers, listen." They plausibly fabricated the slander, but for him the murderous council was a school of truth. He did not cut short his speech out of fear, nor did he become faint-hearted before the expectation of dangers, nor did he look toward death, but keeping his soul on the heights and looking down on everything at his feet as children raving in vain, he instructed them with his word, using as proof of their error concerning the doctrines those very things believed by them. Abraham is brought forward in the speech, and the whole history concerning him is brought before the eyes in few words, then the succession of the subsequent saints. Moses is born after them, reared, educated, initiated on the mountain, scourging Egypt, preserving the Israelite people, prefiguring the mystery concerning the Lord. This especially stirs up the council and rekindles their disease, because even Moses, for whom they pretended to be exceedingly zealous, was shown to be an advocate of the doctrine.

Upon this they rose up and brought about an end worthy both of their own bitterness and of Stephen's desire. For he, having transcended nature and before departing from the body, sees with pure eyes the heavenly gates opening for him and the interior of the sanctuary becoming visible, the divine glory itself and the radiance of that glory. And while no character of the paternal glory is depicted by speech, the radiance is beheld by the athlete in the form that appeared to men, as it was visible in a manner comprehensible to human nature. He, then, having gone outside human nature and been transformed into angelic grace, so as to be even a wonder to the murderers themselves, with the form of his face altered to the dignity of the angels, both saw the unseen things and cried out the grace that had appeared to him. But they stopped their ears and did not admit the account of the vision, doing at least this well in all things; for it was not fitting that the hearing of the profane should receive narratives of divine manifestation. He, therefore, shared the grace with those present, setting forth in common through his narrative 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, shouting with a loud voice and stopping their ears, rushed upon him with one accord. The history concerning him fittingly added the shout to the deeds, in order to show the kinship of their purpose with that of the Sodomites. For the lawlessness of those people was also called a shout by the one who judged. "For," he says, "the shout of Sodom and Gomorrah has come up to me.

They cried out, then, these as well, that their outcry against Stephen might be heard. The athlete was not unaware that he was being benefited by the bitterness of the murderers. For, crowned on all sides by the stones that were being cast, he received what was happening as a victor's crown woven in the hands of his enemies. Hence he also repays the murderers with a blessing, deeming it unworthy to divide the action concerning him into opposite outcomes, as if it brought life to him and destruction to his opponents, but rather that those of which he himself had been deemed worthy should not be lost to his enemies as co-authors of his blessings. Thus does one who sees Christ know how to treat his enemies. For when he saw the lawgiver of long-suffering, he was reminded of the laws that command loving one's enemies, doing good to those who hate, and praying for those who war against one. But the athlete is not glorified by human praises. For his aim in the contest did not look to glory from men, but, surpassing the whole world by the greatness of his achievement, he also outran the measures of human power, casting every encomiastic power behind himself. Therefore, let him hold the victory over every human word, while for us, let him assist, through the history concerning himself, in the salvation of souls.

Just as in the case of bodily athletes, those who have ceased from contests train the young in athletic exercises, teaching them through some technical dexterity to slip out of the grips of their opponents, so I think we too must be trained by the great Stephen for piety, so that through him we might escape the grips of the Pneumatomachians. For those who rage against the glory of the Spirit say that Stephen is an advocate of their absurdity, he who, gazing intently at the heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. They argue, then, for the overthrow of the doctrines of piety, that if the Spirit must necessarily be numbered together with the Father and the Son, how did Stephen not see the Spirit together with the Son in the vision? How, then, will Stephen reach out a hand to those who are tripped up by such arguments? How will he set upright with his athletic skill those who are buckling? The help that overturns the disbelief of the wrestler is right there. Do you ask, O Pneumatomachian, when the glory of the Father was seen and the Son had his position at the right hand, where the Spirit was? If the Spirit were in you, you would not have passed over the argument concerning him that lies before you, like those who are blind in their eyes and pass by the gold lying before their feet, ignorant of it. But now at least listen, if indeed you do not stop up your hearing like the Jews. How did Stephen see the supercelestial glory? Who spread open the gates of the heavens for him? Was the achievement that of human power? Was it that one of the angels raised the nature lying below to that height? These things are not so.

For the account concerning him does not say that Stephen, being great in power or filled with angelic assistance, saw what he saw. But 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 light. For it says, "In your light we shall see light." (It is not possible for the contemplation of light to occur without being in light; for how can one look at the sun while being outside its rays?) Since, therefore, the only-begotten light is beheld in the light of the Father, that is, in the Holy Spirit which proceeds from there, for this reason, having been first illuminated by the glory of the Spirit, he came to be in contemplation of the glory of the Father and the Son. For how shall we affirm that the evangelical declaration is true, that no one has ever seen God? And how shall we prevent the Apostle from crying out against the things recorded, when he says, "No one among men has seen nor can see"? For if the glory of the Father and the Son had become accessible to human nature and power, then the one who declared the divine vision to be inaccessible to men would certainly be false. But it is necessary that neither he be lying nor the account be true. Therefore, the malice of the Pneumatomachians is clearly exposed, because Scripture testifies that like things are beheld by like. For Stephen does not remain in human nature and power when he sees the divine, but, having been mingled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, he was raised through that to the understanding of God.

Therefore, if without the Spirit it is impossible to see the Lord Jesus, as the apostle says, nor to comprehend the Father's glory, it has been clearly shown that where the Spirit is, there the Son is beheld and the Father's glory is apprehended. But another weapon of impiety is put forward against us by the Christomachians from the things recorded. For they say that the inferiority of the Only-begotten is signified by these things; for that he stands beside the glory of the Father they make a proof that he is subject to the Father's authority. What then would Paul say to them? And what before him the prophet David, both expounding the glory of the Only-begotten by 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. If then standing is a sign of inferiority, sitting is certainly a sign of equal honor. So either let them reject the magnificent testimonies by which the highness of his rank is signified, or let them piously interpret this as well. For the grace of the Spirit is an equal teacher in each of the things said. For Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, saw what he saw and uttered what he saw. And David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, as the Gospel says; and Paul, as he himself says, speaks the mysteries in the Spirit. If then the teacher is one, there is no

having discord with himself, but the teacher is the Spirit of truth, which comes to be in those who are God-bearing; how could anyone suspect any discord of doctrines? But "the sitting" is one thing, it is said, and "the standing" another, indicating a meaning according to the superficial understanding. I too say this. But what the impression of the words shows in the case of bodies, that is not pious to reckon in the case of the incorporeal nature. For in the case of a human, the sitting describes the position of the body on the hip, so that the tension of the joint might not always tire, bearing the weight of the body upon itself. And conversely, the standing interprets the human as upright on the knees, not resting on the hips through sitting. But in the case of the transcendent nature, both sitting and standing are purified of such notions, each equally separated from the superficial meaning. For we will not accept the standing on the joint of the incorporeal nor the sitting on the hips of the formless, but through each expression we piously understand the stability in every good and the immutability in every respect. For both the one who says the divine stands and the one who says it sits differ in nothing from each other in meaning amid the difference of the words, the one dogmatizing that the divine is firmly established, the other that it is immutably seated in the good.

Just as the prophet David and the apostle Paul, when each in his own words described the sitting of the only-begotten, did not allow one to think that the Son is seated while the Father stands, even though they mentioned only the Son’s sitting, in the same way, having heard of the standing of Stephen the Son, you would no longer reasonably suspect anything about the sitting of the Father. For as in the case of Paul and David, the Father’s sitting is acknowledged through the Son’s sitting at his right, even though the discourse taught nothing beforehand about the Father, in the same way, in the case of Stephen, the Son’s standing equally indicates the same concerning the glory of the Father. For thus the account of the image would be preserved, if everything that is understood and seen in it is believed to be the same also in the archetype. And as in the good, the good, and in the light, the light, and in all things, the original beauty is characterized through its own properties in the image, so also in the sitting of the Son, whatever this name gives one to understand, the sitting of the Father is also apprehended, and in the standing, the standing, so that the account of the image might not collapse, being alienated by the removal of the properties of the archetype. Let these things, brothers, be considered by us in passing with regard to the question at hand, since the vision of Stephen has introduced such a consideration into the discourse.

May it be that we become not merely spectators of Stephen’s contest, but also participants in the grace, filled with the Holy Spirit, for the overthrow of the adversaries, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.