In sanctum Stephanum

Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, encomium on Saint Stephen. To Stephen let the whole earth celebrate the festival; for he cultivated the whole world in turn with his words, and filled the inhabited world with sacred laws, with the whole people. He sowed the doctrines of piety everywhere, and gave to all the churches to vie with one another in the light of his teaching. And just as the sun, rising from some single corner of the heavens, is allotted to illuminate the whole of visible creation, so Stephen, flashing forth from Jerusalem, filled whole cities and countries, nations and peoples, tribes and tongues with inextinguishable theology. But we, fittingly, owe him more festivals, since he is a citizen of the Cross, a native of Bethlehem, an offspring of the Resurrection, a table-setter of Zion, a herald of the Ascension. Among us he pitched his courts and tents; among us he obtained the lot of the diaconate and the portion of martyrdom. Here he has the altar of sacrifice and the bema of blessing, the field of teaching, the theater of rhetoric. From here he was led up to the heavens, and departed from us to Christ.

Hence there are frequent spectacles of festivals for him among us, and we often crown his bridal chamber, continually leaping up and down we mount the winepress, and sing a nuptial song, calling it a vintage ode: "Lord, you have crowned us with a weapon of good pleasure." For the zeal of Stephen is a weapon to the faithful, and his tongue a sword to the pious, and his frankness a preparation for confession, his courage an incitement to valor, his rhetoric material for theology, his teaching a catechesis of the law, knowledge of the prophets, understanding of the Gospels, the contemplation of the mysteries in heaven, or rather above heaven, an exposition. But who is able to recount the encomia of Stephen in detail? For what shall I call him? A martyr of the light, a deacon of life, a soldier of Christ, a lampstand of the Word, a pearl of the Spirit, a flower of patience, a foundation of philosophy, a model of dispassion, a firstfruit of teachers, a pillar of the church, a pedagogue of grace, a ladder of virtues, a monument of progress, a forerunner of the apostles, a firstborn of the martyrs, a leader of knowledge? He was a minister of widows, but having ordained himself, he becomes a minister of the churches; assigned to bring in dishes, he brings in doctrines instead. He transformed the tables into altars; he used the bread from heaven, not that from the earth. He changed the cup of drunkenness into bowls of grace; instead of wine he mixed the spirit, instead of sensible water he set forth the mystical and intelligible. He was great both in speaking and acting, teaching and working wonders, refuting Jews, driving out demons, healing the infirmities of both body and soul together.

He opened his mouth, and hunted every ear; he moved his tongue, and death fled, falsehood was bound, love advanced. Being a lamb, he fought against the wolves for the shepherd; being a dove, he subjected the dragons to the eagle. He presented the character of an angel by his silence to the judges. He laughed, seeing the slanderers surrounding him; and beholding the false witnesses standing by, he said these things to himself from the citharody of David: "The blows of them became the arrows of infants." For whatever the slanderer shoots, the worker of truth is not wounded; whatever arrows the evil one sends, he moves and sends them in vain; for it does not sting the upright, it does not strike the innocent, it does not bite the guileless. 7 What then was the form of the slander? "This man does not cease speaking words against this holy place and the law." "This man." Which one? "The one who works signs and wonders beyond human power; the one who has drawn up the whole fountain of wisdom; the one who has emptied into himself the storehouses of grace; the one who does deeds which we cannot endure; at whose zeal and envy we have melted; to whom the deaf man hearkens when called; and the blind man sees toward him, having received eyes from him; and the lame man asks for feet, having borrowed them from this man's tongue and hand.

through whom the beds of the sick were emptied, through whom there is no difference between the healthy and the ill, through whom the lepers forgot their affliction, through whom there is no need of physicians, through whom the ground-up drugs are superfluous. "This man does not cease speaking words against this holy place and the law." What are these words? "For we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us." Rightly are you called false witnesses and slanderers, because you utter the truth as if it were not truth, because you name as blasphemies against God the prophecies from him and about him, and you consider to be an abrogation of the law what he himself declared would come to pass. For whose voice, whose prophecy, whose proclamation is this? Who commanded Isaiah, who commanded Micah to speak thus: "Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will be like a watchman's hut"; "The daughter of Zion will be left behind like a booth in a vineyard and like a watchman's hut in a cucumber patch"? Who also inspired David to say such things: "Remember, Lord, the sons of Edom on the day of Jerusalem, of those saying, 'Empty, empty, until the foundation is in her'"?

What then of Moses? Does he not also vote with the things said by Stephen? Did he not write down these curses of yours, which have now in actual experience come to pass, and provide all with the means to see the causes from which they were brought forth? Let the wounds that befell the people of the Jews be set beside the words of Moses. Seeking them word for word, you will find that nothing, small or great, has turned out false anywhere. "And if after this you go astray"—for they never kept their heart straight toward God, and much more so in later times, when they perverted the name of Christ. Therefore he also added: "And if you are not willing to obey me"—so they did not obey Christ when he called—"I will add to you seven plagues according to your lawlessnesses." For since they denied the seven gifts of the Spirit, the seven spirits of wickedness become for them seven plagues, which entered and dwelt in them; and their last state became worse than the first.

11 “And I will send against you the beasts of the earth.” He speaks of the nations; for previously they were beasts on account of their ignorance, because they worshipped the divine in the likeness of beasts and quadrupeds and reptiles. Cursing them, David said: “May those who do these things and all who trust in them become like them.” Now God has sent these nations against them, doing what the lawgiver next says: “And it will devour you, and will consume your cattle, and will make you few; and your roads will be deserted.” For each of these things has happened to them, both in the sensible and in the intelligible sense, now that they have been mastered by the nations. 12 Nor did God stop the threats through Moses against the people of the ungrateful at this point, but he added things more grievous and greater than those already mentioned. For he says: “You will take a wife, and another man will have her. You will build a house, and you will not dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and you will not harvest it. Your calf will be slaughtered before you, and you will not eat of it.” And after threatening many other things besides these, he did not conceal the reason for which these things happen, but adds it along with a multitude of threats, which are yoked together with those we have just mentioned: “And your life will be hanging before your eyes; and you will be afraid by day and by night, and you will not trust your life. In the morning you will say: ‘How might evening come?’ And in the evening you will say: ‘How might morning come?’ and from the fear of your heart, which you will fear, and from the visions of your eyes, which you will see.

13 Hear, then, the outcome of these things; hear also the result, and do not blame Stephen for speaking in harmony with the law and the prophets. “You will take a wife”—the ancient covenant; “and another man will have her”—for the people from the nations acquired her. “You will build a house, and you will not dwell in it”—the temple, clearly; for you see it fallen. “You will plant a vineyard, and you will not harvest it”—for it produced not grapes but thorns. Or let us understand the vineyard as that of Christ; for from them was Christ, the vine of our life; but we harvest his grapes, we mix the wine, we drink the must. “Your calf is slaughtered before you, and you will not eat of it”—for the sacrifice of Christ is theirs, they led the calf from the heavens to the altar, but the feast is also ours, our table. 14 And for what reason? Because they suffered from unbelief, they offered ignorance instead of knowledge, at the time of theology they slipped into blasphemy. They stripped the bridal chamber and did not receive the bridegroom, they crowned the wedding chamber and denied the marriage; and when the cross was set up, the elements were shaken, but they were not changed. For this is what he next added: “And your life will be hanging before your eyes.” What life? Christ, saying, “I am the way and the life and the truth.” And where does it hang? On the wood of the cross. For he who suspended the earth by his word hangs on the wood, on which he is carried while carrying, on which he hangs while suspending, on which he is raised while raising.

For when I am raised up,” he says, “I will draw all to myself.” “And you will fear by day and by night, and you will not trust your life.” Therefore, the cause of the fear has become unbelief. “You will fear by day and by night”: for day and night are the same, because “over the whole earth darkness prevailed from the sixth hour.” Hence Zechariah is at a loss what better to call it, what name is fitting, whether to name the time of the cross from the darkness that occurred or from the law of the day. Thus he says: “And on that day there will be no light; and there will be cold and frost. It is a great day, it will be known to the Lord. It is neither day nor night; and toward evening there will be light. And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem; half of it into the first sea, and half of it into the last sea.” These things happened both sensibly and intelligibly. “On that day there will be no light”: for the sun set at midday; darkness and ignorance were poured out upon the hearts of the Jews. “There will be cold and frost.” Peter bears witness, warming himself by the charcoal fire because of the severity of the winter season. But this was cold and frost, because then especially the love of the Jews for God had grown cold; for they would not have crucified the savior and redeemer who came from him. “It is a great day.

For how could it not be great, the day on which Adam was remade, sin was abolished, death was undone, the potter recovered the vessel, the shepherd the sheep, the merchant the pearl? “It will be known to God.” For how will the one who knows all things not especially recognize that day on which he gave up his only-begotten son for sacrifice? “There is neither day nor night,” since it was a course of day, not of night. “Toward evening there will be light”; at the time after the ninth hour, when the darkness ceased. Therefore, the same was both night and day. 17 “And living water will come forth from Jerusalem.” From where? From the side of life; for from where Eve was remade, from there the church is fittingly formed. “Half of it into the first sea.” That is, of baptism. “And half of it into the last sea.” Of repentance, clearly. For the tears of repentance are a remnant of the gift of baptism, and a clear proof: one who has not been baptized repents in vain, unless he runs and is baptized; he offers his prayer in vain, he asks for forgiveness in vain, he pours forth tears in vain. For without baptism, remission of sins does not occur. But the one who has been baptized possesses effective repentance; he weeps and is absolved; he groans and mourns and prays, and is immediately purified.

But hear how the rest of the law’s prophecy turns out: “In the morning you will say, ‘How could it become evening?’ And in the evening you will say, ‘How could it become morning?’” From where? “From the fear of your heart, which you will fear, and from the visions of your eyes, which you will see.” Because of the signs and wonders that were taking place at the time of the cross—the earth shaking, the sun fleeing, the sky being hidden, the rocks being split, the veil being rent, the tombs being opened—they were terrified and disturbed, and naturally compelled to say to one another, “How could it become evening?” so that we might take down the life from the cross, hide the one from heaven in the earth, confine the immortal in a tomb, remove the wonder from our midst, from which such great terrors came to us. But even after doing these things, they gained nothing from their purpose; on the contrary, what they attempted turned against them. And for this reason they said in the evening, “How could it become morning?” Because again the wonders accomplished in the night of the resurrection were fearful, since they saw the tomb as a bridal chamber, the grave sealed, and the dead man running forth with life, the soldiers as dead men, the women bearing myrrh, angels guarding the linens, another sitting on the stone as a herald of the resurrection—then they said, “How could it become morning?” so that we might give silver to the soldiers, bribe Pilate, steal the truth by deceit, and spread the rumor “that his disciples came by night and stole him while we were sleeping.

These things the law and Moses through it declare, but in each of these rather does God bear witness against the thankless people; whom, as he refutes them, Stephen the theologian is called a blasphemer by them. And the high priest says, “If these things are so?” Do you not know how it is? Did you not contrive the deceit? Did you not hire the false accusers? Do not the witnesses of the deception serve you for pay? “But we need, he says, falsehood and pretense; and we require deceit for the snare that has been set. Thus we have sold Joseph, we have killed Naboth, we have crucified Christ.” Stephen, having found an opportunity for teaching, poured forth many saving words into the ears of the people, and brought a conclusion to his speech, fitting for him to speak as a witness of truth, and for them to hear as men set on fighting against God and suffering from the spirit’s contradiction: “Hard-hearted and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers were, so are you.

And how is it that at the beginning you say, "Men, brothers and fathers, hear me"? "Those things," he says, "pertain to the nobility of Abraham, but these to their wickedness. Those things are of the good root, these of the evil branches. Those things show the distinction of the flock, these the disorder, the harshness, the unruliness of the many." To that preface he urged the words of Isaiah: "Say, our brothers, to those who hate us and abhor us, that the name of the Lord may be glorified." But to this conclusion they themselves, even against their will, compel the speech: "I called them brothers, I addressed them as fathers, lest anyone think I accuse them as enemies or convict them as foes. But I addressed the same as hard-hearted and uncircumcised, because one must prefer truth to kinship and spare neither friends nor brothers nor fathers nor other relatives when they transgress the law." The children of the Jews could not endure these words, but gnashed their teeth like wild beasts, eager to devour Stephen while he was still speaking. "They gnashed their teeth." For it was said about them: "Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." But Stephen had his eyes not on them but on God, and leaving the earth he hastened to the courts of the heavens, and with a clear voice he proclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens opened." That is to say: the gain is common, the road is prepared for all, the gate is open for those who wish to enter. Let the brave man strive earnestly; let the genuine soldier now use his weapons, now display the greatness of his strength.

For the contest director watches; he stands by distributing the crowns and prizes. "Behold, I see the heavens opened." And who opened them, he did not leave in ignorance the one wishing to know. And for this reason he cried out: "And the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God," speaking of the incarnate Word of God. For from the time the Son of God became Son of Man, from the time He who is from the Father Himself stood forth from the Virgin as a boundary for earth and heaven, the dividing wall of enmity has been removed, the barrier is out of the way, the rights of citizenship are common to angels and men, if men so wish. It is possible for those on earth to serve in heaven, to be below in the flesh, to be present above in the spirit, to be with the clay in the clay, but with God in the mind. 25 These things, then, Stephen was theologizing; but disorderly shouts interrupted the orderly theology, and shouts succeeded shouts; and slings of stones followed the doctrines of the sacred laws. Lacking weapons, they armed themselves from the earth; swords not being at hand, they improvised stones in their right hands, and taking them outside the city, they sacrificed. For the old Jerusalem was not fitting for the sacrifice; but it was necessary that the lamb be slaughtered beside the lamb of the shepherd, that the soldier receive there the pledges of victory, where the king erected the trophy against all. But what provision for the end did he receive? Prayer and the incense from it; and stripping off the flesh, he put on prayer. And what was the prayer? "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," that is: You take what is yours; take back the deposit you gave.

Receive the pearl you entrusted; what I have in your image, I send to you. "Receive my spirit"; for the souls of the righteous no longer enter the lamentation of Hades; the dark regions of death no longer receive the spirits of the living. After you, I become both the firstfruits of the living and of the dead together, so that you may rule over both the dead and the living, and the whole mass of the dead, not without reason, takes courage. "Receive then my spirit." Do not allow your little sparrow to be ambushed by the hunters, nor the enemies meeting at the gates to mar my departure from the earth, nor to disturb my ascent to the heavens. 27 But this prayer he offered for himself, and another again for the people of the Jews: "Lord, do not set this sin against them." And this is the meaning: for he did not say, "Do not count it against them," but "Do not set it," so that you may learn that our judge is an exact weigher, weighing each one's deeds at the time of judgment. For if "he set the mountains by weight and the valleys by balance," how much more does he weigh our either faults or achievements? "Do not set this sin against them." Do not bring it up to the balance of judgment; do not burden from me those already burdened by themselves; nor let my blessing become an occasion of curse for others, nor my gain cause loss to the Jews.

I do not wish my sacrifice to become a harm to those who offer it. For even if they offer it with an evil intention, nevertheless I am ashamed of those who, even against their own will, become for me the occasion of my presence with you, of the kingdom of the heavens, of my release from the clay, of my translation above, of the victory of martyrdom, of the confession to you and from you. For it is your voice to us, by which, having been urged, I readily gave myself over to sacrifice, and I emptied my blood as into a cup through confession into your hands: “Everyone who will confess in me before men, I also will confess in him before my Father who is in the heavens.” To him is the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.