Deacons love the second day of Christmas…
Deacons love the second day of Christmas—because on this second day of Christmas, Catholics remember St. Stephen the Archdeacon and Protomartyr.
In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Stephen was among the seven put forward by their respective communities and designated by the Apostles to care for the poor and vulnerable members of the growing Jesus movement—the traditional origin story for the diaconate. Because of his membership in this group of seven, he is called “archdeacon,” meaning chief or first among deacons.
He would go on to lay claim to another “first” for the early Christian community—“protomartyr,” meaning “first martyr”—when he was executed by the authorities, dragged outside the city walls and stoned to death after refusing to back down from his convictions about Christ. (Among those in the crowd who stoned him was St. Paul, who would later entrust his Letter to the Romans to his friend Deacon St. Phoebe after his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus transformed him from persecutor of Jesus followers to foremost among preachers of the Gospel.)
In this Christmas season, we look to St. Stephen the Archdeacon, whose reputation for holiness and generosity led his community to put forward his name in response to the Apostles’ quest for those they would go on to authorize as the first deacons, charged with tending to the material and spiritual needs of the most vulnerable members of their communities. In a world where so many face persecution and violence, we remember St. Stephen the Protomartyr, whose fidelity to the Gospel led to his execution.
On behalf of the DD staff team, we send blessings of peace to all this Christmas.
On St. Stephen’s feast day, furthermore, we join the U.S. bishops in celebrating the recent commutation of the death sentences of 37 men—nearly all those on federal death row—to terms of imprisonment, following Pope Francis’s multiple appeals to President Biden in recent weeks.
Through the intercession of St. Stephen, Archdeacon and Protomartyr, we pray:
In gratitude for the commutation of nearly all U.S. federal death sentences,
For an end to the death penalty,
For the grace to see and respond to the unmet needs in our communities,
For courage to speak what is true when the authorities stand against us,
For preaching ministries which inspire the hearts of the faithful to act with boldness and love,
For confidence when we are asked to do what no one before us has done, and so to blaze a trail,
St. Stephen, pray for us!
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