Stephen, the first martyr

Drawing by Lorenzo Ferri based on the indications of Maria Valtorta

Stephen is one of the preferred disciples of Gamaliel, which explains the quality of his dialectic and rhetoric mentioned in Acts 6:10

When he encounters Jesus, Maria Valtorta describes him as a man about twenty-five years old, dark-haired, robust, with an intelligent gaze and an aristocratic appearance.

With Hermas, a disciple of Gamaliel like himself, he decides to Following Jesus. They are part of the group of the seventy-two "sent out two by two".- They continue evangelizing together throughout Palestine, without breaking their ties with Gamaliel.

Jesus spiritually describes him and symbolically predicts his destiny:

- "Your Face is clear. You are one of those who remain very small...

- "And what is on my Face, Lord?" Stephen asks.

- "Charity, faith, purity, generosity, wisdom," Jesus answers him. "God gave you all this and you have cultivated it. Your name, you have the crown of pure gold (Stephen means "crown" in Greek). Two words are engraved on it: 'Predestination' and 'Firstfruits'. Be worthy of your fate, Stephen".  

At the Ascension, Jesus calls him among those close to Him whom He wants to have at the time of His departure:

"You, Stephen, flower crowned with justice who have left the imperfect for the perfect and who will be crowned with a diadem you do not yet know but which the Angels will announce to you".

Having become one of the first deacons of the nascent Church, he is its first martyr, as is extensively reported in the Acts of the Apostles.- The stoners, who had laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul (Paul), abandon Stephen's body under the pile of stones, probably in a northern district of Jerusalem. The Virgin Mary and some Apostles come by night to fetch Stephen's body to give it a decent but unknown burial, close to Bethany, on the road to Jericho. Nicodemus and Lazarus take care of this task alone.

His name

Stephen is the French form of Stephen, derived from the Greek Stephanos (Στέφανος) meaning "crown".

Where is he mentioned in the work?

EMV 166 EMV 170 EMV 171 EMV 172 EMV 173 EMV 176

EMV 225 EMV 250 EMV 275 EMV 276 EMV 277 EMV 278 EMV 279 EMV 281 EMV 282

EMV 334 EMV 347 EMV 348 EMV 349 EMV 350 EMV 352 EMV 354 EMV 364 EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 376

EMV 404 EMV 407 EMV 440 EMV 446 EMV 466 EMV 477 EMV 478 EMV 488 EMV 495

EMV 512 EMV 514 EMV 515 EMV 516 EMV 517 EMV 565 EMV 566 EMV 578 EMV 584 EMV 592 EMV 598

EMV 634 EMV 638 EMV 641 EMV 645 EMV 645 EMV 646

Learn more about this character

Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, Salton Maria Valtorta (Monsignor René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Salvator Editions, 2012):

The Church celebrates the martyrdom of Saint Stephen on December 26. Authors differ on the year:

- Salton Jacques de Voragine (1228-1298), the stoning took place "the year of the Lord's Ascension, in the following August, at the beginning of the third day". That would therefore be August 3, 30. He was supposedly buried by Gamaliel and Nicodemus.

- Salton Marie d'Agréda, Stephen died "nine months after the Passion, on December 26, the day the holy Church celebrates his martyrdom. On that day he finished his thirty-fourth year of Age. It was also the thirty-fourth year since the Savior's birth," December 26, 30. He is buried by anonymous "Disciples". The location is not specified.

- Johann Sepp, a German theologian (1816-1909), gives the date of Stephen's death "according to Church Tradition" as December 26, 32, referring to a text by Alexander of Jerusalem, quoted by Euthalius in the 4th century.

- Monsignor Gaume indicates December 26, 33.

- Different Bibles provide various datings: 31 for the Osty Bible, about 33 for the Jerusalem Bible, 34 to 36 for the Chouraqui Bible, about 35 for the Maredsous Bible.

At the Vatican Museum, a series of paintings by Bernardo Daddi (1290-1348) relates the discovery of Stephen’s tomb by a dream had by Lucien, a priest of Jerusalem at the beginning of the 5th century. The tomb would be located in Kafr Gimal ("The tomb of Gamliel"), today Bayt Jamal. This place is located 22 km east of Jerusalem.

Maria Valtorta does not date Stephen's death, but Jean Aulagnier, her exegete, estimates it occurred at the beginning of the year 32.

Person who analyzes the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.