In the Ethiopian
Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Saint Stephen is commemorated monthly on
the 17th day of every month, and the annual feast of Saint Stephen
the Archdeacon is celebrated on Teqemet 17 (which is October 27th in
the Gregorian calendar). He is honored as the first martyr
(Protomartyr) and as the first of the seven deacons chosen after
Pentecost
Dedication to the ordination
of the First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, who was stoned to death
about three years after the Ascension of the Lord.
Saint Stephen was a
Hellenistic Jew and belonged to the group of the seven deacons
selected by the Apostles to carry out the charity work of the first
Christian community of Jerusalem.
According to the Acts of the
Apostles, he was a man filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. He
preached with boldness and performed many great wonders. His action
caused the animosity of the Judean priesthood, for they failed to
understand and accept the ecumenical dimension and the liberating
content of Christ’s preaching to every human being, and especially
to those who had been wronged.
The First Martyr Stephen was
considered a blasphemer and a denier of Judaism, for he declared,
even before the Sanhedrin (great assembly), that Moses and the Mosaic
Law, as well as all the Prophets and the Righteous of the Old
Testament, were not carriers of salvation, but prepared the way for
the coming of the true Savior, who is Christ.
Imitating His love, and
dedicating himself to Him, he forgave his murderers, begging the
Triune God not to impute to them the sin they had committed.
The new Christian Prince Matthew dedicated his life to converting his
people to the True Faith. Soon St. Fulvian-Matthew abdicated his rule
and was ordained a priest. Upon the death of Bishop Platon, the
Apostle Matthew appeared to him and instructed him to be consecrated
as Bishop and to be the head the Ethiopian Church. Having become a
bishop, St. Fulvian-Matthew labored at preaching the Word of God to
his African people for the rest of his life, continuing the work of
his heavenly patron.
Saint Matthew the Evangelist, was martyred today,
on Tikmet 12 / October 22. He was one of the Twelve Disciples
and his name was Levi. He was the one sitting at the receipt of
custom outside the city of Capernaum, when the Lord Christ said to
him, “Follow Me.” He left all, rose up, and followed Him. He made
for the Lord Christ a great feast in his own house. That made the
Pharisees murmur against Him saying to His disciples, “Why do your
teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus
answered and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a
physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32)
He preached in the land of Palestine and Tyre and Sidon. Then he went
to Ethiopia. He entered the city of priests and converted them to the
knowledge of God. When he wished to enter the city, he met a young
man who told him, “You will not be able to go in unless you shave
off the hair of your head and carry palm branches in your hand.” He
did as the young man told him. And, as he was thinking about that,
the Lord Christ appeared to him in the form of the young man who had
met him earlier, and after He encouraged and comforted him,
disappeared. He realized that this young man was the Lord of Glory
Himself.
He then entered the city as one of its priests. He went to the temple
of Apollo and found the high priest, and talked with him concerning
the idols that they were worshipping. He explained to him how those
idols did not hear or sense anything and how the true Mighty Lord is
He who created the Heaven and Earth. The Lord made through him a
wonder: a table came down to them from Heaven and a great light shone
around them. When Hermes the priest saw this wonder, he asked him,
“What is the name of your God?” The apostle replied, “My God is
the Lord Christ.” Hermes, the priest, believed in Christ and many
people followed him.
When the Governor of the city knew that, he ordered them burned. It
happened at that time that the son of the Governor died. Saint
Matthew the Apostle prayed and made supplications to God to raise the
son and the Lord answered him and raised the child from death. When
the Governor saw that, he and the rest of the people of the city
believed. Saint Matthew baptized them and ordained a bishop and
priests, and built a church for them.
After he had preached in other countries, he went back to Jerusalem.
Some of the Jews which had been preached to, and had believed and
been baptized by him, asked him to write down what he had preached to
them. He wrote the beginning of the Gospel attributed to him in the
Hebrew language but he did not complete it. It was said that he
finished it during his preaching in India, in the first year of the
reign of Claudius and the ninth year of the Ascension.
His martyrdom was consummated by stoning by the hands of Justus the
Governor, and his body was buried in Carthage of Caesarea by some
believers, in a holy place.
