Prayer:Prayer to St. Stephen
Stored: Prayer to St. Stephen
| Prayer to St. Stephen | |
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| Author | Unknown |
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| Language | English |
| Approval | None |
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| Added on | 2026-08-13 |
St. Stephen, venerated as the Protomartyr of the Christian faith, holds a singular place of honor in the life of the Church. He was one of the first seven deacons ordained by the Apostles, chosen for his holiness, wisdom, and zeal for the Gospel. His death by stoning, described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6–7), makes him the first recorded Christian martyr, and his heroic witness has inspired the faithful for two thousand years.
Devotion to St. Stephen is among the oldest in Christian tradition, dating to the earliest centuries of the Church. His feast day on December 26 — the day immediately following Christmas — is itself a profound theological statement: the birth of the Savior is immediately followed by the commemoration of the first who gave his life for that Savior. Prayers invoking his intercession have been offered since antiquity, calling upon his witness to forgiveness and courage as a model for Christian life.
The prayer to St. Stephen is particularly cherished by those who face persecution, injustice, or slander, as well as those who seek the grace to forgive their enemies. His dying words — echoing the prayer of Christ Himself — "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60), remain one of the most moving expressions of Christian charity in all of Scripture and serve as the spiritual foundation of every prayer offered in his name.
The Prayer
O glorious St. Stephen, you were crowned with the crown of martyrdom as the first to shed your blood for Christ.
Full of grace and fortitude, you preached the Word of God with power and bore witness to the Risen Lord even unto death.
Your dying prayer was for those who stoned you, that God would not hold their sin against them.
We ask you, holy Protomartyr, to intercede for us before the throne of God. Obtain for us the grace of courage in our faith, charity toward those who wrong us, and perseverance to the end of our earthly pilgrimage.
May we, who honor your martyrdom, imitate your example of love and forgiveness, and one day share with you in the eternal glory of the God for whom you so willingly gave your life.
Amen.
History and Background
St. Stephen's story is told primarily in the sixth and seventh chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. He was chosen as one of the seven deacons — the first ordained ministers below the rank of Apostle — to assist in the distribution of aid to the poor in the early Jerusalem community. The Acts describe him as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5) and as one who performed "great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8).
His powerful preaching brought him into direct conflict with members of various synagogues, who could not withstand his wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Brought before the Sanhedrin on charges of blasphemy, Stephen delivered a sweeping address retelling the history of Israel's salvation and boldly declaring the guilt of those who had rejected and crucified the Lord Jesus. In response, the enraged crowd dragged him outside the city walls of Jerusalem and stoned him to death — making him the Church's first martyr, and earning him the title Protomartyr.
Among those present at his execution, holding the cloaks of those who threw stones, was a young man named Saul of Tarsus — later to become St. Paul the Apostle. Ancient tradition holds that the prayers Stephen offered for his persecutors helped bring about the dramatic conversion of St. Paul, a reflection captured in St. Augustine's famous saying: Ecclesia Stephano orante, Paulum acquisivit — "The Church, by the prayer of Stephen, gained Paul."
The formal cult of St. Stephen was greatly strengthened in 415 AD when a priest named Lucian reported a vision revealing the location of Stephen's relics at Kafr Gamala, near Jerusalem. The discovery and translation of these relics sparked tremendous devotion throughout the Christian world, and churches, basilicas, and prayers in his honor multiplied rapidly across both the Eastern and Western Church.
How to Pray / Devotional Use
The Prayer to St. Stephen is most traditionally offered on his feast day, December 26, which falls within the Octave of Christmas and is observed by the Roman Rite, the Anglican Communion, and many other Christian traditions. Praying this prayer on his feast day is a beautiful way to unite the joy of Christmas with the sober and heroic witness of the first martyr.
This prayer is particularly appropriate in the following circumstances:
- When facing persecution or unjust treatment — Stephen is the patron of those who suffer false accusations, and his intercession is sought by those enduring slander, workplace injustice, or hostility on account of their faith.
- When struggling to forgive — Because his most heroic act was forgiving his murderers in the moment of his death, Stephen's intercession is powerfully invoked when one seeks the grace to forgive those who have caused grave harm.
- For those in diaconal ministry — As the first and most celebrated of the early deacons, St. Stephen is the patron of deacons, and this prayer is fittingly used by permanent and transitional deacons, as well as those in formation for the diaconate.
- For courage in evangelization — Stephen's fearless proclamation of the Gospel before hostile authorities makes him a fitting patron to invoke before difficult conversations about the faith or acts of public witness.
The prayer may be incorporated into a Liturgy of the Hours devotion on December 26, used as part of a novena beginning December 17, or prayed individually at any time. Some devotional traditions suggest pairing it with a reading of Acts 6:8–7:60 for a fuller meditation on Stephen's witness.