On this second day of Christmas the Church remembers St. Stephen, a deacon of the early Church of Jerusalem, who was the first Christian martyr, murdered for being a known disciple of Jesus.
It seems an odd thing for the Church to honor a victim of such a horrible death on the day after it celebrates the birth of the Holy Child. It asks us to consider our religion, ask what place and importance it has in our lives, and begs the question if our lives are any different, any more true, because we follow Jesus.
This is the prayer for the feast of St. Stephen:
We give thee thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to thy Son Jesus Christ, who standeth at thy right hand; where he liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Here's a lovely meditation for this second day of Christmas:
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/26/christmas-is-about-martyrdom-the-lesson-of-st-stephen/
Fr. Troy Beecham
