Memory of the Mother of the Lord

The Roma people, including those of Islamic faith, celebrate Saint George, (+330 ca) who died a martyr to free the Church.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 7,51-8,1

'You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Upright One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. In spite of being given the Law through angels, you have not kept it.' They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him. But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. 'Look! I can see heaven thrown open,' he said, 'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.' All the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they made a concerted rush at him, thrust him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And with these words he fell asleep. Saul approved of the killing. That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles scattered to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

With the stoning of Stephen the story of the Christian martyrs begins. He imitates Jesus to the point of death. Luke reports his last words, similar to those Jesus pronounced from the cross: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and again, as Stephen falls to his knees, even from the throwing of the stones, he prays: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Stephen is the first (the protomartyr) of a very long series of martyrs that in the 20th and 21st centuries has numerically reached its highest point in the history of the Church. A martyr is someone who does not come to terms with the logic of this world; that is why he is violently driven out of it. It happened the same way to Jesus: he could not be born in Bethlehem and had to go outside; he went to Nazareth and was led to the precipice to be killed; in Jerusalem, he was finally taken outside the walls and crucified. The martyr is a witness to the love of the Gospel to the very limit of love, even to the shedding of blood. Stephen, following Jesus' example, forgives those who are killing him. For him, as for Jesus, there are no enemies; indeed, he prays for his persecutors to repent and convert their hearts. It is normal for the world to hate enemies, or supposed enemies. Yet what the world needs is to be emptied of the enormous amount of violence and filled with forgiveness and love. It is the crucified who saves the world, not the crucifiers. And we can add that the many martyrs of all times have saved and continue to save the world from destruction. Paul, who had witnessed the martyrdom and approved it to the point of continuing the persecution against Christians, is perhaps the first to be touched in his heart by Stephen's prayer.