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Saint Stephen's Day

Today [which is to say, the 26th of December] is Saint Stephen's Day.

Back at the beginning of Advent, I wrote that it's even harder to imagine Americans partying for 12 days straight than it is to imagine them fasting for 4 weeks. Saint Stephen's Day, the first day after Christmas itself, is not much kept in this country-- indeed, some treat it as the day to take down the Christmas decorations and throw out the tree!

Well, it's high time that changed. Let's talk about Saint Stephen, his traditional observances, and how we might celebrate his Feast.

Stephen, Protomartyr

Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr. His story is related thusly in the Acts of the Apostles:

And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyre′nians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cili′cia and Asia, arose and disputed with Stephen. 1But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated men, who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen speaks at length, and attempts to persuade the council to accept Jesus. But they refuse:

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

It is likely that Stephen's veneration goes back to the First Century, and that this is why the story of his martyrdom was detailed at such length in the book of Acts.

Traditional Practices

The traditional practices surrounding St. Stephen's Day are many and interesting.

In Tyrol, this is traditionally a time for the blessing of water and salt. The water is sprinkled in the fields to avert the influences of witches and evil spirits, and bread dipped in it is given to cattle. Horses are given consecrated salt and grains. Horses were also bled on this day in many regions, back when bleeding was still good for health. In still other regions, horses decked with ribbons were raced about the town, or through the church, and blessed and exorcized by priests. In Sweden, it was the custom at one time to take horses to water at exactly 1:00 in the morning on St. Stephen's Day, with a reward for whoever arrived first.

It was also a common practice on this day for young men to go from town to town, before dawn, singing raucously. For whatever reason, they were given beer or liquor for their trouble, which is a common theme in traditions of this sort.

Of course, it is just this sort of tradition that is preserved in America in the trick-or-treating that we do at Halloween. In earlier times, trick-or-treating was apparently seen as a fine way to celebrate more or less any holiday, and it was an all ages affair. God send the day may come again! (And it may-- I can report that this year, in my neighborhood, some of the men had set up a "medic's tent" where two guys dressed as doctors were handing out "covid shots" to the adults. My "covid shot" consisted of a large plastic syringe full of whiskey. "Make sure to come back for your booster!" they told me.)

In the British Aisles, there was an odd variation on this theme which persisted into the modern era and has survived in certain parts of the Northeastern US. This is the "wren day" custom, in which men dressed in mummer's garb would kill a wren and go door to door demanding money for the poor bird's funeral. The money was then used to throw a party for the entire town.

Suggestions for Practice

With few exceptions, most of us won't have a chance to race our horses about the the village at 1 in the morning, or to dress up as mummer's and bury a wren. That said, we can still incorporate some of the traditional methods of celebrating Saint Stephen's Day.

First, if you have horses, and I know some of you do, this would be a good traditional day to bless them. Give them consecrated bread, salt, and holy water-- and you can consecrate these yourself, if you like.

Of course, most of us don't have horses. But most of us have family, or friends. So do what they did in the old days-- have a party! Invite your friends and extended family, and continue the Christmas celebration by exchanging gifts outside of the immediate family.

In my family, Saint Stephen's Day has for a very long time been the day that we get the whole extended family together. Stephen is the patron saint of the family as a whole-- you can tell, because there is a Stephen in every generation. Both of my grandfathers were named Stephen, their eldest sons are named Stephen, and, if you didn't know, my name is also Stephen. Nomen est omen; in our way of looking at things, nothing happens by "coincidence." If the name Stephen appears again and again in a family, this tells us that Saint Stephen himself is present. (Our universal tendency toward argumentativeness is another indicator in this direction.) But you don't need a house full of Stephens to celebrate his feast day in the traditional manner.

As an aside, when I talk about incorporating older practices, it's emphatically not my goal simply to preserve these. The idea, rather, is to start with what we can as a base-- and let the tradition evolve from there. In the modern world, and especially the modern United States, we've lost a lot of our old traditions. We can't simply re-create them; they are products of their own times, places, and cultures. What we can do is start by re-creating a version of them that is suitable for our own time-- and then, critically, let them evolve from there. Tradition is not and has never been a static thing. It's like a river, flowing from the dead, to the living, to the unborn. Our great problem today is that the river has been dammed. To try to simply re-create the past, as though it were a static thing which never changed, would be like accepting the dam and simply going and swimming in the artificial lake created by it. No-- we should, rather, seek to break the dam, and let the river flow again from the dead, to us, to our children.

Saint Stephen's Day Meditation

We should also take the time to honor Saint Stephen by reflection on his story and his martyrdom.

Today in meditation, read the discussion of Saint Stephen from the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 6 and 7. Enter into meditation in the usual way, and explore these ideas in your mind. This can take any form you like-- You can visualize the martyrdom as an event taking place before your eyes. You can contemplate the meaning of his martyrdom, or of any particular element of the story-- what does it mean that his face shown like an angel? What is the meaning of the long discussion of Jewish history which precedes his martyrdom in Acts 7? You can use either of these methods, or something else entirely. Follow the thought for as long as possible, and then release it with a prayer to God, and perhaps a resolution to face the challenges of life as Stephen faced his accusers. Close the meditation in the usual way.

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