Feast 26 December
First martyr. Deacon. The face of an angel, then the stones.
Sacred art
The portrait kept with St. Stephen is the image this library has of Stephen. The honour goes to the person, and through the person to God. It is not a machine, and it is not a substitute for the life written below.
Acts 7. Saul held the coats. The Church keeps his feast in the octave of Christmas because the Child already has enemies.
If it belongs to Stephen, it is here, with a door back into the story.
Road to Damascusc. AD 34
A persecutor of the Church is thrown down by a light and a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The risen Jesus makes an apostle out of an enemy.
Santarémc. 1247
A woman, desperate to recover her husband’s love, takes a consecrated Host from Mass to a sorceress. The Host bleeds. She hides it, then surrenders it. It is still reserved in Santarém.
