Saint Stephen I, Pope and Martyr

This is what gave rise to the discussion on the validity of the baptism of heretics: the Cataphrygians and the Novatians rebaptizing all Catholics who were perverted and entered their sect, some bishops of the East took it into their heads that they should, in exchange, rebaptize all those who came into the bosom of the Church after having been baptized by heretics. For this purpose, they held a council at Iconium, in Phrygia, where prelates from Cilicia, Cappadocia, Galatia, and neighboring provinces having assembled, entered into the same sentiment, and declared that none of the sacraments conferred by heretics should be held as valid: that is to say, neither baptism, nor the imposition of hands or confirmation, nor ordination, and that, therefore, they must necessarily be reiterated when one became a Catholic. This was a novelty hitherto unknown in the Church: since the time of the Apostles, it had always been recognized that the faith of the minister is not at all necessary for the validity of the Sacraments, but that it suffices that the essential things be observed, and that the minister have the intention of the Church, and, for the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, that he also have the episcopal power, without which he cannot be their legitimate minister. Saint Stephen, having learned of the decisions of these ignorant or overly zealous bishops, conceived an extreme pain, and, so as not to participate in their sacrileges, he cut them off from his communion, as persons who were abandoning the apostolic traditions and the sound doctrine which had been inviolably held in the Church. It is even said that, to make them feel more the perversity of their dogma, which tended to make one doubt the validity of all baptism and all other sacraments, he would not see the deputies they sent him, nor suffer the faithful to have any communication with them.

SAINT STEPHEN I, POPE AND MARTYR.

However, other councils were still held on this subject, both in the East and in Africa, and several other bishops, whom their knowledge and piety made very commendable, defined the same thing as the council of Iconium, among others, the great Saint Cyprian, who was like the soul of all the syn ods of Africa. They wr le grand saint Cyprien Bishop of Africa who opposed Stephen on the question of baptism. ote their sentiment to Saint Stephen and tried to persuade him, by many reasons, that the baptism conferred by heretics could not be good. But this great Pope, whom God had placed in His Church as an unshakable rock against which all the waves of these false opinions were to break, remained firm in the defense of the ancient doctrine, and, by a single word that he answered these prelates, he overturned all their reasonings, quashed all their definitions, annihilated all their projects, and finally obliged them to return to the true sentiments they had left, as Saint Dionysius of Alexandria, Saint Jerome, and Saint Augustine teach us. "Let nothing be innovated," said this holy Pontiff, "but let us remain with tradition, holding as good the baptism conferred by heretics, and contenting ourselves with reconciling by the imposition of hands, that is to say by penance, those who return to the bosom of the Catholic Church." He supposes, nevertheless, that the heretics have observed the things necessary for baptism, that is to say, that they have employed natural water, and that they have given it with the invocation of the name of the most Holy Trinity. This is why it was ordered, at the first council of Arles, that heretics who converted would be questioned on the creed, and that, if it were recognized that they had been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, they would not be rebaptized, but that they would be baptized if it were found that this form had been lacking.

During this period of contention, Saint Stephen still applied himself, with incredible zeal, to supporting the faith of the faithful in Rome and increasing their number through the conversion of pagans. The emperors then issued an edict by which they granted the confiscation of the goods of Christians to all those who would denounce them, so that none of them could escape, and that avarice itself might lead some to betray their brothers and reveal them to the judges, in order to possess their goods. The Pope, being informed of this edict, assembled the priests, the clerics, and the laity, and exhorted them to prepare, through prayer and the contempt of temporal goods, to withstand this furious storm that threatened them. A priest named Bonus spoke and told him that they were all prepared, not only to lose their goods, but also to shed their blood for the cause of Jesus Christ. Everyone applauded this response, which gave incredible joy to Saint Stephen; afterwards, he hid in one of the catacombs that served as a retreat for Christians on such occasions; in one day, he baptized one hundred and eight catechumens, confirmed them with the sign of the holy Mystery, say the Acts of his martyrdom, and offered for them the Sacrifice, in which they participated. At the same time, knowing that the time of his death was approaching, he put the affairs of his flock in order, and entrusted them to three priests, seven deacons, and sixteen minor clerics, who were l ike the Némésius Roman tribune converted by Pope Stephen. cardinals of his Church.

Then Nemesius, who was a tribune, came to find him and implored him to restore sight to his daughter, blind from birth. Stephen promised him to do what he desired if he would believe in Jesus Christ. The father believed, he was catechized and baptized, and his daughter, who was also baptized , upo Lucie Daughter of Nemesius, healed of her blindness and baptized. n coming out of the baptismal font, where she was given the name Lucia, received the light of the body. On the same day, sixty-three pagans were converted and asked with such insistence for the Sacrament of regeneration that the holy Pope could not refuse them. This number increased day by day: so that Stephen, who went from cave to cave to celebrate Mass and hold the assemblies of the faithful, found himself continually obliged to confer baptism. However, Nemesius having been arrested with his daughter Lucia, as well as Sempronius, the steward of his house, and cited before Olympius to declare in what all his wealth consisted, this faithful officer declared that he had none left and that he had distributed everything to the poor. Olympius pressed him to adore a statue of Mars, threatening him with the greatest tortures if he did not obey; but Sempronius, looking at the idol with indignation, said to him: "May Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, break you and scatter you!" And, at that very hour, it melted like lead in a crucible, or like wax exposed to a great fire. Olympius was extremely surprised by this miracle, and, passing from astonishment to reflection, he began to doubt the truth of his gods and to conceive an inclination for the Christian religion. He spoke of it to Exuperia, his wife; she was of the opinion, like him, to convert. Which they did with their son, Theodulus, and their whole family; and they broke at the same time their idols, of which they had a room completely filled. Saint Stephen, being warned, came to find them, instructed them more perfectly in the faith, animated them to perseverance, and conferred upon them the Sacrament of regeneration. They all then received the crown of martyrdom with a joy that cannot be expressed, and this holy Pope, who had begotten them in Jesus Christ, also gave them burial. Twelve clerics of his Church were likewise martyred before him in this persecution: the first was the priest Bonus, who had so courageously protested to Saint Stephen that he was ready, with all his brethren, to endure death for Jesus Christ. The others were the saints Faustus, Maurus, Primitivus, Calomniosus, Exuperantius, John, Cyril, Theodore, Basil, Castulus, and Honoratus.

After the execution of these generous ecclesiastics, Saint Stephen was seized and led before the Emperor Valerian. This prince, whom magicians had turned extremely bitter against the Christian religion, asked him if he was not that seditious man who was troubling the State and turning the people away from the worship of the immortal gods: "I do not trouble the State," replied the Saint, "but I exhort the people to leave the service of demons to worship the true God." — "You blaspheme," said Valerian, "but you shall pay with your death for the insult you offer our gods." At the same time, he had him led to the temple of Mars to be beheaded if he would not offer a sacrifice there. The holy Pontiff, having arrived there, began to pray, and his prayer was so effective that he drew down from heaven thunder and lightning which overturned a part of the temple. This crash so terrified the soldiers and executioners destined for the execution that they all fled and left the bless bienheureux Pontife Pope in office at the time of the events. ed Pontiff alone with the Christians who had followed him. Seeing himself at liberty, he led his dear flock to the cemetery of Lucina, where he exhorted them again not to fear the torments that end with life. And, to further strengthen their courage, he ascended the altar to offer the august sacrifice of our Redemption. Valerian, learning where he was, sent satellites to take his life. Their tumultuous entry into the church did not astonish him; he did not cease to finish the holy Mysteries peacefully, hoping to be sacrificed himself after having sacrificed his Savior. The Mass being finished, he sat in his episcopal chair as if to exhort the people, and then these soldiers, without respect for the holy place or the dignity of his person, cut off his head in his own throne on August 2, in the year of Our Lord 257. He had held the see for four years, two months, and ten days: in two ordinations, in the month of December, he had made seven priests, five deacons, and three bishops to govern various Churches. Saint Vincent of Lérins, in his *Commentaries*, gave an excellent eulogy of his generosity; it was all the greater because his zeal to preserve the ancient doctrine inviolably had adversaries who were very considerable for their piety; but it was just, says this learned Father, that he should surpass his brothers as much by the firmness and zeal of his faith as he surpassed them by the authority of his see. His reputation for holiness was so great everywhere that the Greeks placed him in their Menologion and their calendar to celebrate his feast every year, and the heretical Donatists, whose repeated baptisms he had condemned in advance, never dared to attack his reputation.

His body, along with the seat upon which he had been beheaded, which was stained crimson with blood, was placed by the Christians in a vau lt in the cemetery of cimetière de Calliste Burial place of Saint Pontian in Rome. Callixtus on the Appian Way on August 12, 257; but it was transported on August 17, 762, under Saint Paul I, to the church of Saints Stephen and Sylvester, which this Pope had built, and which is known today as San Silvestro in Capite, because the head of Saint John the Baptist is preserved there. His relics were transferred to Pisa in 1682 and deposited in the church that bears his name. Since then, his head has been transported to Cologne, in Germany. His memory is very famous in the town of Saint-Mihiel French town where a church is dedicated to him. Saint-Mihiel (Meuse), where a church is consecrated in his honor. The notaries of the Roman Church took care to collect his Acts, which Surius gave us in two versions, having drawn them from Simeon Metaphrastes, who had translated them into Greek, and from Cardinal Baronius. One can see, in the Notes of the latter, the other authors who have spoken of him. All our martyrologies make mention of him.

He is represented with a sword plunged into his chest.

Cf. Les Actes des Martyrs, by the Rev. Fathers Benedictines of the Congregation of France; l’Histoire de l’Église, by Abbé Darras; Dom Ceillier.