St. Stephen's Day is celebrated by the Catholic Church in many European countries on December 26, the second day after Christmas. In a number of countries it is a public holiday and an official day off.
The first Christian martyr, Archdeacon Stephen (St. Stephen), was one of the seven apostles chosen by the Apostle Peter to help the poor and preach Christianity. He was martyred (Stephan was stoned to death) around 34 AD. It is known that one of his tormentors was Saul —, who later became the Apostle Paul, a beacon and pillar of Christianity.
Stephen was a Christian first martyr and suffered for Christ at the age of about 30. As Asterius put it, it was the «beginner of the martyrs, the teacher of suffering for Christ, the foundation of good confession, for before Stephen no one poured out his blood for the Gospel».
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Saint Stephen boldly preached Christian teaching and defeated the Jewish teachers of the law in disputes. For this, the Jews slandered Stephen, as if he was blaspheming God and Moses. With this accusation, Saint Stephen appeared before the Sanhedrin and the high priest.
He gave a fiery speech in which he outlined the history of the Jewish people and boldly denounced the Jews for persecuting the prophets and executing the Messiah they expected, Jesus Christ.
During the speech, Saint Stephen suddenly saw the sky unfolded and Jesus Christ in glory. He loudly proclaimed this. Then the Jews, covering their ears, attacked him, dragged him out of the city and stoned him, and the holy martyr prayed for his murderers.
In the distance, on a raised platform, stood the Mother of God with the Holy Apostle John the Theologian and prayed earnestly for the martyr. Before his death, Stephen said: «Lord Jesus, accept my spirit, Lord, do not impute this to them as a sin», — and then betrayed his pure soul to Christ.
The body of the holy first martyr Stephen, left to be eaten by the animals, was secretly taken by the famous Jewish teacher Gamaliel and his son Abib and interred on his estate. Subsequently, they both believed in Christ and received Holy Baptism.