Category:Relics of Stephen (subject)

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According to Christian traditions, Relics of Stephen are (or were) preserved in several locations, notably, the Church of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls in Rome [Italy], the Church of Saint Stephen in Venice [Italy] and the Church of the Holy Trinity of St. Sergius Lavra at Sergiyev Posad [Russia].

Overview

According to the Acts of Apostles, Stephen was the first Christian martyr, being stoned in Jerusalem around 36 CE; see Martyrdom of Stephen. Relics of Stephen include remains of his body, and places associated to his death and burial

The Body of Stephen

The Acts claim that the body of Stephen was buried by some (unnamed) "devout men"; see Burial of Stephen, which some later Christian traditions identified with Nicodemus and Gamaliel.

In 415 CE a certain priest named Lucian claimed to have learned by revelation that the remains of Stephen were in Caphar Gamala, some distance to Jerusalem, together with those of Nicodemus, Rabbi Gamaliel, and of one of his two sons, Abibos. The relics were then exhumed and carried first to the church of Mount Sion, then, in 460, to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place.

During the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450), the relics of Stephen were translated to Constantinople.

According to a tradition, (some) relics of Stephen reached Rome at the end of the 6th century where they have been venerated until today in the Church of St Lawrence outside the Walls, along with those of St Lawrence.

  • The basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome, Italy

  • The tombs of Lawrence and Stephen under the main altar

After the sack of Constantinople in 1204, relics of Stephen resurfaced and were venerated in many churches and sanctuaries across Europe.

A tradition locates the tomb of Stephen in the Church of St Stephen in Venice [Italy]. The whole right arm of Stephen is said to be preserved at the Holy Trinity of St. Sergius Lavra, established by St. Sergius of Radonezh in 1345, at Sergiyev Posad, Russia.

  • The monastery of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Russia

  • The relics of Stephen's right arm.

The Stoning Place of Stephen at Jerusalem

There are two different traditions about the site of the stoning of Stephen. One claims that the scene of St. Stephen's martyrdom was east of Jerusalem, near the Lions' Gate (called since St. Stephen's Gate), and developed by the thirteeenth century. The site is now marked by the Orthodox Church of St. Stephen.

  • The Orthodox Church of St Stephen at Jerusalem, Israel

  • The site of the stoning of Stephen at the Orthodox Church

The site of the Eudocian basilica, built in the 5th century on the location where Stephen died according to the earliest tradition of the Martyrdom, was identified in the late nineteenth century outside the Damascus Gate. Marie-Joseph Lagrange played a major role in the identification of the site and wanted it to become the location of the Ecole Biblique et Archéologique Français de Jérusalem. A new edifice was erected on the old foundations by the Dominican Fathers and a large church was consecrated in 1900.

  • The Catholic Basilica of St Stephen at Jerusalem, Israel

The Burial place of Stephen at Bet Gamal

In 1916, the Salesians of Dom Bosco at Beit Jimal Monastery discovered a mosaic floor during excavations for a small construction. In 1923 Maurice Gisler identified the ruins as those of a Byzantine church at the burial site of Stephen, Nicodemus, Gamaliel and Abibos. The Salesians built a church over the mosaics in 1930, and called it the "Church of St Stephen. In 1999 Andrzej Strus found nearby the remains of a circular structure he identified as a Byzantine funeral monument. In 2006 Emile Puech claimed that he had found evidence that the structure carried an inscription to Stephen.

  • Beit Jimal Monastery, Israel (general view)

  • The Church of St. Stephen

  • The Crypt built on the burial site

External links

  • [ Wikipedia]
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