The Memory of St. Stephen in Jerusalem

St. Stephen, protomartyr (first martyr) of the Christian faith, is an essential figure in the telling of the story of early Christianity in Jerusalem.  Little is known about his life except that he was most likely a Greek-speaking Jewish convert to the new faith of Christianity (as evidenced by his name, Stefanos  "the crowned", or "with glory") was one of the seven deacons responsible for the distributing bread for the poor of Jerusalem and was young at the time of his martyrdom. 

His passionate speech and subsequent stoning by the Sanhedrin as described in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts was a pivotal point in the spread of Christianity, as many of the remaining disciples of Christ fled to other lands, thus helping spread Christianity, and was also a key moment of the conversion process of Saul, later to become the Apostle Paul, to the Christian faith who had knowledge of and approved the stoning of Stephen as part of his efforts to persecute the early Christians.

By the time Christianity had become the official state religion of Jerusalem and the Byzantine Roman province of what is today known as the Holy Land, reverence for St. Stephan had become an important part of the Christian faith. It is no wonder, then, that the Byzantine Roman Empress Eudocia dedicated a church to his memory to the immediate north of the walled city of Jerusalem, on one of the two potential places identified as where St. Stephen was martyred.  The church was destroyed during the Persian raids of the seventh century, then rebuilt at the end of the Byzantine Roman rule, later expanded upon during the time of the Crusades, then purposely destroyed by retreating Crusaders before the city fell into Muslim hands.

As with much of the immediate environs of Jerusalem, the site lay in ruins until the nineteenth century, when the Dominican Order began work on the construction of a basilica that was dedicated in 1900.  Built in neo-Byzantine style, the beautiful and expansive sanctuary is but one of the many marvels of the enclosed convent.  The site is best known as the home of the Ecole Biblique, considered one the most important centers of theological and archaeological studies in Jerusalem, and one of two centers of the French-language Catholic presence in Jerusalem (the second being the White Father’s convent of St. Anne in the Old City).  Its theological library is considered to be without equal in the Holy Land.   The convent grounds also include several ancient in-ground tombs and a functioning catacomb that dates back to at least the Byzantine era.  The grounds are immaculately kept with much-appreciated gardens and trees, offering shade and beauty and additional escape from the often-relentless heat and noise of the modern city of Jerusalem.      

Another church a short distance to the east of the basilica, built in the second half of the twentieth century by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, is located next to the Church of the Dormition at the base of the Kidron Valley across from the Garden of Gethsemane, is built over a stony patch of earth that an alternate tradition holds is the place where St. Stephen was martyred. 

Whether St. Stephen received his crown of martyrdom to the north or northeast of Jerusalem’s city walls, his memory is kept and revered not just in prayer, services, and religious art, but in two beautiful places of worship that also serve as a testimony to his sacrifice to the living faith of Christianity in the Holy Land.  

A Prayer to Saint Stephen

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Stephen as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed in choosing to devote himself to Your service as a deacon in the early Church. Amen.

Journey to the Holy Land!

Good Shepherd Travel offers visits to Jerusalem as part of our Holy Land pilgrimages along with Nazareth and the Galilee, Bethlehem, Jericho, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea. Other popular pilgrimage tours to locations such as Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, and Ireland are also available. For more information on how to begin preparing for a pilgrimage in late 2022 and 2023, contact Good Shepherd Travel owner and manager, Tony AbuAita at Tony@goodshepherdtravel.com.