The ordination of the seven deacons. The zeal of Stephen.
By occasion of a murmur in the Church (vvhose number novv is so grovven that it can not be numbred) Seuen of them being ordered by the Apostles in the holy order of Deacons: • one of them, Steuen, worketh great miracles: and is by such as he confounded in disputation, falsely accused in the Councel, of blasphemie against the Temple and rites thereof.
1And in those days, the number of the disciples increasing, there arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, for that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.Or in que' giorni multiplicandosi i discepoli, si querelavano i Greci contro gli Ebrei, perché nel giornaliere ministero non si facesse caso delle loro vedove.AND in those daies the numbre of disciples increasing, there arose a murmuring of the Greekes against the Hebrues, for that their vvidovves vvere despised in the daily ministerie.In diebus illis, crescente numero discipulorum, factum est murmur Græcorum adversus Hebræos, eo quod despicerentur in ministerio quotidiano viduæ eorum. 2Then the twelve, calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.E i dodici convocata la moltitudini de' discepoli, dissero: non è ben fatto, che noi abbandoniamo la parola di Dio per servire alle mense.And the Tvvelue calling together the multitude of the disciples, said, It is not reason, that vve leaue the vvord of God, and serue tables.Convocantes autem duodecim multitudinem discipulorum, dixerunt: Non est æquum nos derelinquere verbum Dei, et ministrare mensis. 3Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.Scegliete adunque, o fratelli, tra voi sette uomini di buona riputazione, pieni di Spirito santo, e di sapienza, a' quali diasi da noi l'incumbenza di tali occorrerne.Consider therfore brethren, seuen men of you of good testimonie, ful of the holy Ghost and vvisedom, vvhom vve may appoint ouer this busines.Considerate ergo, fratres, viros ex vobis boni testimonii septem, plenos Spiritu Sancto et sapientia, quos constituamus super hoc opus. 4But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.Noi poi ci occuperemo totalmente all'orazione, e al ministero della parola.But vve vvil be instant in praier and the ministerie of the vvord.Nos vero orationi et ministerio verbi instantes erimus. 5And the saying was liked by all the multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor, and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.E piacque questo discorso a tutta la moltitudine. Ed elessero Stefano, uomo pieno di fede e di Spirito santo, e Filippo, e Procoro, e Nicanore, e Timone, e Parmena, e Nicolao proseliti Antiocheno.And the saying vvas liked before al the multitude. And they chose Steuen a man ful of faith and of the holy Ghost, and Philippe, and Próchorus, and Nicánor, and Timon, and Pármenas, and Nicolas a stranger of Antioche.Et placuit sermo coram omni multitudine. Et elegerunt Stephanum, virum plenum fide et Spiritu Sancto, et Philippum, et Prochorum, et Nicanorem, et Timonem, et Parmenam, et Nicolaum advenam Antiochenum.
6These they set before the apostles: and they praying, imposed hands upon them.E li condusser davanti agli Apostoli: i quali fatta orazione imposero loro le mani.These they did set in the presence of the Apostles: and praying they imposed handes vpon them.Hos statuerunt ante conspectum Apostolorum: et orantes imposuerunt eis manus. 7And the word of the Lord increased: and the number of the disciples was multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great multitude also of the priests obeyed the faith.E la parola di Dio fruttificava, e moltiplicavasi forte il numero de' discepoli in Gerusalemme: ed anche gran turba di sacerdoti ubbidiva alla fede.And the vvord of God increased, and the number of the disciples vvas multiplied in Hierusalem excedingly: a great multitude also of the priests obeied the faith.Et verbum Domini crescebat, et multiplicabatur numerus discipulorum in Jerusalem valde: multa etiam turba sacerdotum obediebat fidei. 8And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.Stefano poi pieno di grazia, e di fortezza faceva prodigj, e segni grandi tral popolo.And Steuen ful of grace and fortitude did great vvonders & signes among the people.Stephanus autem plenus gratia et fortitudine, faciebat prodigia et signa magna in populo. 9Now there arose some, of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.Ma si levaron su dalla Sinagoga detta dei Libertini alcuni e Cirenei, o Alessandrini, e uomini della Cilicia, e dell'Asia a disputare con Stefano:And there arose certaine of that vvhich is called the Synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that vvere of Cilicia and Asia, disputing vvith Steuen:Surrexerunt autem quidam de synagoga quæ appellatur Libertinorum, et Cyrenensium, et Alexandrinorum, et eorum qui erant a Cilicia, et Asia, disputantes cum Stephano: 10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke.E non potevan resistere alla sapienza, e allo Spirito, che parlava.and they could not resist the vvisedom and the Spirit that spake.et non poterant resistere sapientiæ, et Spiritui qui loquebatur. 11Then they suborned men to say they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.Allora mandaron sottomano alcuni, che dicessero di avergli sentito dire parole di bestemmia contro Mosè, e contro Dio.Then they suborned men, to say they had heard him speake vvordes of blasphemie against Moyses and God.Tunc summiserunt viros, qui dicerent se audivisse eum dicentem verba blasphemiæ in Moysen et in Deum.
12And they stirred up the people and the ancients and the scribes. And running together, they took him and brought him to the council.Mossero pertanto a tumulto la plebe, e i seniori, e gli scribi: e corsigli sopra lo afferrarono, e lo trassero al consiglio.They therfore stirred vp the people, and the Auncients, and the Scribes: and running together they tooke him, and brought him into the Councel,Commoverunt itaque plebem, et seniores, et scribas: et concurrentes rapuerunt eum, et adduxerunt in concilium, 13And they set up false witnesses, who said: This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law.E produssero de' falsi testimoni, i quali dissero: Costui non rifina di parlare contro il luogo santo, e la legge:and they set false vvitnesses that said, This man ceaseth not to speake vvordes against the holy place and the Lavv.et statuerunt falsos testes, qui dicerent: Homo iste non cessat loqui verba adversus locum sanctum, et legem: 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us.Imperocché gli abbiam sentito dire, che quel Gesù Nazareno distruggerà questo luogo, e cangerà le tradizioni date a noi da Mosè.for vve haue heard him say, that this same IESVS of Nazareth shal destroy this place, and shal change the traditions, vvhich Moyses deliuered vnto vs.audivimus enim eum dicentem quoniam Jesus Nazarenus hic destruet locum istum, et mutabit traditiones quas tradidit nobis Moyses. 15And all that sat in the council, looking on him, saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel.E mirandolo fissamente tutti quei, che sedevano nel consiglio, videro la sua faccia, come faccia di un Angelo.And al that sate in the Councel beholding him, savv his face as it vvere the face of an Angel.Et intuentes eum omnes qui sedebant in concilio, viderunt faciem ejus tamquam faciem angeli.
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about the year A.D. 33.
Of the Grecians against the Hebrews.[Ver. 1. Graecorum, elleniston, not ellenon. See also (Acts 9:29.; Acts 11:20.) See Legh Critica Sacra.] By the Grecians are many times understood the heathens or pagans, as Acts 14:1, 18:4., etc., but here by Grecians (which some translate Hellenists or Grecists) we may understand those new converted Christians, who had been Jews before, but who had been born in places where the Greek tongue was spoken; as by the Hebrews, we may understand those converted to the Christian faith, who were of the Jewish race, born, and bred in those places, where they spoke not Greek, but Syriac, which was then the language of the Jews. This difference is grounded on the Greek text.
Witham
Their widows were neglected; that is, they seemed less regarded, or less favoured in the daily distributions, than such as were of the Jewish race, and spoke the language of the Jews, as it was then spoken in Palestine. (Witham)
Calmet
They were most probably both of Jewish origin, and received their different appellations according to the language they spoke. The former were also frequently called Hellenists. (Calmet)
Menochius
It is not certain in what the Greek widows were despised. Some imagine, that a preference was given to their rivals, in the distribution of offices, that they were appointed to the meaner charges, and oppressed with too much labour. But it is most natural to suppose, that the complaints regarded the alms that were distributed, and that the necessities of both parties were not supplied, without the appearance of partiality. (Menochius)
Estius
For Acts 4:we read neither was there any one among them that wanted; and distribution was made to every man, according as he had need; and the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul. But nothing in human institutions is so good, as not to require occasional reform, owing either to the wickedness or negligence of man. (Estius, in different location)
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Witham
And serve tables. The apostles did not judge it proper for them to be so much employed in managing that common stock, out of which every one, as they stood in need, were supplied, as to meat, and all other necessities: this took up too much of their time, which might be better employed in preaching, etc. (Witham)
Calmet
Word of God. The most essential duty of an apostle and bishop, is to announce the word of God. St. Paul would not even baptize, lest it should be a prejudice to the performance of this great duty, for which he had been sent. Many think, that this ministry of the tables, here signifies, not only the distribution of corporal nourishment, but the dispensing of the holy Eucharist. As sacred and divine as was this latter duty, the apostles preferred before it, their obligation of preaching. (Calmet)
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Witham
Look ye out among you seven men, and men of a good repute and character, full of the Holy Ghost. (Witham)
Ep. ad Tral
Diverse circumstances prove, that they were chosen to be about the altar also. They were to be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom: they received the imposition of the apostles' hands, and in them St. Paul requireth, in a manner, the same conditions as in bishops; all which would not have been necessary for any secular stewardship. See Acts 13:3. Immediately after their ordination, they preached, baptized, disputed, as we see in St. Stephen, etc. etc. Hence St. Ignatius: "it is ours to please by all means the deacons, who are for the ministry of Jesus Christ; for they are not servitors of meat and drink, but ministers of the Church of God. For what are deacons but imitators or followers of Christ, ministering to bishops, as Christ to his Father, and working unto him a clean and immaculate work, even as St. Stephen to St. James? (Ep. ad Tral.)
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Tirinus
By the names of these seven, it would appear, that they were all Greeks. The reason of this, most probably, is to silence more effectually all future murmurs, by giving to the aggrieved party protectors of their own nation. (Tirinus)
The history of Stephen occurs hereafter. Philip, in the 8th chapter, is called an evangelist, that is, a preacher of the gospel. By Eusebius, Tertullian, and others, he is called an apostle, that is, an apostolic man. See Lives of the Saints, and Roman Martyrology, June 6.
Ep. ad Eustoch
St. Jerome says, his [Philip's] tomb, and that of his four daughters, the prophetesses, were to be seen at Caesarea, in Palestine. (Ep. ad Eustoch.)
Of the rest, except Nicolas, nothing certain is known: their acts have perished. Nicolas, as appears from the text, was a proselyte, first to Judaism, then to Christianity. St. Epiphanius, and many others, accuse him of being, by his incontinency, the author, or at least the occasion of the impure sects of Nicoalites and Gnostics. Clement of Alexandria, and St. Augustine, acquit him of this, and attribute the above heresies to an abuse of some expressions, which he uttered in his simplicity, and which were susceptible of a good and bad sense. See Baronius and Tillemont.
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Witham
And they, that is, the apostles, laid, or imposed hands upon them. These deacons, therefore, were designed and ordained for a sacred ministry, and not only to manage the common stock, and temporals of the faithful. This is proved, 1. By the qualifications required in such men, who were to be full of the Holy Ghost. 2. This is evident from their ecclesiastical functions mentioned in this book of the Acts, and in the epistles of St. Paul, and by the ancient Fathers. St. Stephen and St. Philip immediately preached the gospel, as we find in this, and the 8th chapter; they baptized those that were converted. In the first ages they assisted the bishops and priests at their divine office, and distributed the sacred chalice, or cup of the holy Eucharist. They succeeded as it were, the Levites of the old law. And in the chief Churches, the deacons, or the archdeacons in the first ages, had the chief administration of the ecclesiastical revenues, as we read of St. Laurence, at Rome. (Witham)
Calmet
Imposed hands upon them. Notwithstanding the opinions of some, that these deacons were only the dispensers of corporal food, and therefore very different from the ministers of the altar, who now bear that name, it must nevertheless be observed, that the most ancient Fathers, Sts. Justin, Irenaeus, etc., have acknowledged in them the two-fold character, and always style them the ministers of the mysteries of God. At the commencement of Christianity, the faithful generally received the holy Eucharist after a repast, which they took together, in imitation of our Saviour, who instituted the Sacrament after supper. Now the deacons, who presided over the first tables, after having distributed the corporeal food to the assembly, ministered also the food of life, which they received from the hand of the bishop. Thus were they ministers of both the common and sacred tables. Afterwards, they had assistants called sub-deacons, and as among the Gentile converts, there did not exist that community of goods, as at Jerusalem, their chief employment became to serve the bishop in the oblation of the holy sacrifice. (Calmet)
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Witham
Called of the Libertines.[Ver. 9. Libertinorum, Libertinon, which Greek word is taken from the Latin. St. Chrysostom, hom. xv. says, apeleutheroi outo kalountai, etc.] That is, of the synagogue of those, whose fathers had been made slaves under Pompey, and the Romans, but who had again been restored to their liberty, and had been made free. There were other synagogues for the Jews of Cyrene, of Alexandria, etc. No doubt but St. Stephen had converted many of them; and the chiefs of the synagogues, not being able to dispute with him, or to answer the spirit of wisdom, which directed him, they suborned witnesses. (Witham)
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Witham
Who should say, that they heard him speaking words of blasphemy against Moses, and against God, against the law and the temple: that Jesus would destroy the temple. These accusations were forged; for the apostles themselves still frequented the temple, and Jesus came to fulfil the law, as to its moral precepts. (Witham)
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It was true that Jesus would destroy the place, and change their traditions, yet they were false witnesses, because they deposed, that Stephen had made these assertions, which he had not, purposely to excite the Jews to rise up against him, and put him to death. Besides, had Stephen spoken what was advanced against him, they still would have been false witnesses, for the words were in fact words of truth, which these suborned men called, words of blasphemy. See ver. 11.
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Witham
Saw his face, as it were the face of an angel. All in the council, or sanhedrim, saw an extraordinary and charming brightness in the countenance of Stephen, which struck them with admiration and fear. (Witham)
Denis the Carthusian
Angel. His face shone with a wonderful brightness, an emblem of his interior perfection. In this he was like Moses, whose countenance was so bright, that the Jews could not steadfastly behold it. By this the beholders had an opportunity of being converted, had they so wished, or were rendered inexcusable for their neglect. It is also a testimony of the great sanctity of the deacon. This same miracle is not recorded to have happened to any other but Moses, and our Lord at his transfiguration. (Denis the Carthusian)
Although this appearance, in an inferior degree, has been not unfrequently observed in the constant and cheerful countenance of the martyrs before their persecutors, and of privileged saints, whilst they were happily employed in their intimate communications with heaven.
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1. Murmuring.] Murmuring & emulation. It commeth of humane infirmitie, that in euery Societie of men (be it neuer so holy) there is some cause giuen or taken by the weake, of murmur and difference, which must euer be prouided for and staied in the beginning. lest it grow to further schisme or sedition. And to al such defects, the more the Church increaseth in number and diuersitie of men and Prouinces, the more it is subiect. In al which things the spiritual Magistrates, by the Apostles example and authoritie, must take orders, as time and occasion shal require.
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3. Seuen men.] The 7 Deacons. We may not thinke that these Seuen (here made Deacons) were onely chosen to serue profane tables or dispose of the Churches mere temporalles, though by that occasion only they may seeme to some now elected, no expresse mention being made of any other function, for, diuers circumstances of this same place giue euidence, and so doth al antiquitie, that their Office stood not principally about profane things, but about the holy Altar. The persons to bē elected, must be ful of the Holy Ghost and wisedom, they must after publike praier be ordered and consecrated by the Apostles imposition of hands, 1 Tim. 3. & 4. as Bishops and Priests were afterward ordered, ep. ad Tim: where S. Paul also requireth in a maner the same conditions in them as in Bishops. Al which would not haue beene prescribed for any secular stewardship. Yea straight vpon their Ordering here (no doubt by commission of the Apostles, which they had not before their election) they preached, baptized, disputed, and as it may appeare by the wordes spoken of S. Steuen, that he was ful of grace and fortitude, Act. 6, •. they receiued great increase of grace by their Deaconship.
But S. Ignatius ep. 2 ad Tral. can best witnes of their Office and the Apostles maner and meaning in such things, The office of Deacons. who writeth thus: It behòueth also to please by al meanes the Deacons, vvhich are for the ministerie of IESVS CHRIST. For they are not seruiteurs of meate and drinke, but ministers of the Church of God. For vvhat are Deacons but imitatours or folovvers of Christ, ministring to the Bishop, as Christ to his Father, & vvorking vnto him a cleane and immaculate worke, euen as S. Steuen to S. Iames &c. S. Polycarpe, Li. Eccl. Hier. c. 1. part. 2. hath the like in his epistle ad Philippenses. And S. Denys writeth that their Office was about the Altar, and putting the holy bread and chalice vpon the same. S. Clement also (Apost. Const. li. • c. 61.) that their Office among other things, is to assist the Bishops, and read the Gospel in the Seruice &c. S. Cyprian in diuers places (ep. 65. & ep. 49 ad Cornel.) calleth Deacons, the Churches and the Apostles Ministers, and their Office, administrationens sacram, an holy administration. S. Hierom affirmeth, in caput 7 Michcae. and in episto. 85 ad Euagriun• tom. 2, Where he checketh some of them for preFerring them selues before Priests, and putteth them in remembrance of their first calling, that they be as the Leuites were in respect of the Priests of the old Law. finally by S. Ambrose li. 1 Offer c. 41 and Prudentius in Hymno de S. Laurent. speaking of S. Laurence the Deacon, We may see their Office was most holy. See S. Augustine also of the dignitie of Deacons ep. 14• ad Valerium. Conc. Carthag. 4. can. 37. 38. 39. 41.
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The election of the 7 first Deacons.
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〈Greek〉
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Now also the Priests and they of greater knowledge & estimation began to beleeue.
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In the liturgy The Epistle vpon S. Steuens day in Christmas.
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Such is the face of al constant & cheereful. Martyrs, to their persecutors and iudges.
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Tertullian † AD 220 Appendix: Against All Heresies 1
A brother heretic emerged in Nicolaus. He was one of the seven deacons who were appointed in the Acts of the Apostles.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. ( v. 41, 42 .) And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 21
… I say not these things therefore in their behalf, but in solicitude and care for you. For what marvel is it if some in our generation are suspected, when in the case of those holy men who imitated the angels, who possessed nothing of their own, I mean the Apostles, there was a murmuring in the ministration to the widows (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 146
1. We read in Isaiah the words, “the fool will speak folly,” and I am told that some one has been mad enough to put deacons before presbyters, that is, before bishops. For when the apostle clearly teaches that presbyters are the same as bishops, must not a mere server of tables and of widows
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 109.5
… And once more, when murmuring arose among the Grecian widows in reference to the serving of the tables, previous to the time when Paul was brought to the faith of Christ, the reply given by the apostles, who before then had adhered to the Lord, was: “It is not good that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 85
… For when the fury of the gentile potentates was raging against Christ’s most chosen members, and attacked those especially who were of priestly rank, the wicked persecutor’s wrath was vented on Laurentius the deacon, who was pre-eminent not only in the performance of the sacred rites, but also in the management of the church’s property
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.31.3
3. “For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the last day, at the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 21.11
… for indeed the minor points of his excellence would suffice to win celebrity for others. But since it would be intolerable for me to leave the word and serve
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… for they did not use the Greek language. Behold another trial! observe how from within and from without there are warrings, from the very first! “Then,” it says, “the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 21
… when the rulers were to be spoken to, he was the man; when Ananias, he ( ch. i. 15; ii. 15; iii. 4–12; iv. 8; v. 3–15 .): when healings were wrought by the shadow, still it was he. And look: where there was danger, he was the man, and where good
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 3
Not therefore in opposition to Him that sent him did he baptize; but, as in the case of the widows , though the apostles had said, (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 18
… For this course will provide for our greater safety, and for your greater growth unto virtue. Here, at least, in the case of the Apostles, how frequently they admitted the laity to share in their decisions. For when they ordained the seven, (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 146
… Those who act thus must learn that they are wrong and must give heed to the apostles words: “it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.15
… as Ezekiel the prophet, when stating the reasons for the giving of such a law, declares: “And their eyes were after the desire of their heart; and I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live.” Luke also has recorded that Stephen, who was the first elected into the diaconate by the apostles,
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.24
24. And it was not in the Twelve Apostles only that the grace of the Holy Spirit wrought, but also in the first-born children of this once barren Church, I mean the seven Deacons; for these also were chosen, as it is written, being full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 18
“To the glory of the same Lord, and to show your readiness .” What he means is this: ‘We thought good,’ he says, ‘that he should be chosen with us and be appointed unto this work, so as to become a dispenser and a minister of the sacred money.’ Nor was this a little matter. For, “Look ye out,” it saith, “from among you seven men of good report;” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood 4
… “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you,” and they all, with one accord, committed the care of the poor widows to Stephen, for no other reason than that they themselves might have leisure “for the ministry of the Word.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… ( Num. xi. 16 .) “And of wisdom.” For indeed there needs much wisdom in such ministrations. For think not, because he hath not the word committed unto him, that such an one has no need of wisdom: he does need it, and much too. “But we,” saith he, “will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 32
… For this is the best proof of a generous teacher, to benefit his learners not by word only, but likewise by prayer, for which cause also one said, “But let us give ourselves continually to prayers, and to the ministry of the word.” (
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 7.24
… Now, even those (of the heretics) who are of a more serious turn in regard of the Divinity, and have derived their systems of speculation from the Greeks, must stand convicted (of these charges). But Nicolaus has been a cause of the wide-spread combination of these wicked men. He, as one of the seven (that were chosen) for the diaconate,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… whom they set before the Apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 14
… There is great reward in dispensing even what belongs to others. There is a reward not only for giving, but for dispensing well the things that are given. Why wilt thou not have this reward? For that there is a reward for this, hear how we read that the Apostles appointed Stephen to the ministry of the widows. (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 147.4
… Consider that God’s judgment will one day overtake you. Remember by what a bishop you were ordained. The holy man was mistaken in his choice; but this he might well be. For even God repented that he had anointed Saul to be king. Even among the twelve apostles Judas was found a traitor. And Nicolas of Antioch—a deacon like yourself
St Jerome † AD 420 The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
… the Corinthians did not believe the resurrection of the flesh, and he endeavoured by many arguments to bring them back to the right path. Then came Simon Magus and his disciple Menander. They asserted themselves to be powers of God. Then Basilides invented the most high god Abraxas and the three hundred and sixty-five manifestations of him. Then
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 18.16
… For although some maintain that this Nicholas was not the same man who was chosen for the work of the ministry by the Apostles,
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 14
… 42 .) “And in those days”—when these things were done, when there were scourgings, when there were threatenings, when the disciples were multiplying—also, it says, “there arose a murmuring.” ( ch. vi. 1 .) And this comes of the multitude: for it is impossible to have strict order in a multitude. “There arose a murmuring,” etc. to,—“And
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 15.11
… But we must pass by this, in order to arrive at that word of man, by the likeness of which, be it of what sort it may, the Word of God may be somehow seen as in an enigma. Not that word which was spoken to this or that prophet, and of which it is said, “Now the word of God grew and multiplied;”
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.24
24. And it was not in the Twelve Apostles only that the grace of the Holy Spirit wrought, but also in the first-born children of this once barren Church, I mean the seven Deacons; for these also were chosen, as it is written, being full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom . Of whom Stephen, rightly so named
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
Whence, I pray you, did that grace bloom upon the countenance of Stephen? (Recapitulation.) The writer gives him this report above, that he was “full of faith.” (
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 4.2.2
2. For in Alexandria and in the rest of Egypt, and also in Cyrene,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… to show that grace alone is not sufficient, but there must be ordination also; so that there was a further access of the Spirit. For if they were full of the Spirit, it was of that which is from the Laver of Baptism. “Then there arose certain of them of the synagogue.” (
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.24
… Of whom Stephen, rightly so named , the first fruits of the Martyrs, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, wrought great wonders and miracles among the people , and vanquished those who disputed with him; for they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… And observe the power of the preaching, that, though they are not only scourged but stoned, it still prevails: not only, private individuals as they are, dragged to the bar, but assailed from all quarters: and, their enemies themselves being witnesses, not only were these worsted, but “they were not able” even “to resist” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… ( v. 15 ) which is also the character given of Barnabas “he was a good man, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.” ( ch. xi. 24 .) Whence we learn that the sincere and innocent are, above all others, the men to be saved, and that these same are also more gracious. “Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… They say not, “he speaketh,” but, “he ceaseth not to speak. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… And yet how could a man who was a blasphemer have so succeeded? How could a blasphemer work such miracles among the people? But the undisciplined multitude made them strong who had the worst of it (in argument).—This was what most annoyed them. “We have heard him,” they say, “speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Commentary on Galatians 5
… for not even the Cross was so great an offence to the Jews, as the doctrine that their father’s customs ought not to be obeyed. When they brought Stephen before the council, they said not that this man adores the Crucified, but that he speaks “against this holy place and the Law.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… 12, 13 .) “Ceaseth not,” say they, as if he made this his business. “For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.” (
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 55
… but on the recovery of heat, and on the restoration of its natural colour, it is again the same flesh and blood. Afterwards the face of the same Moses is changed, with a brightness which eye could not bear. But he was Moses still, even when he was not visible. So also Stephen had already put on the appearance of an angel,
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.24
… for they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake . But when he was maliciously accused and brought to the judgment hall, he was radiant with angelic brightness; for all they who sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face, as it had been the face of an Angel
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 15
… The charge is twofold. If He “shall change the customs,” He will also introduce others instead: observe how the charge is a bitter one, and fraught with perils. “And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 16
… for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.” ( v. 23–25 .)—See how up to this point he is not yet offensive to them; how they listened to him while he said all this. And “his face,” we read, “was as the face of an angel” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 7
… For the garments of a king are terrible even to robbers. Wouldest thou see this beaming even through the body? “Looking steadfastly,” said he, “upon the face of Stephen, they saw it as it had been the face of an angel.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 51.7
… At their head stands Moses, whose face shone exceedingly, and was bright with the brightness of the sun. Next to him comes Elijah, who was caught up into heaven in a chariot of fire, and did not feel the effects of the flame. Stephen, too, when he was being stoned, had the face of an angel visible to all.
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1. IN THOSE DAYS — in which the Apostles were imprisoned and scourged, as was mentioned before. Thus St. Chrysostom. Lucius Dexter in his Chronicle handed down that these Deacons were created in the year of Christ 34, shortly after His ascension into heaven, by the will and counsel of the Blessed Virgin: "The Apostles," he says, "create seven Apostolic Deacons, all from the Greeks." Baronius teaches that they were created in the same year, and he adds from Eusebius in the Chronicle that in the same year James the son of Alphaeus, the brother of the Lord, was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem by St. Peter on the 27th day of December, and held office for 29 years. WHEN THE NUMBER OF DISCIPLES WAS MULTIPLYING. — For through persecutions the Church always grew and grows: "We become more numerous whenever you mow us down: the blood of Christians is seed," says Tertullian, Apology, final chapter. For such modesty, piety, innocence, fortitude, charity shone forth in the faces of the Apostles and Martyrs, and such contempt for torments and death, such ardor in suffering for Christ, that it drew the Gentiles to embrace their faith and way of life. For they saw that these virtues were beyond the powers of nature, and could be inspired by none other than God. Hence St. Jerome, in the Life of St. Malchus: "Through persecutions," he says, "the Church grew, crowned with martyrdoms." AND THERE AROSE A MURMURING OF THE GREEKS AGAINST THE HEBREWS. — Behold, after persecutions schisms vex the Church, the cause of which was twofold. First, multitude and crowd: among the few there remained one soul and one heart, among the many there entered the souls of many and many hearts, namely diverse judgments, desires, wills, and lusts, which tore asunder this unity in part. We see the same thing happen in Orders and monasteries, according to that saying: "Thou hast multiplied the nation: thou hast not increased the joy," Isaiah ix, 3. Second, diversity of nations: for Greeks contend with Hebrews. For each man is accustomed to love his own nation before another, and indeed to despise the foreign one, and sometimes even to turn away from it and hate it. Wherefore Paul frequently admonishes the faithful that these divisions of nations, languages, and customs should be set aside in Christ and the Church: "There is neither Jew," he says, "nor Greek; there is neither slave, nor free; there is neither male, nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus," Galatians III, 28. OF THE GREEKS. — Hellēnistōn, that is, of the Greek-speakers, or those Grecizing, namely Jews who, born outside Judaea in Greece, or having dwelt there for a long time, used the Greek language and Greek customs. For these were not called Hellēnes, that is, Greeks, but Hellēnistai, that is, Greek-speakers. For Josephus relates that the Hebrews led colonies into Greece, such as to Lacedaemon, and into Ionia, lib. XII Antiq., cap. v; and lib. XIV, cap. ix; and lib. XVI, cap. iv. For the Gentiles do not yet appear to have been admitted to the Church and Christianity: for Cornelius appears to have been the first admitted to it, of whom in cap. x. The Gloss and others, however, hold the contrary opinion, understanding by Greeks the Gentiles: for it is probable that some Gentiles mixed with Jews, having heard the preaching of Peter, were converted to Christ, of which more in cap. x. Bozius notes, On the Signs of the Church, lib. XIX, cap. iii, that the Greeks, as they were the first to murmur, so they were the first to make a schism and depart from the Church, being inclined to novelties and factions: although Greeks here, or Greek-speakers, are called not only those who came from Greece, but also those who came from Cilicia, Parthia, Media, or any other region of the Gentiles: for after the times of Alexander the Great and Antiochus, all Jews called Gentiles Greeks. Whence the Apostle, Romans I, 16, and elsewhere, opposes the Jew to the Greek, that is, to the Gentile. HEBREWS. — who, born in Judaea, spoke Hebrew, but corruptly, that is, Syriac. BECAUSE THEY WERE DESPISED IN THE DAILY MINISTRY OF THEIR WIDOWS. — What is this contempt? What ministry? First, Rabanus thinks that Greek women appointed by the Hebrews were assigned to vile ministries and oppressed by excessive labor. Second, St. Chrysostom and Bede think that Greek widows, as if more unrefined, were rejected by the Hebrews from ministering, so that they ministered less frequently than Hebrew women. Third, Oecumenius, whom Gagneius and Cajetan follow, takes this ministry not actively, as Bede does, but passively, namely in which necessities for their livelihood were divided and ministered to them, that is to say, the widows of the Greeks were poorly fed. All these senses are probable and connected. For it was fitting for widows to have not only a passive ministry, but also an active one properly so called: for they themselves, as being elder mothers of families, ministered and distributed necessities to others. For in their place Deacons were ordained for this ministry. For the Apostles, about to meet the murmuring, say actively: "It is not fit that we should leave the word of God and serve tables," and therefore they create Deacons, who in place of the widows might minister to them. From the widows therefore the whole murmuring spread to the men: for women, as they have less judgment than men, so are they led more by private affections. The origin therefore of the murmuring seems to have been this, that Hebrew widows, because they were Hebrew, arrogated to themselves more honorable and more abundant ministries, especially the distribution of food and clothing, as will appear in verse 3, but relegated the viler and meaner ones to the Greeks. Again, in the distribution of food and clothing, they seemed to favor the Hebrews more and to give them more than to the Greeks. Morally: hence learn that in every republic and community, the cause of peace and concord is equality, if namely all are treated with equal right and manner; but the cause of murmuring and discord is inequality, if some wish to rule over others or to have more. Thus we see in monasteries, where this equality is exactly observed, there is perfect peace and discipline: where it is not, both languish and perish.
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2. IT IS NOT FIT (the Zurich edition, it is not commendable; Pagninus, it is not pleasing to God and men; the Syriac, it is not a beautiful thing; others, it is not fitting: all these things are signified by areston) FOR US TO LEAVE THE WORD OF GOD (to teach and preach) TO SERVE TABLES. — that is to say, It is our part to feed your souls with spiritual food, namely the word of God: therefore it is fitting that we should not be hindered by the care of feeding your bodies with bodily food: let us therefore entrust it to others less occupied. Hence it is clear that the "ministry" in which the Greek widows were despised, and therefore murmured, was "to serve tables," namely to care for those things which pertain to food and drink and the sustenance of life. Note here that these tables were partly sacred, partly profane and common. For first these first faithful celebrated the Eucharist, then the agape, that is the common banquet of all the faithful as a sign of charity; and to both ministries Deacons were appointed, indeed ordained, of which more presently. For from the ministry they were called in Greek Diakonoi, that is ministers. Let Bishops and Prelates note here that they should entrust the management of their temporal affairs to others, while to themselves belongs the governance of the Church and preaching. This was known by St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Augustine, who could not even bear to speak of their temporal affairs, or to hear accounts of them, as is evident in their Lives, and especially that of St. Augustine, in Possidius, chapter xxiv. See St. Bernard, book IV On Consideration, chapter IX.
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3. OF GOOD TESTIMONY. — marturoumenous, that is, as Vatable says, approved by good testimony: the Zurich edition, of proven integrity, to whom namely the people should bear witness of prudence, faith and good life, namely those who are of good repute. Thus St. Leo, epistle 87, chapter 1, in the election of Bishops requires "the votive voice, the testimonies of the people, the judgment of the honored, the election of the clergy." Testimony therefore pertains to the people, election to the Clergy, ordination to the Bishops. Sophronius relates, or rather John Moschus, in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter CXLIX, that this St. Leo kept vigil at the sepulcher of St. Peter in prayer, and asked forgiveness of his sins, and St. Peter responded to him: "I have prayed for you, and your sins are forgiven you; except for the imposition of hands: this alone will be required of you, whether you have acted well or perhaps badly." Let Bishops therefore see what sort they ordain, and let them first examine and scrutinize them carefully. SEVEN. — in the manner of seven angels: for just as those assist and minister to God as it were as primary ministers, so these seven Deacons assisted and ministered to St. James and the other Apostles. See what is said in the Apocalypse I, 4. Therefore they chose seven Deacons in the Church militant, so that they would correspond to as many Deacons, that is ministers of God, in the Church triumphant. For both this Church is one and the same, one is connected to the other and subordinate to it. In the manner of these, seven Deacons called Regionarii were once established in Rome, from the seven regions of the city, to whom they were placed in charge by Fabian the Pontiff, as his Life relates. Evaristus also, the Pontiff, ordained seven Deacons, who would guard the Bishop while preaching. In the Second Roman Council, under Sylvester, it is established, canon 6, that the Cardinal Deacons in the city be seven. The same was ordained by other Churches, as is evident in the Council of Aachen, chapter vii. But as the number of the faithful grew, this number of Deacons was likewise relaxed and enlarged. FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. — both for patiently bearing and calming the objections and murmurings of widows and orphans, as Oecumenius wishes; and for other duties of Deacons, about which presently, to be rightly performed. WHOM WE SHALL APPOINT OVER THIS WORK. — Hence St. Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Bede and Mariana think these seven Deacons were appointed only as overseers of tables, and did not attain any sacred ordination: and so they were different from our Deacons, who are ordained to the ministry of the Eucharist and the Church. The heretics go further, and even from among the Catholics Durandus, in IV, Distinction xxiv, Question II, who absolutely denies that the Diaconate is a Sacrament: for only the Priesthood is the sacrament of Order. Cajetan agrees with Durandus, vol. I, tract. 41. And writing on this passage of Acts, he denies that Deacons were ministers of the altar. The same is held by the spurious Canon attached to the sixth Synod, chapter x, according to Theodore Balsamon. But I say both are false; for although it is not of faith (because it is neither expressed in Scripture, nor defined by the Church), nevertheless the common opinion of the Fathers and Doctors is that the Diaconate is a Sacrament, and that these seven first Deacons were initiated into it. That this is so is evident first, because these seven Deacons were ordained by the imposition of hands, that is by a similar rite as Bishops and Priests: therefore just as those, so also Deacons receive the sacrament of Order. Second, because in these Deacons no others were chosen, except those who had from the people testimony of integrity, and were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom: but these things are not required for the ministry of tables, which the common widows had previously performed, but for sacred ordination. Hence again they ordained the same ones with prior prayer, as is customary in the ordination of Priests. Third, because St. Stephen shortly after his ordination began to preach the Gospel, and with such force of spirit and grace, which he had received in his ordination, that no one of the Jews could resist him. Fourth, because St. Paul always joins Deacons with Bishops, under whom he comprehends also Priests, and from them he requires great sanctity and perfection. Moreover at Ephesus, Philippi and Crete he instituted them, where nevertheless there was neither life, nor a common table of the faithful, and therefore there were not overseers of tables there: therefore Deacons there had another and higher ministry. See I Timothy chapter III, verse 2; to Titus, chapter I, verse 6; Philippians I, 1. Fifth, because Deacons in the absence of Priests can baptize, minister the Eucharist, reconcile public penitents, preach, etc., as is evident from the Council of Nicaea, cap. xiv; St. Cyprian, lib. III, epist. 17; St. Gregory, lib. IV, epist. 88; Council of Valence II, cap. II, and from the Life of St. Vincent the Martyr and Deacon, who preached by command of the Bishop: indeed, formerly Deacons ordinarily ministered the Blood of the Lord to the people, as is evident from the acts of St. Lawrence, and from St. Cyprian, serm. 5 De Lapsis, and from St. Justin, Apolog. II, and from the Council of Carthage, lib. IV, cap. xxxviii. Therefore, just as Priests are ordained to these things and receive grace to perform them rightly, so also are Deacons. Sixth, the Diaconate once received cannot be lost or repeated; therefore it imprints a character: therefore it is a Sacrament. Seventh, the Diaconate from the institution of the Apostles has celibacy annexed to it, as the Council of Carthage teaches, lib. II, cap. II. The same was sanctioned in the Council of Ancyra, cap. ix or x; Agathensi, under Symmachus; Arelatensi II, cap. II; Arausicano I, cap. xxii; by Siricius, epist. to the Bishops of Africa, cap. II; St. Leo, epist. 93; and others: therefore it is a sacred Order. Eighth, because it is competent to Deacons by office to make solemn recitation or chanting of the Gospel, prayer with the Pontiff, care of silence and peace in the Church, as St. Clement says, lib. II Constit., cap. vi, care of sacred vessels and the treasury of the Church, distribution of alms; which indeed demand a sacred and consecrated minister. Ninth, this is proved from the Fathers. St. Dionysius places Deacons as it were in a sacred Order in his Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, cap. II and following, and says, among other things, that they place the holy bread and the chalice of blessing, that is of the consecration of the Eucharist, upon the altar. St. Ignatius, in his epistle to Heron the Deacon, who succeeded him in the Episcopate of Antioch: "Do nothing, he says, without Bishops: for they are priests, but you are a minister of priests: they baptize, they sacrifice, they choose, they lay on hands; but you minister to them, as St. Stephen to James." The same, in his epistle to the Trallians: "It is fitting also that Deacons, ministers of the mysteries of Christ, please in all things: for they are not ministers of food and drink (note), but ministers of the Church of God." And further: "What then are Deacons, but imitators of angelic virtues? who exhibit a pure and blameless ministry to them (the Priests), as St. Stephen to Blessed James, Timothy and Linus to Paul, Anacletus and Clement to Peter: whoever therefore does not obey these is altogether impious and wicked." The same is handed down by St. Cyprian, lib. III, epist. 9; he teaches that these Deacons were ordained by the Apostles for this purpose, "that they might have ministers of his Episcopate and the Church." St. Polycarp, in his epistle to the Smyrneans, asserts that Deacons are ministers not of men, but of Christ. Moreover, that these seven first Deacons received the sacred Order of the Diaconate is taught by St. Dionysius, Eccles. Hierarch., cap. v; Cyprian, epist. to Rogatianus; St. Augustine, serm. 4 De Sanctis; Arator, Baronius, Salmeron and many others here. Indeed, St. Clement, lib. VIII Constit., cap. xvii and xviii, relates that a Bishop ordains a Deacon by laying hands on him and with certain prayers, by which he asks that the fullness of the Holy Spirit be given to him, as St. Stephen was filled with it. And St. Jerome, epist. I, asserts that Nicholas, one of these seven Deacons, ministered the chalice of the Lord. The Council of Aachen, cap. vii, teaches that Deacons are ordained in the Church in imitation of these seven first Deacons whom the Levites represented in the Old Testament: indeed, the Church in the ordination of Deacons prays that they may be worthy of the grade and order by which the Apostles chose Stephen and his companions in the sevenfold number. Wherefore the Council of Neocaesarea, can. 14, asserts that Deacons instituted by the Apostles are the rule of Deacons. Furthermore, Deacons, as young in age, vigor and spirit, bore the burden of the Church, especially in persecution, and in that strength and alacrity of body and mind surpassed the Pontiffs, and gave to the whole Church an example of constancy and a model of martyrdom, as did St. Lawrence, in the time of Pope St. Sixtus; Vincent, in the time of Valerius, Bishop of Caesaraugusta; St. Cyriacus, Largus, Smaragdus, etc., in the time of St. Marcellus, under Diocletian, all of whom were preceded and outshone by this St. Stephen as their chief and leader. You will say: St. Anacletus, epist. 2; St. Cyprian, lib. III, epist. 9, and Damasus, epist. 3, assert that Deacons were instituted not by Christ, but by the Apostles: therefore the Diaconate is not a Sacrament; for all Sacraments are instituted by Christ, not by the Apostles, as the Council of Trent defines, sess. VII, cap. 1. I answer that these Fathers only wish to say that Christ ordained no Deacons, as He ordained Bishops and Priests: yet it does not follow from this that Christ did not institute the sacrament of the Diaconate, but only that He committed its execution to the Apostles. In like manner Christ confirmed no one, and yet He instituted the sacrament of Confirmation, and commanded the Apostles and Bishops to administer it. You will say secondly: Deacons are here instituted on occasion of murmuring, and are appointed only to the tables: therefore they were not ordained to any other sacred ministry. I answer first, that although the occasion of instituting these Deacons was murmuring about the tables, it does not follow from this that they were appointed only to the tables. For the Apostles, using this occasion, executed the precept of Christ concerning the creation of Deacons, and committed to them all the offices sanctioned by Christ, both spiritual and corporal, such as the distribution of tables and alms. Thus Innocent III, lib. III De Myster. Missae, cap. v and LVI. I answer secondly, that these tables were sacred, namely the celebration of the Eucharist; and after it, the agapes, or common meal in sign of charity. For the first Christians communicated daily, and after communion they supped together, as is clear from I Cor. XI, 21. Whence they did not take bodily food unless they had first taken the sacred food. Deacons therefore were instituted to minister both to the priest at the table, that is the altar of the Eucharist, which is assuredly entirely sacred; and to the people at the table of the agapes, which, although it was corporal, was nevertheless also spiritual and sacred; both because it was an appendage and as it were a conclusion and consummation of the Eucharist; and because this table was blessed by the priest offering sacrifice; and because it was instituted in common, in sign of love and charity; and finally because it was provided from the goods of the faithful offered and dedicated to God, which therefore were already ecclesiastical and sacred, not lay and profane. Therefore Deacons ministering at both tables performed a ministry not profane, but sacred; for the proper performance of which there was required a peculiar grace of God, which was given to them in the imposition of hands by the Apostles, namely in ordination. Finally, besides the offices of Deacons already enumerated, it was theirs, first, to oversee all things that were done in the Church and to report them to the Bishop. Whence St. Clement, lib. III Constit., cap. xix, calls the Deacon the "soul and sense," namely the eye, ear, mouth and heart of the Bishop. Secondly, from among Deacons were chosen Apocrisiarii, that is messengers and legates of the Apostolic See, as is clear from St. Gregory, lib. XI, epist. 43. Thirdly, it was the duty of Deacons to visit prisons; and to console, encourage, feed the Confessors and future Martyrs, and to help them with every spiritual and corporal aid, as is clear from St. Cyprian, lib. III, epist. 45. Fourthly, it was their duty to carry and care for sacred relics, as is clear from Victor of Utica, lib. IV Persecut. Wandal. St. Clement, lib. III Constit., cap. xix, enumerates more of their offices, which are also enumerated in the Decree, distinct. 93, cap. Diaconi Ecclesiae. The same Clement, lib. II Constit., cap. lxi: "The Deacon," he says, "should see the places, so that whoever enters (the church) may go to his own place, and sit not beyond what is fitting. Let him attend that no one murmur, and let him not connive, or nod." And soon after: "When the prayer is finished, let other Deacons be intent on the oblation of the Eucharist, ministering to the body of the Lord; let others watch the crowds and command them to be quiet." "And let the Deacon who assists the Pontiff say to the people: Let no one against anyone, let no one in hypocrisy," namely approach the Holy Eucharist. The same, lib. VIII, cap. vii and ix, relates that the Deacon was accustomed to send out from Mass the energumens and catechumens at the appointed time, so that when Mass was finished he dismisses all the faithful, saying: "Go, it is the dismissal." And cap. xiii, he says the Deacon was accustomed to direct the people to prayers for Bishops, Priests, widows, virgins, orphans, catechumens and every state of the Church. Moreover, Baronius rightly notes, in the year of Christ 34, that these seven Deacons were not appointed to oversee the table in such a way that (as is the duty of table servants) while others reclined, they themselves would bring in what pertained to food and drink; but rather that they would care for distributing alms to each one according to his need. That this practice was retained by use, St. Leo testifies in his sermon On St. Lawrence, when he says of him: "He excelled not only in the ministry of the Sacraments, but also in the dispensation of ecclesiastical substance." The same is evident from the Acts of St. Sisinnius, Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus, Deacons, who distributed the alms of the faithful to Christians condemned to clay and bricks in the baths of Diocletian. Thus also Titus the Deacon, distributing money to the poor, fell slain as a martyr, as Prosper testifies in his Chronicle, in the year of the Lord 429. The same concerning Deacons is handed down by St. Ambrose, in his book On Duties, final chapter, and by St. Jerome, in Ezekiel, chapter forty-eight. Indeed, the care of the Church's goods was so committed to Deacons that they would constantly rise up against Bishops who squandered them, as Honoratus, Archdeacon of the Church of Salona, did, as St. Gregory testifies, book II, epistle 13. Hence also at Rome and in other places where the Roman Church possessed estates, diaconates were established, in which alms were customarily distributed by the Deacon, rector of the diaconate, and the dispenser of the fruits collected from the estates, as St. Gregory teaches throughout his epistles; which diaconates still exist at Rome and retain their ancient name. At Rome before St. Gregory there were seven diaconates as well as seven Cardinal Deacons, but in his time the number was doubled and fourteen were created, according to as many regions or districts into which the city was divided, so that each region would have its own Cardinal Deacon, who had under him other Deacons, through whom he distributed alms to all the poor of the region committed to him. To these fourteen, Gregory III the Pontiff added four others, so that there would be eighteen in all, as Onuphrius testifies in his Life. And this is the origin of the eighteen Cardinal Deacons, who were formerly seen in the college of Cardinals: in which before Leo X there were numbered fifty-two Cardinals. Leo X increased this number, and the succeeding Pontiffs. Therefore, lest the number of Cardinals be vague and excessive, Sixtus V, in the bull which begins: Vetus ille, ordained that there should be universally seventy, according to the number of the seventy elders whom God added to Moses in the governance of the people, Numbers XI, 16. The same, in the Constitution Postquam, which is 50, ordained that among the seventy Cardinals, fourteen should be Deacons, as many as there were in the time of St. Gregory; six Bishops, the rest Priests. Therefore the first and chief of Deacons were Archdeacons, who at Rome were called Cardinal Deacons, as is gathered from the Second Roman Council, chapter seven. For Cardinals are distributed into three classes or orders: some are Cardinal Bishops, others Cardinal Priests, others Cardinal Deacons; and to these all, and to these alone, pertains the election of the Pope, inasmuch as they are his familiars and counselors: which custom began in the year of the Lord 1059, if we believe Sigonius, book IX On the Kingdom of Italy; who also in book III teaches that it was ordained by Stephen III the Pontiff, in the year of the Lord 779, that no one should be elected Pontiff except from the number of the Cardinals.
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4. BUT WE OURSELVES TO PRAYER. — Note here first that the office of the Apostles was to pray for themselves and the whole Church, and in prayer they drew from God those things which they were about to teach and preach. Let Bishops, Prelates, Doctors and Preachers imitate the same, "so that, quiet in contemplation, they may absorb what, occupied in speaking to their neighbors, they may pour forth," as St. Gregory says, book VI of the Morals, chapter seventeen, or according to another edition, twenty-five. For unless the Holy Spirit inflame their hearts and imbue and inflame their tongue, they preach in vain.
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5. THEY CHOSE STEPHEN. — This election was not an ordination, nor an institution or creation of Deacons. For this pertained to the Apostles, not to the people; but rather an offering and presentation, that is to say, the people from among all the disciples chose Stephen with his companions, as more apt than the others for this office, and offered them to the Apostles to be approved and ordained, if the Apostles should approve their election. Thus today lay princes, who have the right of patronage of benefices, choose someone whom they present to the Bishop, so that he may confer the benefice upon him, and create and institute him as a Canon or Pastor, etc. Moreover, St. Epiphanius, in heresy 21, holds that these Deacons chosen were from the number of the 72 disciples of Christ. But St. Augustine, sermon 94 On Various Subjects, doubts whether Stephen was converted to Christ after His ascension. STEPHEN. — "Stephen" is a Greek name, signifying a crown, from στεφανόω, that is, I crown: although Bede holds it to be Hebrew, and to signify your rule, because he was the first to suffer martyrdom and gave to the other Martyrs an example of suffering and dying for Christ: but I do not see from what Hebrew root or etymology. Whence Pagninus and others commonly hold that Stephen, as also the other names of these Deacons, are Greek. Whence it appears that they, although Hebrew by race, were nevertheless Greek by country. They chose therefore Greeks, not Hebrews, so that they might better satisfy the murmuring of the Greeks, by placing Greeks as Deacons over the tables and alms. Thus Lucius Dexter in his Chronicle, in the year of Christ 34, expressly asserts that all these Deacons were Greeks. It favors this that the opinion of many is that St. Stephen was a kinsman of St. Paul: but Paul was a Cilician, namely of Tarsus: for Greek here is the same as born or brought up among the Gentiles. Note: St. Stephen was the first and as it were the chief of the Deacons. For he excelled the others in fullness of grace, faith and spirit, likewise in the power of disputing and the efficacy of preaching. Hence also he was the first to undergo conflict for Christ and became the Proto-martyr. Whence Lucian, in his epistle On the Finding of St. Stephen, calls him the chief of others and Archdeacon. Damascene, book IV On the Faith, chapter XVI, calls him the first Deacon, that is, minister of Christ: in the same place he calls him an Apostle. And St. Augustine, sermon 94 On Various Subjects, says that among Deacons he was "first, as Peter among the Apostles." And Nicetas in Metaphrastes: "He was," he says, "among the Apostles an Apostle, among Prophets a Prophet, among Doctors a Doctor." St. Augustine adds, sermon 2 On the Saints, that St. Stephen was a comely youth, and a virgin: whence also he had the face of an angel, verse 15. Damascene asserts that he was of excellent disposition, and in it the Holy Spirit made the rays of grace shine more brightly. St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian, and Gregory of Nyssa, oration On St. Stephen, deny that he was inferior in grace to the Apostles: for in office, namely in the Diaconate, it is clear that he was inferior to them. St. Augustine, sermon 5 On the Saints, says that he excelled in chastity: "In this matter," he says, "in that he was placed over widows, he merited testimony of the most sincere chastity." And sermon 6: "To Stephen the martyr there was both beauty of body, and the flower of age, and eloquence of speech, and wisdom of a most holy mind, and the operation of divinity." FULL OF FAITH. — First, Christian faith: whence he defended it even unto death. Second, "faith," that is, fidelity: for this is especially required in a dispenser of alms. Third, "faith," that is, Christian wisdom: for this is required in the diaconate and in the dispensation of the Church's goods. Fourth, "faith," that is, confidence in God, that He would necessarily provide for feeding so many widows and poor. Fifth, "faith," that is, the strength of faith, to overcome not only the murmuring of the poor, but also the stones and torments of the Jews. Sixth, "faith," that is, such excellence of faith that he even wrought miracles, which is the faith of miracles, the same as Catholic faith, but excellent, and having attached to it great confidence in God, for example, to work here and now a miracle, as I have said in the Gospels. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, — namely the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and all virtues and graces, both sanctifying and freely given, and especially charity and zeal. Whence Nicetas, in Metaphrastes, says of St. Stephen, "that he burned more with charity than all the Saints of his time," namely the other faithful: for the Apostles are excepted, who in fullness of Spirit, as also in apostleship, excelled all others. PHILIP. — He, being a Deacon, is different from Philip the Apostle. Yet he is called an Apostle by Eusebius, lib. III Hist., cap. ult.; Tertullian, lib. De Baptismo, cap. VIII; Isidore of Pelusium, lib. I, epist. 147 and following, not because he was one of the twelve Apostles, as some have falsely supposed, but an Apostle, that is, an Apostolic man. Whence the same author, cap. XXI, vers. 8, calls him an Evangelist, because namely like an Apostle he preached the Gospel, as will be evident cap. VIII. He had four daughters who were Prophetesses, cap. XXI, vers. 9. Concerning him we read thus in the Roman Martyrology, on the 6th of June: "At Caesarea in Palestine the birthday of Blessed Philip, who was one of the seven first Deacons. He, illustrious by signs and wonders, converted Samaria to the faith of Christ, and baptized the eunuch of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and finally rested at Caesarea: near whom three virgin daughters of his, Prophetesses, lie buried: for the fourth daughter of his, full of the Holy Spirit, fell asleep at Ephesus." Even in the time of St. Jerome, at Caesarea the little shrine of Philip and the cells of his daughters remained intact, all of which St. Paula visited when setting out for Jerusalem, as the same author writes, epist. 27 to Eustochium. PROCHORUS. — He is recorded among the saints in the Roman Martyrology, on the 9th of April, where it is thus said: "At Antioch St. Prochorus, who was one of the seven first Deacons, and illustrious in faith and miracles, was crowned with martyrdom." There exists in tom. VII of the Library of the Holy Fathers, a Life of St. John written by Prochorus, but it contains much unworthy of him and fabulous matter. Wherefore the author, to gain credence for himself, lied under the name of Prochorus. Otherwise the ancients testify that Prochorus wrote the Acts of St. John, among whom Lucius Dexter, in his Chronicle, at the year of the Lord 94, speaks thus: "Prochorus wrote the deeds of St. John, one of the seven Deacons." But this Prochorus has perished, and has not appeared to this day. NICANOR. — Concerning him we read thus in the Roman Martyrology, on the 10th of January: "In Cyprus Blessed Nicanoris the Deacon of the seven first, who by the grace of faith and admirable virtue was most gloriously crowned." TIMON. — Concerning him on the 19th of April, in the Roman Martyrology, these things are contained: "The birthday of St. Timon the Deacon of the seven first, who first remained as a Teacher at Berea, and then disseminating the word of the Lord came to Corinth, and there by Jews and Greeks (as is related) was cast into flames; but suffering no harm, finally fixed to the cross he fulfilled his martyrdom." PARMENAS. — Concerning him on the 23rd of January the Roman Martyrology writes: "At Philippi in Macedonia St. Parmenas, who was one of the seven first Deacons. He, entrusted to the grace of God, fulfilling with full faith the office of preaching enjoined upon him by the brethren, under Trajan obtained the glory of martyrdom." NICOLAS. — He was the cause and author, as Irenaeus, lib. I, cap. XXVII; Epiphanius, haeresi 25; Tertullian, lib. De Praescript. cap. XLVI, and others relate, or certainly the occasion, as others wish, of the heresy of the Nicolaitans, which teaches that it is lawful to fornicate, concerning which I have spoken Apoc. cap. II, vers. 6 and 15; see the things said there. For Clement of Alexandria, lib. III Strom., cap. III; Eusebius, lib. III Histor., cap. XXIII; Augustine, lib. De Haeres., cap. V, Baronius and others excuse Nicolas from this turpitude and heresy: on account of this doubt, Nicolas alone of the seven Deacons was not inscribed in the catalogue of Saints in the Martyrology. A PROSELYTE, — προσήλυτον, that is, a proselyte. Therefore this Nicolas was a pagan, but converted to Judaism, for such a one was called in Greek a proselyte, in Latin an alien. OF ANTIOCH, — originating from Antioch.
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6. PRAYING. — Under prayer he comprehends the sacrifice of the Eucharist, as St. Clement indicates, book VIII of the Constitutions, final chapter. Whence even now Deacons are ordained only in sacrifice. St. Chrysostom adds fasting, of which express mention is made in the Ordination of Saul and Barnabas, chapter XIII, verse 3. Whence even now the Church always premits public and solemn fasting to ordination. THEY LAID HANDS UPON THEM. — From this it is evident that the Diaconate is an Order and sacred ordination. For to lay on hands among the Apostles is to ordain. Whence ordination is called by the Greeks χειροτονία, that is, the laying on of hands. Therefore these Deacons were ordained chiefly not to minister at tables (for this does not require solemn ordination, as is evident in stewards and other servants of tables), but to minister to the Church and Apostles in the Mass, in preaching and other sacred ministries, as is evident from the use and tradition of all antiquity. Secondly, from this it appears that the laying on of hands is not something accidental, but the essential matter of the sacrament of Orders, as Bellarmine rightly teaches against D. Soto, book I On Ordination, chapter IX. Indeed, there could not be other matter here: for the book of the Gospels, which is now given to Deacons in ordination and is the matter of the Order of the diaconate, as the Council of Florence defines in the Bull of Union, did not yet exist then, because it had not yet been written. Hence St. Paul, I Timothy chapter IV, verse 14, and elsewhere, teaches that grace is given through the laying on of hands; and God showed this by a visible sign of a dove, or similar, in the ordination of St. Chrysostom and other holy Bishops. And the Council of Trent, session XXIII, chapter IV, teaches that grace is given when the Bishop over the one to be ordained (certainly by laying on hands) says: "Receive the Holy Ghost." The reason is that the laying on of hands represents the descent of the Holy Ghost, and His overshadowing and fullness, which is required in those who are ordained, and therefore is demanded and given in ordination, so that the Spirit may strengthen him, enlighten him, direct him in all his ministries, which regard the common good of the Church. Thus from St. Dionysius, Amalarius, book I On Ecclesiastical Offices, chapter I, verse 12. Mystically, it signifies that the one to be ordained is offered to God as a victim and holocaust: for in the old law hands were laid upon this according to the law, Leviticus chapter I, verse 4, so that the ordained may be reminded that they ought as victims to consecrate themselves and all their possessions and expend them for the service and worship of God. I have said more about the laying on of hands in ordination in I Timothy chapter IV, verse 14. Furthermore, these widows, removed from tables and yielding to Deacons, were assigned to other minor offices, and became Deaconesses, whose three principal duties were: first, to uncover women for baptism and sacred unction; second, to guard the doors of women and to preside over women in the temple; third, in time of persecution, they were sent by the Bishop or Pastor to help and encourage the faithful, especially those in prison. See what is said in I Timothy chapter V, verse 9.
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7. AND THE WORD OF THE LORD INCREASED, — in number, as much as in the faith and works of believers, says the Gloss: because the Apostles, freed from the care of tables, gave themselves more wholly to prayer and preaching, just as with increasing cultivation, irrigation and care of the farmer, the crop grows in the field. He alludes to the parable of the seed and the sower, to which the Word of God is compared by Christ, Mark chapter IV, verse 26. AND A GREAT MULTITUDE OF PRIESTS, — common and lesser (for these are called a multitude), not of the highest and chief, as St. Chrysostom seems to wish, who also marvels here at the grace of the Holy Ghost, and the clemency of Christ, that He brought to faith and salvation those who a little before had blasphemed Christ on the cross, saying: "He saved others, himself he cannot save," OBEYED THE FAITH. — The Syriac: hearkened, that is, assented to the faith, namely believed in Christ. For faith more requires a pious inclination of the will than a propensity of the intellect; for the things of faith are obscure and above the grasp of reason. Whence to believe them a pious will moves the intellect, which is blind in these matters, and subjects it and as it were captivates it in obedience to faith, as the Apostle says, II Corinthians chapter X, verse 5. Tropologically, the Christian obeys the faith who does those things which faith dictates and commands should be done, who namely lives justly, piously and soberly: piously toward God, soberly toward himself, justly toward his neighbor; whose life therefore corresponds to faith, and whose morals are equal to his profession: for thus he lives as he believes.
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8. FULL OF GRACE. — The Syriac has ܛܒܘܬܐ tabuta, that is, goodness. The Greek texts now have πίστεως, that is, faith, of which I spoke at verse 5. AND FORTITUDE. — Lyra understands grace as the ability to perform many heroic deeds; fortitude as the ability to endure many hard things. But I say truly, by grace all charisms and all virtues are understood, as companions of grace and as it were its daughters (for all these are of grace, because infused freely by God), and consequently fortitude itself; but because St. Stephen excelled in it, hence he says, and fortitude, as if to say, He was full of all grace, but especially of fortitude, both for acting, especially for preaching intrepidly, disputing and convincing the Jews; and for offering himself to threats, dangers, torments, stoning and martyrdom; and for performing signs and wonders, by which he confirmed his faith and doctrine concerning Christ, as follows. Note here the power and effect of the Sacrament of ordination; for before it, Stephen was neither full of grace, nor did he preach; nor did he perform miracles; but after it, indeed through it, he accomplished all these things, as St. Chrysostom observes.
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9. OF THE SYNAGOGUE. — Not that there was one synagogue of all the following, as Cajetan wishes, but "of the synagogue," that is, of the synagogues. It is an enallage of number. For the Alexandrian Jews had their own synagogue in Jerusalem, the Cyrenians theirs, the Cilicians theirs, etc.: thus Chrysostom; just as now in Rome the Germans have their own college, the English theirs, the Scots theirs, the Maronites theirs, the Greeks theirs. For just as now Rome, so then Jerusalem was the metropolis of faith, religion and wisdom, to which therefore Jews scattered throughout the world sent their sons, that they might be imbued with the law and wisdom of God, and for this purpose colleges of various nations, which they called synagogues, were established. WHICH IS CALLED OF THE LIBERTINES, — that is, of the sons who were born from parents who had been taken into servitude by Pompey and others to Rome or elsewhere, but were granted liberty. Thus St. Chrysostom, Bede, Cajetan and others. For these, as being born of servile stock, seem to have been rejected by the others, as if by the free-born, and therefore established a synagogue of their own. Others think the Libertines are called those originating from Libya. Thus Oecumenius, the Gloss, Gagneius, Hugo and Lyra. Whence some suspect that "Libertinorum" is read corruptly, for "Libyrtinorum," or rather "Libystinorum," as if to say Libyans, who dwell between Cyrenaica and Egypt, and who had their own synagogue in Jerusalem, which was called from the people and region "of the Libystines." But all Greek and Latin manuscripts have Libertinorum, not Libystinorum. Wherefore the former interpretation is truer, which is confirmed by the fact that at Rome Jews were called Libertines, who, granted liberty, dwelt in the Transtiberine region; for thus Philo writes concerning them in the Legation to Gaius, about the middle: "Augustus would not have allowed a good part of the city beyond the Tiber to be held by Jews, of whom most were Libertines: for indeed, reduced to servitude by the law of war, they were manumitted by their masters, permitted to live according to the customs of their ancestors: he knew that these had their own prayer-houses, in which they held their assemblies, especially on the Sabbaths." Cyrene was one in Syria, another in Media, another in Africa. Concerning the third, Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Gagneius think it is spoken of here: because the Cyrenians are here joined with the Alexandrians, who are likewise Africans. Thus the fame of Stephen spread through three parts of the world. For he disputed with the Roman Libertines, who are in Europe; with the Cilicians, who are in Asia; with the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, who are in Africa. OF THE ALEXANDRIANS, — who were natives of Alexandria, the metropolis of Egypt, of which I spoke in Nahum cap. III, verse 8. AND THOSE WHO WERE OF CILICIA, — which is called Caramania today, as is evident from Ortelius's Theatre of the World, in Turkey. From this synagogue St. Paul seems to have been, as well as St. Stephen, as Paul's cousin, as Sanchez, Salmeron and others think. For St. Paul was a Cilician, namely of Tarsus; and therefore against St. Stephen, even to words and blows, and even to death itself, he opposed himself, as is evident in cap. VII. For he himself was of ardent temperament, and a zealot of the old law, and therefore with his colleagues against Stephen, as being his kinsman, and of the same school and synagogue with him, as it were against an Apostate, he rose up more fiercely. For the hatreds of brothers, kinsmen and colleagues are most bitter; for love sharpens anger. AND ASIA, — Minor, which is adjacent to Cilicia: it is now commonly called Turkey. Hence learn how great was the grace, virtue, efficacy, wisdom, wonders, and splendor of St. Stephen, which turned the eyes of all the synagogues upon him, and armed their hearts and tongues, as those envying his glory.
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10. AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO RESIST THE WISDOM — divine wisdom with which St. Stephen was full. For by this he convicted them, and from the holy Scriptures and other signs and proofs he demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Saviour of the world. AND THE SPIRIT WHO SPOKE. — The Interpreter reads ᾧ ἐλάλει; now they read ὃ ἐλάλει, that is, which, or by which he spoke. The Gloss adds, with all confidence and without fear. Behold in Stephen is fulfilled that promise of Christ: "For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you," Matt. cap. X, vers. 20. And: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay," Luke cap. XXI, vers. 15.
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11. THEN THEY SUBORNED, — ὑπέβαλον, that is, as the Zurich version says, they suborned; Pagninus, they secretly procured men who would say, etc. WORDS OF BLASPHEMY; — βλασφημία in Greek is the same as δυσφημία, that is, evil report spread by another, reviling, calumny, cursing: but in ecclesiastical usage it signifies injury, or reproach cast upon God and the Saints, as here against Moses and his law. For they bring this accusation against St. Stephen, namely that he said against Moses that the law of Moses has already been abolished by Christ, and therefore was not from God; and consequently that Moses lied, when he said it was divine and would be eternal: but against God they said he blasphemed, because he said that God wished through Christ to abolish the old law, as if it had not been given by the true and eternal God, and that God feigned that he gave it to Moses, and falsely promised that it would be perpetual. St. Augustine notes, serm. 93 On the Saints, that these false witnesses brought almost the same calumny against St. Stephen as the Scribes had shortly before brought against Christ. For explaining this false testimony of theirs in vers. 13, they say: "This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us." But against Christ they said: "This man said: I am able to destroy the temple of God, and after three days to build it up again," Matt. cap. XXVI, vers. 60. Again St. Augustine notes that this accusation of theirs was a true oracle, just as was the sentence of Caiaphas against Christ, John XI, 50. Moreover, that they lied and calumniated St. Stephen is evident, because Stephen had said nothing against the holy place, that is against the temple, or Jerusalem, which was a holy city, nor against the law: for Christ himself had said of himself: "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," indeed to perfect it, Matt. V, 17; nor had he said that Jesus would destroy the temple, or Jerusalem; or that he would change the traditions, τὰ ἔθη, that is the rites, ceremonies, worship, laws and institutions delivered by Moses. And even if he had said it, if to change the law was a crime, they ought to have attacked not Stephen who was prophesying it, but Jesus who was doing it. Whence St. Gregory of Nazianzus exclaims, orat. On St. Stephen: "O unjust judgment of the hearers! Because, they say, Jesus changed the laws, let Stephen be stoned." The sum therefore of the accusation and crime which they bring against Stephen is this: Stephen said that our law would pass over into the Gospel, Judaism into Christianity, Moses into Christ, who is the Son of God: therefore he blasphemed our law and God, giving his divinity to Jesus Christ, whom we know to have been a mere man. They speak truly in their own judgment, namely in their perfidy and Judaism, and Stephen truly preached these things, and thus they truly brought him before the Jewish council as guilty of death, as they had brought Christ; but they mix in other false things: for they impute to Stephen many things which he himself had not said, as I have already said. Moreover, they allude to what Christ had said, that the temple with the city would be laid waste by the Romans, Luke XIX, 44. But they mendaciously add from their own invention that Jesus would do this, when Jesus did not say this (much less Stephen), but rather said that the Gentiles, namely the Romans, would do it. Finally, Stephen is a martyr, because he fell in the preaching of Christ and the Gospel: for the old law was to pass over into this, which Moses and the Prophets had foretold; but they were unwilling to understand these oracles of theirs, and the Jews are still unwilling.
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15. THEY SAW HIS FACE AS IT WERE THE FACE OF AN ANGEL. — Stephen was by natural appearance and countenance most beautiful, says St. Augustine, sermon 6 On the Saints; but beyond nature a beauty was added to him here. For the face of an angel signifies something extraordinary, august and heavenly in the countenance, namely an angelic appearance and majesty. This is evident from that passage in Esther, chapter XV, 16, to King Ahasuerus: "I saw," she says, "thee, O Lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled for fear of thy glory. For thou art very wonderful, O Lord, and thy face is full of graces." God therefore conferred upon Stephen a new and wonderful splendor, and as it were rays of a glorified body, such as He conferred upon Moses, Exodus XXXIV, 1, and upon St. Anthony, St. Francis and our St. Ignatius. Whence St. Augustine, sermon 99 On Various Subjects, says that "Stephen's face shone like the sun;" and this first, so that the external brightness of the countenance might indicate the internal brightness and beauty of the mind. For, as St. Hilary of Arles says, homily On St. Stephen: "the abundance of the heart had passed into the glory of the body, and into the beauty of the face the brightness and splendor of the soul poured forth, and the hidden ornaments of the breast shone forth as in a mirror on the forehead, and since he had the Holy Spirit within him, his face bore an angelic appearance." Secondly, because St. Stephen in his conduct and doctrine, namely in disputing and preaching, emulated the purity, innocence, freedom, fortitude, wisdom, zeal and sanctity of angels: wherefore in a friend and emulator of angels an evangelical likeness appeared, says St. Augustine, sermon 6 On the Saints. Thirdly, so that the glory of his body might represent to unbelievers the resurrection of Christ already accomplished, and ours to come; inasmuch as he had disputed about it with the Jews, and they heard it unwillingly, especially the Sadducees. Whence St. Augustine, in the place already cited, says that St. Stephen "to their confusion, with face revealed gazing into heaven at the glory of the Son of God, announced the Sacrament of the resurrection." Fourthly, St. Hilary of Arles, in the homily already cited: "The face," he says, "of Stephen assumed the appearance of one rising again, to his adversaries for the punishment of sin, and the torment of envy, and the reproach of impiety, and the testimony of crime." To the Jews therefore the face of Stephen appeared terrible, but to Christians lovely and admirable. Fifthly, because St. Stephen was now as it were a candidate for martyrdom, and for heavenly triumph and glory: whence he emitted certain brilliant rays. Hence as if about to fly away into heaven he exclaimed: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the power of God." Let all therefore marvel at the glory of the triumphant in the face of Stephen, says Peter Damian, sermon On St. Stephen. Hence also Tertullian, book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter LV, says that St. Stephen, like Christ in the transfiguration, put on an angelic dignity. Allegorically: To the doctors of the New Testament, such as St. Stephen was, it was said by Christ: "You are the light of the world," Matthew V, 14. Hence also the face of Christ, as the Teacher of the world, shone forth as the sun, Matthew XVII, 2. For, as the Apostle says, II Corinthians III, 9: "If the ministry of condemnation (that is, of the Mosaic law, which threatens death and condemnation) is glory; much more does the ministry of justice (in the Gospel) abound in glory." Anagogically: "They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity," Daniel, chapter XII, 3. Tropologically: The mind and face of the impious grows dark like a pot, that of the pious is serene and shines like the brightness of dawn; for the beauty or disgrace of the mind flashes forth in the face. Whence the Chaldean paraphrast adds these things at Canticles I, verse 5: "When the Israelites made the calf, their faces were darkened like those of Ethiopians, who dwell in the tents of Cedar; and when they did penance, and their sin was forgiven them, the splendor of the glory of their faces was multiplied like the faces of angels." Finally, St. Chrysostom, commenting on chapter VII, verse 55, holds that Stephen put on an angelic face from the sight of the glory of God and Christ; for he says at verse 55: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." For he had this vision from the beginning, but prudently kept silent, lest he offend the Jews by this apparition. Thus to Moses, from the aspect and fellowship of God breathing upon him, rays were sent forth, and as it were horns of light, Exodus XXXIV, verse 29. For God, as the brightest sun, breathes forth his light to his own: for the angelic face of Stephen was situated chiefly in rays of light and angelic splendor. St. Augustine holds the same view, sermon 6 On St. Stephen: "Stephen," he says, "with face revealed was beholding in heaven the glory of the Son of God, therefore the Jews saw his face as the face of an angel of God. And now only, blessed martyr Stephen, despise the earth, behold heaven; and spurn the pontiff, attend to the Father." And this appears to have been the proper and literal cause of the angelic face in St. Stephen. In like manner Christ in the transfiguration breathed forth the rays of his splendor and glory upon Moses and Elias, who were likewise seen in glory and majesty, as Luke says, Gospel chapter IX, 31. St. Chrysostom adds that on account of this angelic beauty of face, the Jews, although most bitter enemies of Stephen, nevertheless permitted him to preach freely for a long time, that they might feast their eyes on such beauty. But persisting in their perfidy, not illuminated inwardly by this splendor, but rather blinded and hardened, they strove to obscure both his face and his doctrine and to suppress him with stones. In like manner St. John the Baptist was angelic in chastity, life, speech, zeal, and countenance, and therefore was called by Christ an angel, Matthew XI, 20. Malachi the prophet from his morals, preaching and sweet speech was called Malachi, that is, the angel of the Lord; indeed Origen held him, equally with John the Baptist, to have been truly an angel, not a man, as I said at the beginning of Malachi. St. Cecilia, conversing familiarly with the angel, the guardian of her virginity, put on angelic purity, alacrity, efficacy, grace and appearance: whence she converted her spouse Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and 400 others to Christ. Wherefore in the Ecclesiastical office the Church sings of her: "O blessed Cecilia, who converted two brothers, overcame Almachius the judge, showed Urban the Bishop in an angelic countenance." St. Basil by gravity, devotion, hierarchical order, and angelic countenance struck fear into the Emperor Valens, and when raging against the Catholics he restrained him, and nearly overwhelmed him. For, as St. Gregory of Nazianzus relates, oration On the Praises of St. Basil, when Valens, surrounded by many attendants, entered the temple on the feast of the Epiphany, "he heard psalmody resounding like thunder, and saw the multitude of the people, and all the order and harmony, angelic rather than human; and Basil himself standing before the people with upright body, neither moving his eyes nor his mind, as if nothing new had happened, in any direction, but fixed to God and the altar; and those by whom he was surrounded standing with a certain fear and reverence: he suffered anything human, and was filled with dizziness of eyes and darkness, etc. Thus he began to stagger, so that, unless one of the ministers of the Sanctuary had supported him with an outstretched hand, he would surely have fallen miserably and sorrowfully." He adds that he spoke to Valens with such wisdom and grace that they seemed to be the voices of God, by which he accordingly bent and calmed the anger of Valens. Amphilochius adds, in the Life of St. Basil, that when he was sacrificing, he was seen by Eubulus surrounded by the brightest light and by angels. Thus St. Zosimas, when he heard of the angelic life of St. Mary of Egypt, and saw her walking above the river Jordan, and rapt in prayer into the air, returning and seeking her, praying said: "Show me, O Lord, the hidden treasure, which Thou hast deigned to reveal to me, a sinner. Show me, I beseech Thee, O Lord, an angel in the body, to whom the whole world is unworthy to be compared," as he himself relates in her Life. For truly Anastasius of Nicaea to Antiochus, Question XXX, thus defines an angel: "What is an angel? It is a living rational, hymn-singing, immortal being." St. Thomas Aquinas, from the innocence and baptismal chastity which he preserved throughout his whole life, so that he never felt the sting of the flesh from that time when angels girded his loins with a girdle of chastity; moreover, from the eminence of his intellect, wisdom and learning, was called the Angelic Doctor. St. Mechtildis, as Engelhard says in her Life, chapter V, "had imposed such silence upon herself that you would believe her mute: but if she should speak, you would think yourself conversing with an angel;" and therefore, when once an idle word inadvertently escaped her, she chastised it for a long time with many tears and voluntary penances. Angelic silence therefore teaches us to speak with angels, and from angels to speak with men angelically. Whence also concerning St. Thomas Aquinas, whom his fellow students on account of his constant silence called "the dumb ox," Albert the Great his master said: "This dumb ox will soon give forth such a voice that the whole world will hear it," nay, all ages will admire it as angelic. Our Blessed Aloysius Gonzaga was angelic in virginity, modesty, gentleness, sweet speech, reverence, prayer, contemplation, and countenance: whence by his mother the Countess of Castiglione he was called in no other way than "my angel." Indeed, the Auditors of the Rota in the process of his Canonization themselves freely and of their own motion gave him the title "Angelic."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 2 convocantes autem duodecim multitudinem discipulorum dixerunt : non est aequum οὐχ, ἀρεστόν placere, probari nequit (Bee/.); cf. 12,3; « non placet neque placere potest » (B/.) nos derelinquere verbum Dei et ministrare mensis 1. e. nos ipsi non possumus munere illo dispensationis fungi; non sequitur eos eousque in dispensatione fuisse occupatos, sed ex responsione hac elucet contrarium; « putandum non est apo- Stolos mensis ministrasse neque tunc de hoc actum esse ut ipsi hoc munus sibi sumerent, sed ita locuti sunt sicut loqui mos est, cum negare volumus riostrarum esse partium ut certa quadam de re curam habeamus » (Patr. idemque iam innuit Cr. et explicite statuunt Felt. Bels. Wendt) neque obstat (quod nonnulli putant) quod pretium afferebatur ad pedes apostolorum (1,35 seq.). lis tradebatur pecunia; sed administratio, emptio rerum, dispensatio ab apostolis committebatur aliis. Querelis optimo modo medentur : eliguntur considerate ergo (quia nos ipsi per nos defectum supplere nequimus), nexus fere indicatur idem particula δέ : considerate autem scil. quia nobis non convenit illud subire, fratres, viros ez vobis boni testimonii septem qui apud omnes probi habentur, plenos Spiritu sancto et sapientia, qui itaque signis externis, uno alterove charismate 60gnosci possunt habere dona Spiritus sancti, et qui in agendi ratione prudentia praediti esse noscuntur. Sapientiam qua scil. omnia apte ad finem disponuntur in administratione et dispensatione rerum, pecuniarum, opus esse liquet, et sapientiam requiri censent Oec. Theoph. ob maledicentiam (x2»vyz2ix») viduarum; ea debet adesse ne parum exercitati et rerum imperiti opes dissipent ecclesiasticas et in eos quibus non debentur illas valeant collocare (Saím.). Sapienter quoque concedunt apostoli electionem fidelibus, « ne viderentur ad quorundam gratiam agere, illis iudicium permittunt » (Chr.); sibi solum reservant numerum eligendorum et ipsam dignitatis illius collationem qwos constituamus super hoc opus qui igitur potestate ab apostolis accepta illi officio praeficiantur. Quaerunt, cur septem eligendos esse decreverint apostoli. Fortasse, quia numerus hic aliis additus sufficiebat. Cogitant alii de septem partibus urbis, de septem coetibus domesticis (cf. Fe/t.), de sacro numero septenario, de septem angelis qui stant ante Deum, de septem spiritibus etc. (cf. Salm. Lap. Calm.);
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v. & nos vero orationi et ministerio verbi ἐπstantes erimus, cum dicatur τῇ προσευχῇ cum articulo et oratio iungatur praedicationi evangelii, vox hic sumenda videtur de cultu publico divino, cuius pars praecipua erat eucharistiae sacrificium Vide quomodo in principio mala non foris tantum sed etiam intus fuerint (Chr.). Sed hoc apostolorum probitatem (τὸ δόχιμον) demonstrat qui undique-et extrinsecus et intrinsecus impugnabantur, undique autem palmam referebant (Oec.); v. 1 ?n diebus autem 56 crescente numero discipulorum factum est murmur γογγυσμὸς murmuratio cum aliqua indignatione Graecorum τῶν ᾿Ελληνιστῶν 1. e. Iudaeorum qui graece loquebantur et ex regionibus exteris erant oriundi adversus Hebraeos ludaeos palaestinenses eo quod despicerentur παρεθεωροῦντο negligerentur, posthaberentur in ministerio quotidiano , in distributione subsidiorum viduae eorum; uti D fl sua lectione indicant et re ipsa exigi videtur, ministri constituti iam erant ex Hebraeis ad eiusmodi distributionem (Beíser); isti autem Iudaeos palaestinenses hebraice (aramaice) loquentes et in terra sancta natos pluris faciebant quam Hellenistas, ex alienis regionibus oriundos, lingua utentes non sacra, sed peregrina. Simili modo Galilaei quoque, utpote habitantes in regione mixta, a ludaeis, Iudaeae incolis, minoris habebantur (cf. Ioan. 7,52). Apparent iam germina illa vanitatis cuiusdam nationalis et aemulationis. Nam murmurationem illam et indignationem ex causa ortam esse vera, proinde iustam fuisse, apostoli ipsa sua agendi ratione agnoscunt. Crescente enim numero non omnes aeque erant perfecti et in tanta multitudine fuisse aliquos imperfectos mirum non est (Dion.). Facile quoque fieri potuit, ut crescente numero ministri illi Hebraei iam non sufficerent aeque ad omnia, ütpote pauciores; unde concivibus suis prius magisque prospiciebant quam aliis, et ita ansam dederunt querelarum. (Beel.), de publica precatione etiam explicant Caím. Patr. (cf. 3,1; 16,13. 16) Felt. et merito quidem. Dicunt nos perseverabimus (cf. 9,49) προσχαρτερήσομεν assidue addicti erimus; qua ratione simul connofant eousque curam suam et operam iisdem impendisse. Facit hic Dion. applicationem : « o utinam praelati ista attenderent, quorum iam plures plus quam oportet, decet aut licet, circa temporalia occupantur » etc. et Safm. similiter. » Quod apostoli proposuerunt, omnes approbant
6:5
v. 5 et placuit sermo hic sermo, gig coram omni multitudine et iure sibi concesso utuntur et elegerunt Stephanum virum plenum fide et Spiritu sancto, qui hoc encomio declaratur prae reliquis eminuisse firmitate fidei et intelligentia doctrinae Christi et donis Spiritus sancti in se conspicuis; cf. v. 8 seq. et Philippum, cf. 8,5 seq. et Prochorum et Ntcanorem et Timonem et Parmenam et Nicolaum advenam προσήλυτον Antiochenum; cum hic solus alienigena dicatur qui religioni iudaicae antea nomen dederat, reliqui omnes censendi sunt origine Iudaei. Nomina graeca sunt; erantne igitur omnes Hellenistae? ex nominibus id utique non sequitur, nam Philippus apostolus, Andreas, Marcus, etiam nomina gerebant externa neque tamen Hellenistae erant. Sed ex alia ratione videtur probabile electos esse Hellenistas, quia in prioribus ministris hebraeis causa illius murmurationis reperta erat. Hos sistunt apostolis qui eos approbent eisque potestatem conferant
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v. 6 hos statuerunt ante conspectum apostolorum et (οἵτινες, D) orantes imposuerunt ets manus; ipsa oratione et impositione manuum satis declaratur illis non tantum committi ministerium mensarum, verum eos constitui et consecrari sacros Ecclesiae ministros. Nam impositio manuum iam in vetere foedere symbolum erat et quasi vehiculum quo imponens alteri aliquid tribuit. Ita Moyses iubetur manus imponere losue et Iosue repletus est spiritu sapientiae quia Moyses posuit super eum manus suas (Num. 27,18. Deut. 35,9); impositione manuum levitae Domini ministerio a plebe secernuntur et dedicantur (Num. 8,10): victima impositione manuum sistebatur Domino tamquam hostia vicaria; impositione manuum in novo testamento conferuntur beneficia sanationum (Marc. 6,5; 7,32; 8,93. Luc. 4,540), ita Iesus benedicit parvulis (Marc. 10,16); eo ritu confertur Spiritus sanctus (Act. 8,17 seq. 19,6); unde : resuscita gratiam Dei quae est in te per impositionem manuum mearum (2 Tim. 1,6; cf. 1 Tim. &,15; 5,92). Atque eos consecratos esse sacros ministros inde quoque apparet, quia in verbi Dei praedicatione occupantur (6,10; 8,5 seq.). Quare censendum est eos fuisse veri nominis diaconos; et quia cum agapis coniungi solebat confectio ac distributio eucharistiae, eos dicere possumus et debemus ministros sacrae et profanae mensae (cf. Baronius ad an. 3% n. 279; Lap. Calm. Bels.). « Catholicorum nemo dubitat hos esse quos Ecclesia in diaconorum ordinem cooptavit » (Patr.), quae utique est sententia longe plurimorum et vera; attamen Chr. Oec. 001. negant. Illos septem ordinatos ad diaconiam ab apostolis eosque diaconos fuisse clare indicat Jrenaeus (adv. haer. 1,96,3; 3,12,10 electum esse diaconum Stephanum; 4,15,1; M. 7,687. 904. 1043). Et ab apostolis diaconos esse constitutos generatim affirmat Clemens 4 Cor. 49; M. 1,993. Diaconorum simul cum episcopis, presbyteris tamquam sacrorum ministrorum mentio fit frequens in epistolis 2780/08 v. ₪. ad Trall. 2, ad Magn. 2. 6, ad Phil. 7, ad Polyc. 8 (M. 5,664. 668. 616. 704. 713); diaconos perferre eucharistiam ad absentes lustinus refert (Apol. 1,61; M. 6,429). A Nicolao originem ducere haeresin Nicolaitarum censent /renaeus (1,20,8; M. 7,681), Epiphanius (haer. 25, M. 441,321); ita perhiberi refert Augustinus (de haeresibus, 3; M. 42,26); eum tamen innocentem habent et quomodo sine sua culpa 06casio fuerit haereseos et corruptionis illius Clemens alexandrinus et E'usebius referunt (Strom. 3,4; M. 8,1132; hist. eccl. 3,29; M. 20,21). De aliis solum incerta quaedam narrantur ex apocryphis (cf. Lap. Calm.) ; enumerantur inter 72 discipulos Christi ab Epiphanio (haer. 20 et in Anacephalaeosi; M. 41,280; 42,833). Prochorus discipulus quoque Ioannis apostoli fertur fuisse; exstant πράξεις τοῦ ἁγίου ἀποστόλου xoi εὐαγγελιστοῦ "loxvvov, συγγράφοντος τοῦ αὐτοῦ μαθητοῦ 1100/6000, vide Acta Ioannis, ed. Zahn, Erlangen 1880. Hoc dissidio composito evangelium iterum laetos capiebat progressus
6:7
v. 7 et verbum Domini crescebat οἱ multiplicabatur numerus discipulorum in. lerusalem valde; multa etiam turba sacerdotum obediebat fidei ὑπήχουον de eo quod saepe fiebat; saepe sacerdotes fidem amplectebantur, virtutem fidei sequebantur, annuntiationi fidei aures praebebant dociles et ita fidei, i. e. virtuti fidei obediebant, sese addicebant. Bene notat CÁr. < « res mirabilis : ubi occisus fuerat Christus, illic crescebat praedicatio, nec inodo non scandalizati sunt quidam ex discipulis videntes apostolos flagellari, alios minari, alios Spiritum tentare, alios murmurare, sed et maxime augebatur credentium numerus; post tentationem crevit; considera quanta sit Dei benignitas; ex illis enim qui ad caedem turbas concitabant, credebant multi =. Reduces erant ex Babylone tempore Esdrae 4289 (Esdr. 2,36-49) sacerdotes; unde numerus sacerdotum in urbe sat magnus Quae hic narrantur, ex alio fonte deprompta esse aliqui critici contendunt; ita Peine p. 184, Hilg. p. 385. Cur diversum a prioribus fontem
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v. 8 Stephanus autem plenus gratia Spiritus sancti et donis, charismatis e£ fortitudine, qua scil. magna vi et animi alacritate munus exercebat, praedicabat, uti ex v. 9. 10 patet, faciebat prodigia et signa magna tn populo; δύναμις accipitur ab aliquibus de potestate patrandi miracula (Weiss, Bl.); sed cum haec potestas in ipsa sententia adeo explicite efferatur, alia explicatio de animi fortitudine (Beel. Felt.) praeferri debet, qua commemorata iam ad sequentia reddimur attenti. Stephanus Hellenista Hellenistis nuntium messianum praedicat; eius et aliorum labores fructum uberem tulisse, iam ex v. 7 necessario colligitur. Quo successu et magna Stephani apud populum auctoritate, quae ei etiam signis illis eximiis conciliabatur, invidia adversariorum rei christianae inflammatur, uti in subsequentibus satis proditur. Unde simul apparet falsum esse quod lW'eiss contendit v. 7 et 8 apponi sine ulla pro narratione significatione;
Ministros non solum ad curam pauperum esse electos, in antecedentibus iam clare continetur. Id enim elucet ex v. 3 et 6 et si quid dubii superesset, plane declaratur iis quae de Stephano narrantur. Uti enim erant ministri mensae sacrae et profanae, ita erant adiu- . tores quoque apostolorum in praedicatione;
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v. 9 surrexerunt autem quidam de synagoga quae appellatur Libertinorum, Λιξερτῖνοι δὲ οἱ Ρωμαίων ἀπελεύθε- ροι οὕτω χαλοῦνται (Chr.). Pompeius multos Iudaeorum captivos Romam adduxerat et in servitutem vendiderat, ex quibus multi postmodum ab heris manumissi sunt; iis Augustus trans Tiberim bonam urbis partem habitandam permisit (cf. Philo, de legatione ad Caium n. 23). Tiberius autem Iudaeos Roma excedere iussit (Suetonius, Tiber. 36; Tacitus, Annal. II 85; Josephus, Antiq. 18,3,5). Ex illisitaque manumissis multi in patriam reversi sunt et propriam sibi struxerunt synagogam. ו
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v. 10 et non poterant resistere sapientiae et Spiritui qui loquebatur à ἐλάλει, quo loquebatur; 115 enim utebatur argumentis eoque sermone sapientiae et ubertate doctrinae quam edoctus ἃ Spiritu sancto exponebat, ut illi non haberent quid reponerent vel quibus eius argumenta et probationes dissolverent. Impletur itaque in Stephano illud Christi : ego dabo vobis os et sapientiam cui non poterunt resistere et contradicere omnes adversarii vestri (Beda, et addit : dignum enim fuit ut in protomartyre confirmaret, quod cunctis pro suo nomine traditis est promittere dignatus). Quem rationibus vincere non poterant, fraude et calumniis perdere student (Salm.)
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v. 11 tunc summiserunt 06520.5 subornarunt viros qui dicerent se audivisse eum dicentem verba blasphemiae in Moysen et in Deum; cf. v. 13. 18. Operam dederunt, ut hae accusationes quam maxime et apud plebem et apud nobiles spargerentur; unde
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v. 12 commoverunt itaque plebem, συνεχίνησαν simul concitarunt, seniores οἱ scribas; erant igitur Hellenistae illi (-5ש-) 6 legis, ritibus et institutis suis addictissimi, imo ipsis incolis urbis ferventiores. Quod legis studium iam eo ostenderant quod ex dissitis regionibus in urbem sanctam migrarunt. Postquam igitur illis rumoribus apud Iudaeos Stephano conflarunt invidiam, concurrentes ἐπιστάντες (cf. 5,1; 17,5; 93,27) facto ex improviso in eum impetu (Beel. Patr.) rapuerunt eum et adduzerunt 1n concilium, in synedrium, cuius erat de eiusmodi accusationibus ferre iudicium. lam magnam synedrii partem, seniores, scribas, sinistris contra eum opinionibus imbuere studuerant. Plane immerito aliqui subiectum grammaticale dure mutari putant, ac si seniores et scribae impetu facto eum corripuissent (Weiss); adversarii illi τινὲς Hellenistarum haec omnia peragere apertisime dicuntur; iidem etiam
6:13
Dubium non est quin Hellenistae in urbe proprias habuerint synagogas, in quibus sacra Scriptura graece legebatur et explicabatur; imo rabbini fabulantur de synagogis in Ierusalem 880 (cf. ScAiürer, זז p. 355). Sed quot synagogae nostro in textu assumendae sint disceptatur, num una, duae, quinque.: et Cyrenensium et Alexandrinorum et eorum qui erant a. Cilicia οἱ Asta; si textum. inspicimus una explicite effertur synagoga τινὲς τῶν éx τῆς συναγωγῆς etc. ; geniüvi Κυρηναίων xai ᾿Αλεξανδρέων pendent a voce τινες ; articulus abesse poterat, uti etiam apud profanos omittitur in enumerationibus, si iam. semel aut bis positus est (Beel.); xai τῶν ἀπὸ Κιλιχίας xat ᾿Ασίας hic debuit necessario articulus poni i. e. τινὲς τῶν ἀπὸ etc. Quare dubito possitne cum Fe/t. dicere assignari unam synagogam et duas factiones, quae scil. articulo «àv designentur inter se; una scil. Lib. Cyr. Alex., altera Cil. Asiae; Asiam intellige uti 9,9. In omnibus hisce regionibus multos Iudaeorum 100101856 certum est; οἵ. Iosephus, Antiq. 15,7,2; 15,10,1; 16,6,1; 19,5,2. Bell. iud. 2,18,7; c. Ap. 2,5. De synagoga Alexandrinorum in urbe etiam apud rabbinos fit mentio (Lightfoot, Hor, hebr. ad h. 1.). Ex Iudaeis itaque in alienis regioni- . bus natis multi religiosi cultus causa.in urbem migrabant ad festa celebranda alii, alii ad studium legis, uti Saulus ex Cilicia, alii, ut ibi domicilium figerent (cf. Marc. 15,91). Ex istis igitur Hellenistis quidam praedicationi obsistebant disputantes cum Stephano. Verum in ea disceptatione victi succumbebant v. 13 et statuerunt falsos testes, sicuti Iudaei antea contra Iesum statuerant, qui dicerent : homo iste non cessat loqui verba adversus locum sanctum, templum, locum Aunc; secundum Iosephum βουλή locus synedrii erat prope Xystum (Bell. iud. 5,5,2), probabiliter in monte templi (Schürer, 11 p. 162); secundum mischna vero, in atrio templi לשכת הגזית (cf. Buxtorf, Lex. chald. p. 414); quare non apparet, cur illud τοῦτον (apud aliquot testes) negare possit accusationem factam in synedrio, ut Weiss contendit; e! legem; quae duae accusationes iam accuratius proferuntur
6:14
v. 1& audtetmus enim. eum dicentem : | quoniam Iesus Nazarenus hic destruet locum istum et mutabit tra-. ditiones quas tradidit nobis Moyses , τὰ ἔθη, mores, leges. Hisce utique &aemulatores legis quam maxime offendebantur; cf. 21,21; quanti > vero templum aestimarint, concluseris ex adagio rabbinico : qui non vidit domum sanctam, nullam unquam vidit structuram ornatam, et Iosephus quoque templum dicit opus omnium quae vidimus et audivimus maxime admirabile (Bell. iud. 6,5,8; cf. 5,5,6 et Antiq. 15, 11,3; vide quae dixi in Comment. Matth. II p. 306). Cum testes dicantur faís;, aliqui putant Stephanum omnino nihil eiusmodi dixisse, neque ullam fecisse mentionem vaticinii Christi de destructione templi neque innuisse legem mosaicam esse aliquando abolendam; id enim pro eo tempore neque necessarium fuisse neque opportunum (Estius, Beel. Hake). Sed rectius iam Oec. scribit : « atqui hoc dixit Stephanus, etsi non adeo aperte; quomodo ergo sunt hi faisi testes? quia non ut audierant narrabant; sed alio quodam modo audierant, alio modo ipsi proferebant; quemadmodum de Christo quod posset templum destruere falsum fuit testimonium, ita ei nunc mendaces sunt qui Stephanum aiunt demolitionem legis ac templi Nazareno attribuere ». Atque etiam ex oratione cap. 7 colligitur eum talia dixisse ex quibus colligatur salutem neutiquam templo ritibusque contineri ac concludi; cum enim Hellenistae illi nimis addicti essent traditionibus et caerimoniis legis atque in iis more pharisaeorum iustitiam collocarent, omnino censendum erit Stephanum ritus illos nihil jam valere ad veram iustitiam demon- .Strasse, oraculum quoque Christi de templo commemorasse. Erant itaque testes fa/si eodem modo sicut illi apud Matth. 26,61; verba minime fideliter retulerunt, e contextu avulsa male interpretati sunt, ea ratione protulerunt, ut blasphema esse viderentur. Cum haec testimonia contra eum ederentur, omnes in eum oculos dirigebant, ut quasi ex vultu eius iam culpam colligerent vel confusionem — at alium plane vultum et habitum deprehendunt
6:15
v. 15 et intuentes eum omnes qui sedebant in concilio viderunt faciem. eius tamquam faciem. angeli, tanta scil. serenitate simul et eximia dignitate, pulchritudine, auctoritatis et reverentiae omnibus imponendae praestantia, sicut facies esse solet angeli qui humana forma indutus se spectandum praebet; ἐπίχαριν ἐποίησεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός (Theoph.). Qui Stephanum audierunt perorantem , non permiserunt orationem eius ad finem perduci. Nam audacius, ut ipsis videbatur, loquentem interruperunt; unde vehementius in eos invehitur v. 51 qua reprehensione maxime irati statim impetum in eum fecerunt. Oratio ipsa igitur est manca. Inde iam aliqua in eius explicatione oritur difficultas. Deest enim ipsa illa applicatio rerum gestarum quas enarrat, deest illad, ad quod tendat tota illa institutio ex vetere historia exposita, id quod Stephanum declaraturum fuisse certum est, si non fuisset vi et violentia impeditus. Nihilominus multum luminis praebetur ad orationis partem explicandam quam proponere poterat ex capitibus accusationis 6,13.1% οἱ etiam 6,11. Haec itaque bene sunt perpendenda. Iam Stephanus multus in eo est, ut ostendat Dei manifestationem eiusque beneficia quam plurima et per longum temporis spatium collata esse in regionibus extraneis; proin ea minime pendere nequea terra palaestinensi neque 8 templo ; porro Deum decursu temporis alia instituisse, ita circumcisionem, postea ritus et caerimonias legis; ita distingui ac secerni periodum patriarchalem et mosaicam — unde inferri potuit aliud et novum quoque institutum iri in epocha messiana. De Moyse ita loquitur, ut magnam reverentiam eius prae se ferat. Conditionem pauperem, afflictam patriarcharum ct populi repetito effert, ac si ostendere velit in ea et in oppressione adversariorum nullatenus declarari divinam reprobationem ; verum hisce potius exerceri ac probari cultores Dei. Quam tardi fuerint in Moyse agnoscendo, quam contumaces, inobedientes vehementer effert, pariter quam turpiter legem divinam neglexerint — iam eodem modo se habent erga alium prophetam, cuiussigna et miracula viderant! Quid igitur ipse sentiat de Deo, de Moyse, de lege, de templo satis exponit et simul nimiam illam caerimoniarum templique aestimationem , quasi in illis omnis Dei favor esset repositus, egregie convellit. Singula vide in explicatione. Inde quoque perspicies quantum a vero aberret Hilg. qui contendit ea oratione neque responderi ad quaestionem 7,1 propositam neque respici quae testes dixerint. Duas orationes ex duobus fontibus distinguit Fene, unam qua exponatur Dei manifestationem nullatenus loco determinato alligari (2-21. 29-34. 44-50), alteram qua demonstretur populum semper se contumacem et rebellem praebuisse (92-98. 35-43. 51-53); has duas orationes a Luca esse inter se iunctas. Quam discissionem orationis merito ridet Hilg.; nam ipsa rerum gestarum serie nexus adest continuus. Orationem esse genuinam etiam Spitta fatetur. Non esse a scriptore libere compositam, iam eo patet quia neque explicite et ex ordine accusationes singulas refutat neque ad finem perducta est; quae duo praestaret is qui Stephanum ea occa- Testibus auditis
6:1
Agape (Ἀγάπη "love, charity" in the New Testament)
… The "breaking (v.) of bread" (Acts 2:42; 20:7, 11) was the eucharistic celebration; even if in Acts 2:46 common meals were meant, it does not appear that they were united to the Eucharist, and still less so for the charitable meals of Acts 6:1-6. In Jude 12 and II Pt. 2:13 (in codex B and a few others, since the best-attested reading is ἀπάται "deceits") the ἀγάπαι of the Christians are named, but (although the Latin Vetus …
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… Therefore they institute the deacons (Acts 6, 1-6) and the presbyters (Acts 14, 23; cf. 15, 4, 6, 22 ff., etc.). …
As soon as the work of material assistance undertaken began to hamper their spiritual mission, the Apostles elected seven deacons with the task of serving at the tables and providing for the needs of the widows (Acts 6:1-6). Thus the charitable function of the Church became specialized, while always remaining under the direct supervision of the pastors of the community. …
Diaconal ordination is performed, as for the other major Orders, with the imposition of hands and the episcopal prayer, in conformity with Act. 6, 1 ff. (cf. Pius XII, const. Sacramentum Ordinis, 30 Nov. 1947; AAS, 40 [1948], p. 5). From the Gallican liturgy, in the Middle Ages, the tradition of the instruments was added (stole, …
I. ETYMOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SENSE OF THE WORD. - From the classical διώχονος, διώχονεῖν, servant, to serve, in New Testament and Christian Greek it came to mean: a) alms, work of charity (Act. 6, 1; 11, 29; II Cor. 8, 4; 9, 1. 12. 13; Acta Pauli et Theclae, 41; Didascalia Apost., III, VIII, 2; X [XIII], 6; IV, VII, 1; Cassian, Collatio XVIII, VII, 8; whence διώχονεῖν to place …
The books of the New Testament mention numerous Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1; 9:29): ἑλληνιστής (from ἐλληνίζειν, "to live like the Greeks" or "to speak Greek"), translated by the Vulgate (wrongly) as Graecus, is the Jew who speaks Greek (Acts 21:37-39) because …
HELLENISTS ('Ελληνισταί). - This name designated the Jews of the diaspora (Acts 2:11; 6:1) who lived outside Palestine and spoke Greek. …
… above all as the bond of unity of the college of presbyters, who gather around him (Acts 21:18-19), as previously around the Apostles (ibid. 15:6-29). In the same community, from the very beginnings, the seven ministers of the tables had been appointed (ibid. 6:1-7), commonly regarded as deacons (cf. S. Bihel, De septem diaconis, in Antonianum, 3 [1928], pp. 129-50). In the Churches founded by St. Paul, deacons are mentioned (Phil. 1:1; I Tim. …
PARMENAS ("Constant"). - Sixth of the seven deacons chosen and consecrated by the Apostles to attend to the widows of the converted Hellenistic Jews (Acts 6:1-6). Since he has a Greek name (Παρμενᾶς, abbreviation of Παρμενίδης), like the other deacons, it is probable that P. was also a Hellenist. …
Prochorus (Prochorus, Πρόχορος)
PROCHORUS (Prochorus, Πρόχορος). - One of the seven deacons (Acts 6:5) ordained by the Apostles for the service of the community of Jerusalem (ibid. 6:1-6), third in the series after Stephen and Philip. …
STEPHEN, Saint. - I. LIFE. - Protomartyr (Gr. Στέφανος "crown"), one of the first seven deacons chosen by the apostolic community of Jerusalem by decision of the Twelve to attend to the distribution of food and aid to the needy faithful (Acts 6:1-4). In the list S. is in first place, and the only one to whose name a commendation is added: "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." The Greek name of S. and of the other six …
With her means she assisted the needy and was "rich in good works." It is possible that she belonged to the group of "widows" (codex Sessorianus 82 calls her a "widow"), already organized from the time of the ordination of the seven Deacons (Acts 6:1), though perhaps not yet in the form that appears in 1 Tim. 5:9 ff. Having died while St. Peter was at Lydda, three hours from Joppa, she was raised by him under circumstances that …
He is mentioned in the account of the election of the deacons in Acts 6:1-6, but nothing is known of his life. …
… supposed here is earlier than that attested by St. Ignatius (the supreme power is not yet entirely in the hands of the local bishops, and the terms "bishop" and "presbyter" turn out to be synonymous), in a period of transition between the initial one (Acts 6, 1-6; 14, 23) and that of the 2nd century (v. DEACON; PRESBYTER).
6:2
Apostles (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω)
… redemptive mission (Mt. 28:18-20; Jn. 15:16). Thus Jesus called "the twelve" (Mk. 3:14; Mt. 10:1), whom he chose from an unspecified number of disciples (Lk. 6:13). "The twelve" was a fixed designation: Mk. 6:7 (Lk. 9:1); Mt. 10:5; 20:17; 26:14, etc.; Acts 6:2; this is proved above all by 1 Cor. 15:5, where Paul speaks of the appearances of the Risen One to "the twelve".
… Christ left nothing written; the Apostles considered preaching their particular task (cf. Acts 6, 2) as an indispensable means of apostolate: "Fides ex auditu" (Rom. 10, 14 ff.). …
6:3
… The Apostles entrusted such a task "to seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3) "and praying they laid their hands upon them" (ibid., 6:6). In this account tradition sees the accomplishment of a truly sacramental act. In fact, the handling of charitable activity …
… In primitive Christianity they are remembered as the Hellenists (Acts 6:3), the first deacons, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Parmenas, etc.; and they are the ones who try to kill Paul, after the Apostle's flight from Damascus (Acts 9:29); some Hellenists …
6:5
… who were scandalized at Jesus' eucharistic discourse (Jn. 6:62) and separated from Him. Their masters Peter and Paul won them back to the faith (Haer., 51, 6, 11; PG 41, 900, 908; ed. Holl, 2, 256, 263). Moreover, Epiphanius names the 7 deacons (Acts 6:5), Paul and 5 other men.
St. Irenaeus calls them disciples of Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch, one of the first seven deacons (Acts 6:5), and considers them a branch (ἀπόσπασμα) of false gnosis (C. haer., I, 26, 3; III, 11, 1: PG 7, 687 and 880); so too St. Hippolytus (Philosophoumena, VII, 36). The opinion that …
Nicolas (Nikólaos «Victor of the People»)
NICOLAS (Nikólaos «Victor of the People»). - A deacon, bearing a Hellenistic name, the last of the 7 ordained by the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). He was an "Antiochene proselyte," and therefore not of Hebrew stock. …
Prochorus (Prochorus, Πρόχορος)
PROCHORUS (Prochorus, Πρόχορος). - One of the seven deacons (Acts 6:5) ordained by the Apostles for the service of the community of Jerusalem (ibid. 6:1-6), third in the series after Stephen and Philip. …
… In general, the expressions "Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, Holy Spirit" are equivalent for designating the divine Person; but "Holy Spirit" sometimes indicates rather its influence or charism (Act. 6:5; 10:38; 11:24; 13:52; II Cor. 6:6); the surest criterion is to examine whether personal functions are attributed to the Spirit or whether it is distinguished from the other two divine Persons. …
6:6
… a means of transmitting to others one's own virtue and one's own office; and in the New Testament also as a means of communicating the Holy Spirit (Gen. 48, 14 ff.; Num. 27, 18 and 23; Mk. 5, 25; 8, 23-25; 10, 13 ff.; Lk. 4, 40; 13, 31 etc.; Acts 6, 6; 13, 3; 28, 8; I Tim. 4, 14; II Tim. 1, 6); then with incensation, with the anointing of the sacred oils, especially of chrism, according to the circumstances, with the formula …
… The Apostles entrusted such a task "to seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3) "and praying they laid their hands upon them" (ibid., 6:6). In this account tradition sees the accomplishment of a truly sacramental act. In fact, the handling of charitable activity does not exhaust the whole activity of the deacons: they …
… It serves to indicate the particular meaning that is intended to be given to the rite, the specific purpose that is meant to be achieved by it. This prayer is already mentioned in certain New Testament texts as associated with the laying on of hands: cf. Acts 6, 6; 8, 15-17; 13, 3. Tertullian, moreover, De Baptismo, 8, writes: "Manus imponitur per benedictionem advocans et invitans Spiritum Sanctum"; St. Cyprian, Epist., 73, 9: "Per nostram …
III. TRANSMISSION OF THE THREE DEGREES. - From the very beginning the Apostles alone, in whom resided the fullness of priestly powers, conferred Ordination on deacons (Acts 6:6), on presbyters (Acts 14:23) and on bishops (I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6). Timothy and Titus were probably the first disciples of Paul, to whom the Apostle conferred the episcopate, …
6:7
K. Bornhäuser holds that the Epistle to the Hebrews is not addressed to the whole community of Jerusalem, but to the group of converted priests, of whom Acts 6:7 speaks. …
6:8
… Stephen and Philip evangelized (ibid., 6:8 ff.; 8:5; 26:40), and Philip even baptized (ibid., 8:12 ff.; 38). Beginning with St. Ignatius Martyr, the Fathers place the diaconate as the lowest of the three grades of the hierarchy of Order. …
… A typical example is found in Acts 6:8, where St. Stephen is spoken of: "Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, was doing great wonders and signs." And further on: "Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking steadfastly …
6:9
… Iud., I, 4, 3); Jews of C. took part in the dispute of Stephen in Jerusalem (Acts 6, 9). During the Roman dominion the most notable event was the birth in Tarsus, the principal city (Acts 21, 39), of St. Paul, who practised the trade common in that region, that is, …
… Jesus, were from C. At the first Christian Pentecost Jews from Cyrenaica were present at the speech of Peter (Act. 2, 10); they possessed in Jerusalem a synagogue of their own, whose members took part in the condemnation and martyrdom of St. Stephen (Act. 6, 9). Some converted Hellenistic Jews "Cyprists and Cyrenians," who had escaped the persecution that raged after the death of St. Stephen, evangelized Greek pagans in Antioch (Act. 11, …
PHILIP THE DEACON. - Second of the 7 deacons ordained by the Apostles (Acts 6:9), also called Philip the evangelist (Acts 21:8) to distinguish him from the apostle of the same name. …
… In one and the same city there could be several s. (cf. Acts 6:9); in the Jewish community of Rome at the beginning of the common era there were at least 13, each
6:11
… Temple and of the cult, sign of the end of the era of the Old Testament and fulfillment of Jesus' prophecies (Lk. 13:34ff.; 19:42ff.). It also marked the end of the fierce Jewish persecution against the Church (Hebr. 13:7; 10:32ff.; Act. 4:1-31; 5:17ff.; 6:11ff.; 7:54-8:3; 12:1-4; etc.). …
6:14
… Nazaraeus); 26:71; Lk. 18:37; Jn. 18:5, 7; 19:19; Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 26:9. In Acts 24:5 ff. Paul is accused as "ringleader of the sect of the Nazoreans." The title is connected with Nazareth (v.), where Jesus dwelt for the greater part of his private life.
… To prescriptions of the Pentateuch as of Moses the contemporaries of Christ likewise appeal: the Pharisees (Matt. 19:7; John 8:5; Acts 6:14), the Sadducees (Matt. 22:24), the disciples (John 1:45). The conviction passes to the Apostles (Acts 3:22; Rom. 10:5, 19; 1 Cor. 9:9 etc.) and to the first believers (Acts 7:37; 28:23).
6:34
Already in the Old Testament favoritism is found condemned several times (Deut. 16:19; Prov. 24:23) and in the New Testament it is said that God abhors undue preferences (Lk. 20:21; Acts 6:34; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6), and by this the Apostles meant to condemn both the claim to privileges on the part of the Jews and the disparity that the pagans intended to maintain between …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.