Just as Jesus on the Cross entrusted himself to the Father without reserve and pardoned those who killed him, at the moment of his death St Stephen prayed: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”; and further: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (cf. Acts 7: 59-60). Stephen was a genuine disciple of Jesus and imitated him perfectly. With Stephen began that long series of martyrs who sealed their faith by offering their lives, proclaiming with their heroic witness that God became man to open the Kingdom of Heaven to humankind.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, December 26, 2005
Christianity’s first martyr was probably a Greek Jew. Stephen’s story is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. He was among the first seven deacons chosen to serve the Hellenist Christian commu-nity in Jerusalem. But the wonders he worked rattled local Jewish leaders. Wit-nesses at his trial before the Sanhedrin gave false testi-mony, and Stephen defended himself with a stirring spe-ech recalling the long history of Israel’s relationship with God and calling the Jews “stiff-necked people” who “always oppose the Holy Spirit.” As he was stoned to death outside the city, he cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He is the patron of bricklayers, stone-masons and numerous indi-vidual Christian churches.