Voice: Jennifer
Today is Saturday, 27th of December. We wish all of you a Blessed Christmas. Yesterday was the Feast of St Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. As there was a bug leading to the devo not being out up for most of the day, I have included it here for today’s reflection.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
Amen.
We join in to praise God in the words of Psalm 150,
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
Acts 7: 54-60
The Stoning of Stephen
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
The Feast of St Stephen
For those tuning in to the audio devotion, please refer to the posted image in the text.
The commemoration of the Feast of St Stephen on the second day of Christmastide can, at first glance, feel dissonant. As the warmth and tenderness of Christmas continue to linger, few pause to consider the stark image of a blood‑soaked saint meeting a violent death at the hands of an enraged crowd.
The red of martyrdom upon the white of Christmas seems ill‑fitted. This first martyr can appear relegated to obscurity in the Church’s calendar, overshadowed by the gentler themes of the season.
Yet this was not the case for the Dutch artist Rembrandt. The Stoning of Stephen was the subject of his first signed painting, completed in 1625 when he was only nineteen. The canvas is divided diagonally between zones of serene light and brutish darkness, drawing the eye into the tension between heaven and earth.
Notably, Rembrandt inserts a self‑portrait—here circled—between the kneeling saint and the man poised with a large stone. It has been suggested that this reflects Rembrandt’s conviction that the Bible was for him “a kind of diary, an account of moments in his own life.”
It is not difficult to imagine ourselves in that scene, standing where Rembrandt places himself—confused, hesitant, and afraid. 2025 has been marked by violence, with anger unleashed upon the innocent through modern hailstorms of bullets and munitions. Human hatred and brutality, it seems, have not changed much.
Beyond the turmoil of headlines and global unrest, the Feast of St Stephen also speaks quietly into personal grief—the untimely loss of friends and loved ones. Some of you may have suffered an untimely loss of a loved one this year. Stephen is but one among countless saints whose deaths appear premature and tragic to us.
Yet again and again, death gives way to life—like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies (John 12:24). This has been the enduring witness of the Church. Stephen’s death scattered believing communities and became part of the long road that would one day turn Saul into Paul. Centuries later, Tertullian would give words to this mystery: the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.
Stephen’s death also draws us back to Christ Himself. His martyrdom is an act of imitatio Christi. To walk in the footsteps of his Lord—even unto death—was, for Stephen, an honour.
“To die is gain,” St Paul would later write. Suffering is often harder for those who watch on, burdened by grief and longing for healing that only time can bring. Yet we are given comfort in the vision Stephen saw: Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), welcoming a servant who had fallen asleep (Acts 7:60), and who will awaken in the glory of His presence.
Many will continue to struggle with the incongruity of calling this “the most wonderful time of the year” while wars rage on, or while personal grief is sharpened by the memories and emotions this season awakens.
It is here that the Feast of St Stephen, placed deliberately on the second day of Christmas, offers us a fuller and more honest proclamation: the light of Christ enters a broken world, and it shines even through suffering, death, and martyrdom.
We end with the Collect for St Stephen’s Day:
O Glorious Lord,
your servant Stephen looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors:
Grant that in all our sufferings here upon earth
we may love and forgive our enemies,
looking steadfastly to Jesus Christ our Lord,
who sits at your right hand and intercedes for us;
and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Be blessed by this song which carries the hope and prayer for peace, Do you hear what I hear
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear what I hear?
Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb
Do you see what I see?
“A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite, ” (hmm, hmm, yeah)
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
“A song, song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea”
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king (mighty king)
Do you know what I know?
“A child, a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Oh, let us bring Him silver and gold”
Said the king to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say, listen to what I say
Oh, pray for peace, people everywhere
Listen to what I say (listen to what I say)
“Oh, the child, the child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light”
Oh, He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light,
Do you hear what I hear?
I hear? I hear?
Link to today’s Morning Office
About This Daily Devotion
This weekday devotion is drawn from the Morning Office and is part of a project initiated by Revd Canon Terry Wong, with contributions from clergy and members across various parishes. Each entry includes selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture passage, accompanied by a reflection and prayer. An audio option is also available, often ending with a hymn or song. We encourage you to both read and listen.
Our aim is to help Anglicans engage more deeply with our rich liturgical tradition, while meeting the devotional needs of today’s believers. This project began on Ash Wednesday 2025 and is offered on weekdays only.
For feedback, please write to us at terrywong@anglican.org.sg
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