To the left is a picture by Jean Fouquet of St. Stephen. I assume Stephen is the one holding the Bible and stone, since he is one of the first Christian deacons and also the first Christian martyr (by stoning). I had not heard of Etienne Chevalier, but apparently he wrote a book of hours (Wikipedia HERE), which is a medieval illustrated devotional. More on St. Stephen at Catholic Online HERE.
Deacons were assigned by the original apostles to make sure that the goods of the early Christian community were distributed fairly. The Christians gave their worldly goods to the Church and tried to live equally. But widows of Greek-descent Jews were grumbling that their needs were not met (Acts 6, NABRE). The apostles realized that they couldn't both preach and be food distributors. They therefore assigned the tasks of stewardship to others.
I didn't mean to post this blog today, but am having some technical difficulties saving it, so I'll keep it short and continue history of Deacons next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. You do not have to agree, but please be civil. Thanks for your interest.