Saint Stephen the Martyr
The collect for today, the Feast of St Stephen, from the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer:
Grant, O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon earth, for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Spirit, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those that suffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
For The Epistle: Acts 7:55-60
The Gospel: St Matthew 23:34-39
More on St Stephen here.
Artwork: Franz Anton Maulbertsch, The Preaching of St Stephen, 1783. Fresco, Parish church, Papa, Hungary.