In this octave of Christmas, the first Christian sanctified by persecution is the young Stephen.

The liturgy proposes a passage from Matthew in this regard.

In it, Jesus invites us to be courageous witnesses, knowing that, brought before the tribunals of men, the Spirit will speak in every believer devoted to the Gospel.

Francis of Assisi experienced in his life, renewed by Christ, the sting of persecution, extended to his brothers in the name of the Word lived to the letter.

In the Sources we read:

"People of high and modest condition mocked and maligned them, even to the point of stripping them of their miserable garments.

The servants of God remained naked because, according to the evangelical ideal, they wore nothing but that one piece of clothing, and moreover they did not ask for the restitution of what was taken from them [...].

Some threw mud on them; others put dice in their hands, inviting them to play; still others, grabbing them from behind by the hood, dragged them on their backs.

These and other such wickednesses were inflicted on them, because they were thought to be such mean beings, that they could be scrambled at will.

Together with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness, they endured tribulations and sufferings of all kinds.

But they bore it all with imperturbable patience, according to the admonition of Francis, without allowing themselves to be brought down by sadness or wounded by resentment, without speaking ill of those who afflicted them.

On the contrary, as perfect evangelical men, placed in the occasion of making great spiritual gains, they exulted in the Lord, considering it a happiness to be exposed to such trials and hardships; and, faithful to the Word of the Gospel, they prayed solicitously and fervently for their persecutors" (FF 1444).

Francis, like Stephen, considered persecution to be the sister of poverty and the virtuous crowning of a life dedicated to God without sparing.

Regarding it we find in the Sources, in the Legend of St Clare, how relatives rushed to the monastery to bring home Agnes, Clare's sister, intent on following her on this new journey of faith.

"Hurry up and come home with us!"

But she replies that she does not want to be separated from her sister Clare: then a cruel-hearted knight rushes at her and, sparing no punches and kicks, tries to drag her away by the hair, while the others push and lift her by the arms.

At this the young girl cries out, as she is torn from the hand of the Lord, as if by lions:

"Help me, dearest sister, and do not let me be taken away from Christ the Lord!" "(FF 3205).

But Clare's powerful prayer and her determination got the better of the bullies.

"While they turned away in bitterness at the failure of the undertaking, Agnes got up again joyfully and, now enjoying the cross of Christ, for whom she had fought in this first battle, she gave herself up for ever to divine service" (FF 3206).

Whoever perseveres in his evangelical journey will be saved.

«And you will be hated by all because of my name. But whoever perseveres to the end, he will be saved» (Mt 10:22)

Eighths of Christmas. St Stephen  (Mt 10,17-22)

«Do not be afraid: behold, I announce to you a great joy, which will be to all the people, today [...] a Saviour has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord» (Lk 2:10).

Francis' joy was so great at the thought of the Birth of Jesus that, on that day, even the animals had to 'celebrate' such an Event:

"Francis had more devotion for the Lord's Christmas than for any other feast of the year.

Indeed, although the Lord worked our salvation on the other feasts, the Saint said that it was from the day of his birth that he undertook to save us.

And he wanted every Christian at Christmas to rejoice in the Lord and for love of him, who gave us all of himself, to be joyfully generous not only with the needy, but also with animals and birds" (FF 1669).

"Above all solemnities, he celebrated with ineffable solemnity the Christmas of the Child Jesus, and called the day on which God, made a little infant, had sucked at a human breast a feast of feasts.

He kissed with an eager heart the images of those infant limbs, and the compassion of the Child, pouring into his heart, also made him stammer words of sweetness in the manner of children" (FF 787).

Three years before his death, we owe to Francis the first original and authentic live representation of the Lord's Christmas, at Greccio (the night of 25 December 1223), with papal authorisation, and the collaboration of a faithful and pious friend.

He had told the latter to procure a small child "to see with the eyes of the body the discomforts in which he found himself for lack of things necessary to an infant, how he was laid in a crib and how he lay on the hay [...]" (FF 468).

The Sources wonderfully recount:

"And the day of gladness came, the time of rejoicing!

For the occasion many friars from various parts are summoned here; men and women arrive festive from the cottages of the region, each one bringing, according to his possibilities, candles and torches to illuminate that night, in which the Star that illuminated all days and times blazed forth splendidly in the sky.

Francis arrived at the end and saw that everything was arranged according to his desire, and he was radiant with joy.

Now the crib is set up, the hay is placed there, and the ox and donkey are introduced.

In that moving scene, evangelical simplicity shines out, poverty is praised, humility is recommended.

Greccio has become the new Bethlehem.

This night is as clear as day and sweet to men and animals!

People flock and rejoice with a joy they have never tasted before, before the new mystery.

The forest resounds with voices and the imposing cliffs echo with festive choirs.

The friars sing choice praises to the Lord, and the night seems all aflutter with joy.

The Saint stands there before the Crib, full of sighs, his spirit vibrating with compunction and ineffable joy.

Then the priest solemnly celebrates the Eucharist over the crib and he himself savours a consolation he has never tasted before.

Francis put on the diaconal vestments, for he was a deacon, and sings the holy Gospel with a sonorous voice: that strong, sweet, clear voice ravishes all in heavenly longings.

Then he speaks to the people, and in the sweetest of words he evokes the poor newborn King and the small town of Bethlehem.

Often, when he wished to name Christ Jesus, inflamed with heavenly love he called him «the Child of Bethlehem», and that name «Bethlehem» he pronounced by filling his mouth with his voice and even more with tender affection, producing a sound like bleating sheep.

And every time he said 'Child of Bethlehem' or 'Jesus', he passed his tongue over his lips, as if to taste and retain all the sweetness of those words [...].

When that solemn vigil was over, each one returned to his home full of ineffable joy" (FF 468 - 470).

[Christmas of the Lord]

«Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,/ for he has visited and redeemed his people» (Lk 1:68).

Francis, a gift from Heaven sent to prepare God's ways, after Providence led him to complete conversion, was transformed by the Spirit into a Prophet for his time and beyond.

In the Major Legend, St. Bonaventure offers us the original figure and experience of the Poor Man of Assisi.

Like John, born to point to the Lamb of God, so was the young merchant's son. Renewed by his new spiritual birth, he sang the Mystery of the Incarnation in the fibres of his own flesh.

In the Sources we read:

"The Grace of God, our Saviour, in these last times has appeared in his servant Francis, to all those who are truly humble and truly friends of holy poverty.

For while they venerate in him the superabundance of God's mercy, they are instructed by his example to radically deny ungodliness and worldly desires, to live in conformity with Christ and to yearn, with insatiable thirst and desire, for blessed hope.

On him, truly poor and contrite of heart, God rested his gaze with great condescension and goodness; not only did he lift him, a beggar, from the dust of worldly life, but he made him a champion, guide and herald of evangelical perfection and chose him as a light, for believers, so that, having become a witness to the light, he might prepare for the Lord the way of light and peace in the hearts of the faithful" (FF 1020).

"Like the morning star, appearing in the midst of the clouds, with the radiant rays of his life and teaching, he drew to the light those who lay in the shadow of death; like the rainbow shining through the bright clouds, bearing in himself the sign of the covenant with the Lord, he proclaimed to men the Gospel of peace and salvation.

Angel of true peace, he too, in imitation of the Precursor, was predestined by God to prepare the way in the desert of the highest poverty and to preach penance by example and word" (FF 1021).

«And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High/ because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways» (Lk 1:76)

Feria proper of 24 December - Christmas Eve  (Lk 1:67-79)