Skip to main content

The Diaconate and St. Stephen

Saint Stephen, whose feast day we celebrate on Dec. 26, is one of the first ordained deacons of the Church and the first Christian martyr we read about in the Bible. Father Chris Alar, MIC, explains the clerical state of the diaconate, and reminds us that Catholic priests are also ordained deacons. Then Fr. Mark Baron, MIC, sits down with Bishop William Byrne of the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, to discuss the true meaning of Christmas.

Watch Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, and the Marian Fathers and Brothers from the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy on our weekly show, "Living Divine Mercy," airing on EWTN every Wednesday at 6:30 pm ET, with an encore presentation on Mondays at 9:00 am ET.  Through teaching segments, Bible and St. Faustina Diary excerpts, as well as real-life examples of people who are living Divine Mercy in their lives, you will learn why Jesus said Divine Mercy is mankind's last hope of salvation! 

Added to Favorites!
Added to Watch Later!

You might also like...

As Fr. Chris Alar explains, the evening we now call Halloween began not as a pagan ritual, but as a sacred Christian vigil—All Hallows’ Eve, the holy night before the solemnity of All Saints’ Day. This feast, instituted in the 700s, has always been a time to honor the saints and pray for the faithful departed. The Church’s ancient practice of vigils reflected the truth that holy days begin at sundown, anticipating the joy of what is to come.
Why does the Church place the martyrdom of Saint Stephen immediately after Christmas Day? Father Mark Baron, MIC explains that the tenderness of Bethlehem and the violence of Stephen’s death belong to the same mystery: salvation. Christmas is not only the birth of a child; it is the coming of divine light into a darkened world — a light that saves, but also confronts.
Of the 45,000 different Christian denominations in the world, what makes the Catholic and Orthodox Churches different from all the others? Only those churches have all the Sacraments. In a preview of his new book, Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed! from Marian Press, Fr.