Saint Stephen by Carlo Crivelli, 1476. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Who Was Saint Stephen?
Saint Stephen has the gruesome distinction of being the very first Christian martyr. He was one of the first ordained Christian deacons in the city of Jerusalem, and one of the seven deacons selected by the twelve Apostles to distribute charity to the poorer members of the community. Stephen spoke Greek, which helped him to look after the widows of foreign-born Hellenist converts to the Christian community; he gained a reputation as a persuasive evangelist.
After making important enemies at several synagogues—both for gaining an increasing number of converts to this “new” faith, and for his opposing opinion on important points of Mosaic Law, such as the sacrificial rites of the Temple of Jerusalem—he was brought before the Sanhedrin (the rabbinic court) in the year 36 CE, where he proceeded to passionately defend his beliefs. Stephen’s words infuriated the judges, who accused him of blasphemy; he was taken outside the Jerusalem city limits and stoned to death. Today, Saint Stephen is revered by Christians as the saint of deacons—and, perhaps ironically, of stonemasons.
The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen by Annibale Carracci, cir. 1603-1604. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Saint Stephen’s Day Around the World
Saint Stephen’s feast day is celebrated on December the 26th in the Western world, and on December 27th in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It is considered to be the second day of Christmastide (or the Twelve Days of Christmas) for Latin denominations, and is an official public holiday in many countries, including Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland, as well as other countries and regions—including Alsace-Moselle in France, and Catalunya in Spain.
Each region has its own unique traditions, such as the “Saint Stephen’s Day ride” on a horse-drawn sleigh in Finland, “mumming” (or masquerading) in parts of Ireland, and the blessing of horses in Germany. Government offices, schools and many businesses are closed, and most churches either dedicate a service to the saint on this day, or at least make special mention of him.
Saint Stephen’s Day is also celebrated alongside Boxing Day—a day when the wealthy members of the community would traditionally box up food and other gifts to give to the poor, and churches would traditionally collect alms for the same purpose—in the United Kingdom and in many countries that were formerly British colonies, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and South Africa. In recent years, Boxing Day has become associated not only with charitable gift-giving, but also with bargain shopping, drawing comparisons to the American tradition of Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving.
Sant Esteve altarpiece depicting scenes from the saint's life. By Jaume Serra cir. 1385 from the MNAC collection.
Sant Esteve in Catalunya
Saint Stephen’s Day is not a holiday in most of Spain, but it is in Catalunya and the Balearic Islands; in both areas, it is just as important as Christmas Day when it comes to family time. The traditional meal on this holiday can vary from family to family, but nearly always includes canelons—cannelloni, or pasta tubes filled with the leftover meat from Christmas Day. Dessert is torrons (nougat) and neules (thin wafer cookies rolled into tubes), often accompanied by sweet moscatel wine or cava.
There are various theories as to why Saint Stephen’s day is celebrated in Catalunya but not in the rest of Spain. A Catalan writer by the name of Amadeu Carbó wrote a short book called Celebrem el Nadal (Let’s Celebrate Christmas) that offers an explanation for a number of regional holiday traditions, including the tradition of Sant Esteve.
Carbó writes that the celebration of this day is due to Catalunya’s centuries-old link with the Carolingian dynasty. In the ninth century, most of the Iberian Peninsula fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Bishop of Toledo, and was politically dominated by the presence of the Germanic Visigoths. However, the region of Catalunya pertained to the empire founded by Charlemagne, and was under the influence of the Bishop of Narbonne, effectively creating the opportunity for a distinct set of rituals to develop in Catalunya than in the rest of Spain. Carbó says that the Carolingian family networks were quite extended and often spread out throughout different parts of the empire, which meant that people would have to travel long distances in order to reunite with family members for Christmas. Therefore, the holiday of Sant Esteve had practical roots: in medieval and pre-medieval times, people needed a day off from work in order to make the long, often precarious and sometimes dangerous journey home after Christmas Day. The eating of leftovers from the day before was also a practical matter: no food could go to waste when many (though not all) people were farmers who had to feed their families with what they could grow.
However, as logical as this may sound, there is no concrete evidence to back up this particular explanation. The Catalan proverb “per Nadal cada ovella al seu corral; per Sant Esteve, cadascú a casa seva”—“on Christmas Day, each sheep in its pen; on St Stephen’s Day, each person in their own home”—may have come from this idea, or it may just reflect the desire to rest and relax after three straight days of family and food.