{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-3250","native_reference":{"book_number":510,"chapter_from":7,"chapter_to":7,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":60,"verse_to":60},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Augustine of Hippo</b>: And in the Acts of the Apostles, blessed Stephen prays for those by whom he is being stoned, because they had not as yet believed in Christ and were not contending against that universal grace.<br/><i>— SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.22.73</i></p><p><b>Augustine of Hippo</b>: He showed his love for his murderers, in that he died for them.… That is the perfection of love. Love is perfect in him whom it makes ready to die for his brothers; but it is never perfect as soon as it is born. It is born that it may be perfected. Born, it is nourished: nourished, it is strengthened: strengthened, it is made perfect. And when it has reached perfection, how does it speak? \"To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. My desire was to be set free and to be with Christ; for that is by far the best. But to abide in the flesh is needful for your sake.\" He was willing to live for their sakes, for whom he was ready to die.<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON 1 John 5.4</i></p><p><b>Bede</b>: But kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice, saying, \"Lord, do not hold this sin against them.\" For himself indeed he prayed standing, for his enemies he knelt, because their greater iniquity demanded the greater remedy of supplication. And the wondrous virtue of the blessed martyr, who was so fervent with zeal that he openly reproached the guilt of their disbelief to those he was held by, so burned with love that even in death he prayed for those by whom he was killed.<br/><i>— Commentary on Acts</i></p><p><b>Bede</b>: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And having said this, he fell asleep. Beautifully he says \"fell asleep,\" and did not say \"died.\" For he offered the sacrifice of love and fell asleep in the hope of resurrection.<br/><i>— Retractions on Acts</i></p><p><b>Cyprian</b>: What beyond;-that you should not swear nor curse; that you should not seek again your goods when taken from you; that, when you receive a buffet, you should give your other cheek to the smiter; that you should forgive a brother who sins against you, not only seven times, but seventy times seven times, but, moreover, all his sins altogether; that you should love your enemies; that you should offer prayer for your adversaries and persecutors? Can you accomplish these things unless you maintain the stedfastness of patience and endurance? And this we see done in the case of Stephen, who, when he was slain by the Jews with violence and stoning, did not ask for vengeance for himself, but for pardon for his murderers, saying, \"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.\" It behoved the first martyr of Christ thus to be, who, fore-running the martyrs that should follow him in a glorious death, was not only the preacher of the Lord's passion, but also the imitator of His most patient gentleness. What shall I say of anger, of discord, of strife, which things ought not to be found in a Christian? Let there be patience in the breast, and these things cannot have place there; or should they try to enter, they are quickly excluded and depart, that a peaceful abode may continue in the heart, where it delights the God of peace to dwell. Finally, the apostle warns us, and teaches, saying: \"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you.\" For if the Christian have departed from rage and carnal contention as if from the hurricanes of the sea, and have already begun to be tranquil and meek in the harbour of Christ, he ought to admit neither anger nor discord within his breast, since he must neither return evil for evil, nor bear hatred.<br/><i>— Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: \"And he knelt down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.\" To clear himself, and show that neither were his former words prompted by passion, he says, \"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge\": wishing also even in this way to win them over. For to show that he forgave their wrath and rage in murdering him, and that his own soul was free from all passion, was the way to make his saying to be favorably received.<br/><i>— Homily on Acts 18</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: And this blessed man does not simply pray, but does it with earnestness: \"having kneeled down.\" Mark his divine death! So long only the Lord permitted the soul to remain in him. \"And having said this, he fell asleep.\"<br/><i>— Homily on Acts 18</i></p><p><b>Oecumenius</b>: That his own death, when he prayed, would not place them into sin if their sin was forgiven, this is what he sought to be fitting. And we say, if they repented, it was forgiven. For even he who struck him with countless hands, and Paul who persecuted the Church, became protector of the Church. [SAINT CYRIL ON \"FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.\"]<br/><i>— Commentary on Acts</i></p><p><b>Pseudo-Clement</b>: Wherefore, in short, the Master Himself, when He was being led to the cross by those who knew Him not, prayed the Father for His murderers, and said, 'Father, forgive their sin, for they know not what they do!' [Luke 23:34] The disciples also, in imitation of the Master, even when themselves were suffering, in like manner prayed for their murderers. [Acts 7:60] But if we are taught to pray even for our murderers and persecutors, how ought we not to bear the persecutions of parents and relations, and to pray for their conversion?<br/><i>— Recognitions (Book VI)</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"2bfb19632471750c7a357d7d03fc26af2fa4947cd36a794f9389aeae5576ec6f","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":3250,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"257738bdb3e2fc90b851aee739d9e505f360f7bb0be2794bef3209331d02519c","translator":null,"work":null}