CIUDAD to - the Catholic Kingdom!

196 CITY OF GOD
presence of God in order to be crowned with eternal
honor and glory. Christ our Savior received him with
those words of the Gospel : "Friend, ascend higher ;
come
to Me, thou faithful servant; for, since thou hast been
faithful in small things and for a short time, I shall re
ward thee with abundance, and I shall confess thee before
my Father as my faithful servant and friend, just as thou
hast confessed Me before men." All the Angels, Pa
triarchs, Prophets and all the Saints were filled with an
especial accidental joy on that day and welcomed the
invincible martyr as the first fruits of the Passion of
the Lord and as the captain of all those that should follow
him in martyrdom. This most fortunate soul was placed
very high in glory and close to the most sacred humanity
of Christ our Savior. The most blessed Mother partici
pated in the joy through a vision granted to Her; and
in praise of the Most High, She composed hymns and
canticles with her angels. Those that returned after
leaving saint Stephen in heaven, gave thanks to Her for
the favor shown to the saint in securing him his eternal
happiness.
198. Saint Stephen died about nine months after the
passion and death of Christ, our Redeemer, on the
twenty-sixth of December, the same date on which the
Church celebrates his feast. On that day he had com
pleted his thirty-fourth year, which, with the addition
of one day, was also the thirty-fourth year of the birth
of the Savior. Hence saint Stephen was born one day
later than Jesus, being only twelve months older, and his
birth and death happened on the same day of the year,
as was clearly shown to me. The prayer of the blessed
Virgin and of saint Stephen merited the conversion of
Saul, as we will see later on. In order that this con
version might be so much the more glorious the Lord
More Free Items at www.catholickingdom.com