Translation of the Relics of Stephen the Protomartyr
After the First Martyr had been stoned to death (see Dec. 27), Gamaliel, his teacher, encouraged certain of the Christians to go by night and take up the Saint's body and bury it in his field, which was at a distance of some twenty miles from Jerusalem and was called by his name, "Kaphar-gamala," that is, "the field of Gamala," where Gamaliel himself was later buried. About the year 427, a certain pious man called Lucian, who was the parish priest of a church near to that field, received from God a revelation in a dream concerning the place where the First Martyr was buried. He immediately made this known to John, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Thus, coming to the place indicated, and digging there, they found a box with the word "Stephen" in Aramaic letters. On opening it, they took these most sacred relics and transferred them to Jerusalem with great honor and in the company of a very great multitude of the faithful.
While July temperatures soared into the ’90s and real feel temps climbed over 100, we were blessed to witness neighbor helping neighbor. Through a personal contact at Talluto’s pasta, the Homeless Ministry received a generous contribution of over 3,000 pounds of dry and frozen pasta. The Homeless Ministry in turn distributed this pasta to a number of ministries and shelters including Caring for Friends/Philabundance, Project Home, Whosoever Gospel, Why Not Prosper, and Depaul USA. As we made our scheduled stops to deliver the donated food, each ministry in turn contacted other shelters, individuals, and ministries, offering to share the food to others in need. As is often the case we were blessed once again by those we were serving, witnessing not only their gratitude for what they were receiving but also their love of neighbor in sharing whatever they could. 
Huge crowds attend the first Friday prayers at Istanbul’s Agia Sophia Mosque for more than 80 years, but one Greek Orthodox Archbishop weeps, “This day is for us a mourning day. Its the day we grieve this decision of the Turkish government.”
