Two St Stephens
St Stephen whose feast day falls on 26 December was the first martyr of the church after he was stoned to death in Jerusalem by the Jewish council after Stephen condemned them for murdering the Messiah (the Christian lord and saviour Jesus Christ). A martyr is a person who dies for their beliefs. In life, Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian church and he cared for the poor. Stephen is the patron saint of stonemasons and deacons. Stephen was a foreign born Jew who spoke Greek which made him a Hellenist. Through a hospital for people with the once incurable disease Leprosy that was located in the centre of Dublin, St Stephen the first martyr is the namesake of the St Stephen’s Green park in Dublin.
Hungary also has a Saint Stephen but he was a king. Born
most likely after 975 in Esztergom which is in modern day
Hungary's borders, King Saint Stephen became the first king
of Hungary in the early 11th century (roughly 1000 or 1001).
Stephen was the first Christian king of Hungary and he thus
he turned Hungary into a legitimate Christian state after a
century of Paganism. As a result many Hungarians consider
him the country's state founder and thus State Foundation
Day is celebrate in Hungary on 20 August every year. Masses
are held all over the country on this day, the Hungarian flag is
hoisted on Kossuth Square and there are fireworks launched
at night. King Saint Stephen's feast day is celebrated in
Hungary on 20th August while the Catholic Church celebrates
it on 16 August.