January 2nd: Extract from Dom Gueranger on the Octave of St. Stephen

" The Gothic Liturgy of Spain gives us, in its Mozarabic Missal, the following admirable Prayer to St. Stephen:

Capitulum

Most blessed Protomartyr Stephen! thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord hath named: for that thou, who didst suffer death for him, didst, by him receive a 'Crown' for thy name, and a 'Crown' for thy virtue. Thou wast the first in Martyrdom, and first in its reward; first Martyr in the world, and first in the courts of heaven. Here, stoned for Christ; there, exulting in the Crown he gave thee. Here, thou didst suffer, for his sake, the most cruel torments; there, thou didst receive the most precious Crown. Thou, therefore, that wast the first flower of the Church, be now her untiring patron; that so, by thy prayers, that Jesus, for whose sake thou wast a glorious Martyr, may be merciful unto us."