Saturday, December 26, 2009

Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen statue, church of San Sebastiano, LivornoToday is Saint Stephen's Day and it seems a good occasion to thank all the Stefanos (at least four of them) who helped us with access to places, news, facts and historical data.
The statue of the Protomartyr is on the facade of the church of “San Sebastiano” (Saint Sebastian), Saint Stephen is carrying the martyrs' palm and the stones of his martyrdom.

More about Saint Stephen on Jerusalem Hills daily photo.

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21 comments:

  1. Mary Stebbins TaittDecember 26, 2009 at 3:04 AM

    Lovely! Happy Holidays!!!

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  2. HildaDecember 26, 2009 at 3:48 AM

    I'd like to thank your four Stefanos too. We also benefited from their help. :)

    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

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  3. Clueless in BostonDecember 26, 2009 at 5:32 AM

    I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

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  4. DinaDecember 26, 2009 at 8:08 AM

    Thanks for this post. I have wanted to post about St. Stephan's Day but never knew how to illustrate it. You are lucky to have a statue.

    Shalom from Jerusalem, where the poor martyr met his end.

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  5. GunnDecember 26, 2009 at 9:36 AM

    Today I will open our Italian cake, and than I will send some thoughts all the way down to Livorno, to you who celebrate Saint Stephen`s Day. And I will "google" and find out more about the Saint....
    Have a nice day!:-)

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  6. jooDecember 26, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    Hope you're having great Christmas!
    I like this statue.
    All the best to your friends Stefanos:)

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  7. Cezar and LéiaDecember 26, 2009 at 10:22 AM

    Beautiful sculpture and thanks so much for remember about his day! :)
    Léia

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  8. stromsjoDecember 26, 2009 at 10:50 AM

    A radiant statue.

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  9. lemonDecember 26, 2009 at 11:52 AM

    Merry Christmas dear Vogon Poet :)

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  10. KateDecember 26, 2009 at 12:57 PM

    An excellent choice to celebrate the day!

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  11. cieldequimperDecember 26, 2009 at 1:19 PM

    I need to look at a calendar more often!
    Nice statue btw lots of martyrdom.

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  12. VPDecember 26, 2009 at 1:58 PM

    Here the day after Christmas, a holiday, it's called “Santo Stefano”, so it's difficult to forget about it.
    We say that something will last “da Natale a Santo Stefano” (from Christmas to Saint Stephen's Day) of something seen as short lived.

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  13. AndreeaDecember 26, 2009 at 2:49 PM

    We celebrate "Sfântul Ştefan" tomorrow, on the 27th. I wonder where the one day difference came from.

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  14. IlseDecember 26, 2009 at 8:33 PM

    Happy Holidays! Really love that Christmas tree. Really quite spectular & a tree did not die. The nativity scenes in the wine bottle were very cool as well. And, St. Stephen looks pretty good. Hope Santa was good to you & yours!

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  15. amatamari©December 26, 2009 at 10:46 PM

    Spero tu abbia trascorso un periodo sereno (e digerito tutto se anche in quel di Livorno si mangia tanto come dalle mie parti...)
    :-)

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  16. tapirgalDecember 27, 2009 at 12:00 AM

    Beautiful photo in the arch, nice colors, and I loved hearing your comment about “da Natale a Santo Stefano." The idioms of cultures are so interesting.

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  17. TashDecember 27, 2009 at 5:40 AM

    clever way to thank friends and assistants! Very nice sculpture.

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  18. DinaDecember 27, 2009 at 10:45 AM

    Ha, yes, I finally remembered our St. Stephen's church, duh. JHDP is honored by your link.

    I learned about the martyr's palm symbol from you. So many Christian things are new to me.
    And a nice saying, “da Natale a Santo Stefano.”

    At dinner with my nun and hermit friends last night we had Pandora cake (my first) and I thought of you in Italy.

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  19. VPDecember 27, 2009 at 7:16 PM

    @ Dina - Hermits eating pandoro? Things aren't what they used to be...

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  20. AnonymousDecember 28, 2009 at 3:07 AM

    In Bulgaria we have name day - according to the orthodox saints calendar. It is celebrated with parties almost like birthdays. Lots of occasions to get drunk :)

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  21. DinaDecember 28, 2009 at 4:13 PM

    But the hermit is Italian, he needs his Christmas pandoro! :D

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