¹ Whenever we must encourage you, according to the Lord’s command, to love your enemies, I fear that some may think and say that they can never accomplish this. Perhaps they even wish to object and claim that it is impossible always to imitate Christ. But listen, O man, whoever you are, who say that you cannot imitate your Lord in loving your enemies. Surely, blessed Stephen was a man and not God—he was what you are—but what he did, he did only because of the One who granted it to him, the same One to whom you also pray. Consider, then, what he did. He spoke to the Jews; he rebuked them, yet he loved them. I must show you both aspects: his rebuke and his love. Listen to his rebuke—these are the words of Stephen when he addressed the Jews: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit! Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?”. You have heard his rebuke. Now I must show you the other side—listen also to his love. They were enraged, burning with even greater fury, repaying evil for good, and they rushed upon him with stones, beginning to stone the servant of God. Here, holy Stephen, I see your love; here, let us behold you; here, let us witness you as the conqueror of the devil and the triumphant victor. Behold, blessed Stephen looks upon Him who hung on the cross for him, who was nailed to the wood, while he himself was being stoned. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. And you, blessed Stephen, what do you say? Let me hear you, let me see you, that perhaps I may be able to imitate you. First, blessed Stephen stood and prayed for himself, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. When he had said this, he knelt down, and kneeling, he said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”, and when he had said this, he fell asleep. O blessed sleep, O true rest! Behold what it means to rest in blessedness: to pray for one’s enemies.

² But I ask you, Stephen, to explain to me what this was: you stood while praying for yourself and knelt while praying for your enemies. For if you were present, you would no doubt answer: I stood while praying for myself because, as one who served God rightly, I did not struggle in prayer or in obtaining what I asked, for one who prays for a just person does not struggle. That is why he stood while praying for himself. Then he turned to pray for the Jews, for the murderers of Christ, for the murderers of the saints, for those who were stoning him. Because he saw that their impiety was excessive and great, and that it would be difficult for them to be forgiven, he knelt.

³ Let us imitate, then, most beloved brothers, as far as God grants us, the blessed Stephen. Let us love not only our friends but even our enemies, for there is nothing by which we can so effectively redeem our sins, confound the devil, and please God. Indeed, the Lord himself said: “Give, and it will be given to you; forgive, and you will be forgiven”, and again: “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”, and so on. See, brothers, the mercy of our Lord! He has placed it within our power to determine how we will be judged on the Day of Judgment. If we forgive, we will be forgiven; if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. Therefore, most beloved brothers, let us love not only our friends but also our enemies, so that we may come before the judgment seat of the eternal Judge with a clear conscience, saying: “Give, Lord, because we have given; forgive, because we have forgiven. We have done what You commanded; now fulfil what You have promised.” And He himself will grant it, He who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.