Murals (2008) by PHANTAST - Graffiti - Cultural Music & Art Association inc. - 98 Milne St. Benleigh
St. Stephen, + 27th Dec. AD 35.
"And him I saw, who bow’d
Heavy with death unto the ground, yet made
His eyes, unfolded upward, gates to Heaven,
Praying forgiveness of the Almighty Sire,
Amidst that cruel conflict, on his foes,
With looks that win compassion to their aim".
In "The Divine Comedy", Dante looks upon a touching scene: the death, by stoning, of a young man who, as he is dying, asks for forgiveness for his persecutors.
Dante was struck by the meekness of St. Stephen, whose martyrdom is related in all its glory in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 7.
As he was being stoned, St Stephen cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”