December 27 is STEFANOVDEN (Nameday of St. Stephen or Stefan’s Day)

December 27 is the Name day of Stefan, Stefanka, Stoil, Stoyo, Stoyka, Stoycho, Stoimen, Stoichko, Stoyan, Stoyanka, Stanka, Tanya, Tanyo, Tsonko/a, Tsanko/a, Stanimir/a, Stamen, Zapryan/a; Ventsislav/a.

All we know of him is related in the Acts of the Apostles . St. Stephen he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. St. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian Church. The apostles had found that they needed helpers to look after the care of the widows and the poor. So they ordained seven deacons, and St. Stephen is the most famous of these.

God worked many miracles through St. Stephen and he spoke with such wisdom and grace that many of his hearers became followers of Jesus. The enemies of the Church of Jesus were infuriated to see how successful St. Stephen's preaching became.So t last, they laid a plot for him. They could not answer his wise arguments, so they got men to lie about him, saying that he had spoken sinfully against God. St. Stephen faced that great assembly of enemies without fear. In fact, the Bible says that his face looked like that of an angel.

The saint spoke about Jesus, showing that He is the Savior God had promised to send. He scolded his enemies for not having believed in Jesus. At that, they rose up in great anger and shouted at him. But St. Stephen looked up to Heaven and said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

His hearers plugged their ears and refused to listen to another word. They dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death. The saint prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!", fell to his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him.

From early times this saint was venerated as patron of horses. A poem of the tenth century pictures him as the owner of a horse and dramatically relates how Christ Himself miraculously cured the animal for His beloved Disciple. He is also the patron saint of casket makers, coffin makers, deacons, headaches, horses, masons, and stone masons