Names And Stephen

Sicut dominum praediorum limitibus affixi tituli proloquuntur, ita nomina ipse saepe sanctorum merita indicant, testantur insignia. Ita Abraham, quod fide credidit, nominis adjectione monstravit, quando ex Abram Abraham divinitus nuncupatur: ut dilatandus genere, nomine ante dilataretur, dicente Domino: Et non vocabitur amplius nomen tuum Abram, sed Abraham erit nomen tuum, quia patrem multarum gentium posui te. Sic conjux sancta ejus cum de sterili fit fecunda, ex Sarai vocitate est Sarah, ut et ipsa ante crescat nomine quam crescat pignore; et quia permittente Domino risum edidit si verula conciperet exarata jam rugis, si praeret desperata jam fecunditas, si sterilitas jam penes senectutis extrema praegnans fieret, risum mox quod genuit, nuncupavit; et hoc aptavit in nomine, quod sensu passa est cum rideret: Et vocavit nomen ejus Isaac, quod interpretatur risus. Sic Jacob, qui in utero coepit ante luctari quam vivere, ante viribus superare quam membris, etiam inter viscera materna ipsa supplantatori est vocabulum consecutus, eo quod antequam nasceretur noscitur divinitus reprobatum supplantasse germanum. Et quia longum est ire per singula, sicut Petrus a petra nomen adeptus est, quia primus meruit Ecclesiam fidei firmitate fundare; ita Stephanus vocatus est a corona, quia primus meruit pro Christi nomine subire conflictum, primus meruit sanguine militium Christi martyrium dedicare. Petrus apostolici chori vetustum teneat principatum, aperiat intrantibus regnum coelorum, reos potestate vinciat, poenitentes clementer absolvat; Stephanus est martyrum primus, Stephanus purpuratum ducat exercitum, qui pro Domini sui adhuc calente sanguine sanguinem suum avidus bellator effundit. Et quia cruore proprio tinctam sibi ipse purpuram conquisivit, meruit a rege suo consecutus est post corona: vere quem praescivit et praedestinavit, ipsum nunc martyrii primum vocavit ad gloriam. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CLIV, In Divum Stephanum protomartyrem Source: Migne PL 52.608a-609a

As titles proclaim the limits appointed to the lordship of estates, so names often indicate the merits of the holy, bearing witness to their achievement. This was shown with Abraham, who believed and thus received an addition to his name, when he was renamed Abraham from Abram, and with expansion of the family, the name was likewise expanded, with the Lord saying, 'And no longer shall you be called Abram, but Abraham shall be your name because I have appointed you to be the father of many nations.' 1 So his holy wife, when she was made fertile from sterility, was renamed Sarah from Sarai, her name growing before grew the pledge, and because the Lord permitted her to laugh saying that a shoot would be conceived in her already furrowed with lines, that in the presence of despair there was now fecundity, that in the fruitless end of old age she would became pregnant, that she laughing would soon give birth, He made it fitting by the name, which sense was passed on when she laughed, and she called the name of the child Isaac, which translated means laughter. So Jacob, who in the womb before his birth began to struggle, who before having strength of limbs would overcome even within his mother, by which the name of supplantor followed, whence before he was born it is known by Divine influence he had supplanted a rejected twin. And because it would take far too long to go through each name, as Peter was given his name from a rock, because first he merited with firmness of faith to establish the Church, so let it be said that Stephen is named from a crown, because he first merited to undergo struggle for the name of Christ, he first merited to be a martyr soldier of Christ with blood. Peter holds the elder and principle seat of the Apostolic choir, he opened the kingdom of heaven to those who would enter, he conquered the guilty with power, absolved the penitent with mercy. Stephen is the first martyr, Stephen in purple leads the army, a zealous soldier who for the blood of His Lord pours out his own hot blood. And because he has sought the purple hue for himself with his own blood thus he earns from his king the crown that follows after, truly him whom He knew and predestined, who now, the first of martyrs, He calls to glory. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 154, On Saint Stephen The Protomartyr 1 Gen 17.5