Who...is St. Stephen?

"Good King Wenceslas went out

On the Feast of Stephen..."

Ever wonder why we sing this song at Christmas, since it mentions the Nativity not at all?

The song is actually meant to be sung on St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas, and celebrates the second day of the "twelve days of Christmas" with a plea to the well-to-do to share with those not as economically fortunate. The kindly Wenceslas (who was actually a Polish nobleman, not a king) saw a needy peasant and went out to give him food, drink, and firewood. Because he was holy and doing a kind deed, his very steps were warmed, and his page was able to keep warm as he and Wenceslas walked "a league" (a little over three miles) to the peasant's home.

St. Stephen is celebrated because he was the first martyr in the history of the Christian church. He was stoned to death for opposing the views of the Sanhedrin, the priest class of the Jewish faith. One of the onlookers, who took no part in Stephen's stoning, but made no attempt to stop the event, was a man named Saul. Later he was converted to Christianity and known as St. Paul the Apostle.

St. Stephen's Day is known in Great Britain and other former British colonies as "Boxing Day," and it is customary to give gifts (or "boxes") to the church as well as to people who serve you during the year: the postal carrier, for instance, servants, your lawn service or gardener, etc. It is a legal holiday in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and also other European countries like Germany and Serbia. The holiday has also been long associated with horses, and Boxing Day fox hunts used to be popular. Now that foxes are a protected species, the hunts are still held, but with the hounds chasing a dragged cloth with artificial fox or rabbit scent on it.