St. Stephen

Today (December 26th) commemorates the Feast of St. Stephen, in the Roman calendar. St. Stephen is known as the Protomartyr, or, first Martyr. Once again, the Church shows a wonderful understanding of Deeper Truth by placing martyrdom immediately following the Nativity.



This post, however, is only indirectly about St. Stephen, and rather more about The Lord of the Rings, or more precisely, The Fellowship of the Ring as interpreted by Peter Jackson. The film trilogy is inspired by the books by J.R.R. Tolkien and diverges from that inspiration in several ways - at times because film always must - but the first installment in particular is very close in spirit if not in letter to The Book itself. For one thing, The Fellowship is so successful at transporting the viewer into Middle Earth that elves, dwarves, warped orcs and screeching wraiths are accepted without question. Jackson and his able crew infuse every frame of film with the atmosphere of Hobbiton, Rivendell, Moria, Lothlorian and the wilds of Middle Earth so thoroughly I always believe I could drink from the tea cups in Bilbo's kitchen, and slap Pippin upside the head for being such a turkey.


I just watched The Fellowship, and was struck once again by the theme of sacrifice running throughout the story. Bravery, honour and humility are also present, along with the overriding good versus evil, but sacrifice is the one that ties in with St. Stephen, whose day this is. Almost every character in the story sacrifices something; I have selected only a few from The Fellowship of the Ring which illustrate donation of self.


Samwise Gamgee, brave servant of Frodo, has his own doubts and fears (not to mention his own dreams involving a certain Rosie Cotton) but despite them he follows Frodo, and ends up playing a vital role in the fate of Middle Earth. At the beginning of his journey though, he has no idea what terrors,trials and sacrifices lie ahead. He doesn't question his ability to save the world, he merely accepts his small role in the bigger story, and proceeds step by step to the bleakest place imaginable - a place so bleak that hope is leeched from the landscape. Sam doesn't even know if he will ever make it back home, or if his quest will be successful, yet he sacrifices every dream and plan for his future in order to help Frodo. Sam begins his journey much as we do: we usually don't know where we're headed or precisely what we're going to be asked to do. That is God's mercy...and wisdom! at work. He knows that if we knew we were going to have to trudge to Mordor we'd say no thanks and remain behind at the Green Dragon pub, courting the love of our life and drinking half pints until we stumbled home to our cosy hobbit holes.


Merry and Pippin offer themselves as a sacrifice for Frodo, first by joining him on the road to Bree, then in a very direct and dramatic way by distracting the rampaging orcs allowing him to escape across the river, and thereby being taken hostage by the orc army themselves instead. They both go on to make specific and personal contributions to the outcome of the story, but I believe their biggest role was this moment of selflessness on behalf of their friend. Being a companion to someone who has undertaken an arduous task is easy to overlook as being a sacrifice, but it is. It entails abandoning your own time and plans to be at the service of someone else, and is not easy to do without question. There may come a moment when you have the opportunity to offer yourself in their place, and perhaps the companionship that comes first enable you to do so.

Gandalf falls to the Balrog when attempting to fend it off so the Fellowship could reach safety outside the Mines of Moria. By choosing to take a stand against the Balrog when he did, Gandalf made it possible for Frodo and the ring to continue on. (One important lesson to learn from Gandalf is to never turn your back on evil; never assume you are free from it until you have seen its dead and withered corpse on the ground.)


Frodo himself makes the ultimate sacrifice - donation of self. Everything he is, is given to the quest. In Lothlorien he laments to Galadriel having to bear the burden of the ring by himself. I love her response to him: she does not console, cajole, or give false courage. She acknowledges the effort required, and tells him that to bear a ring of power is to be alone...but also that "even the smallest may change the course of history". We are told that God does not give us a burden we cannot carry, and that we do not carry it alone. It can often feel like the opposite is true though, and that we are like Frodo: aching and weary from the effort, and perhaps even altered or twisted by the chore. However, like Frodo, while it may look like we're only carrying a ring (a very small burden) we are in fact changing the course of history.

The character whose sacrifice always has the greatest impact on me is that of Boromir. He struggles for a very long time with the desire to be the Hero, save Gondor, and defeat Mordor by using the ring himself. He becomes obsessed with the ring to the point that it destroys his reason and wisdom. He makes an attempt to overpower Frodo and force the ring from him, but is wrenched back to his senses in time to regain his honour and integrity by giving his own life in order to save his friends. As he lays dying, he confesses his wrongdoing, asks forgiveness, and acknowledges Aragorn as his king. His actions sever the Fellowship, and yet it is quite likely the quest would have failed if the Nine had remained together. His sacrifice enabled each member to find and fulfill their own role. Not many of us are called to dramatic action like Bormir, but I'm sure many of us have experienced his struggle with false pride and temptation. His ultimate sacrifice was dying to self - he surrendered his lust for power, his grand schemes and plans, and his nagging desire for the ring. When we are able to do the same, along with confessing our wrongdoings, seeking forgiveness, and acknowledging our King, we allow The Quest to continue.

St. Stephen's death also dispersed a Fellowship (Christians), resulting in the spread of Christianity and the salvation of many. The Church is wise to remind us of the cost of faith so soon after we celebrate the Birth of Christ. Yet while we will have to make sacrifices, we do have the consolation that even the smallest among us can change the course of history.