How can all this hatred be stopped when one man is slapping another on the cheek? There is only one way, and that is by turning the other cheek, which means: “I forgive; I refuse to hate you. If I hate you, I will add my quota to the sum total of hate. This I refuse to do. I will kill your hate, I will drive it from the earth. I will love you.”

That was the way Stephen conquered the hate of those who killed him; namely, by praying: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:60). He was practically repeating the First Word from the Cross.

And that prayer of forgiveness won over the heart of a young man named Saul who stood nearby, holding the garments of those who stoned him, and “consenting to his death”. If Stephen had cursed Saul, Saul might never have become St. Paul. What a loss that would have been! But hate lost the day because Stephen forgave.

—Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, from his book “Go To Heaven”.