St. Stephen, Martyr Roman Catholic Church is faithful to the fullness of the teaching of the Catholic Church and dedicated to the new Evangelization called for by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Under the pastoral care of Fr. Brian Rafferty, the parish has become one of the fastest growing Catholic parishes in Virginia. Under the patronage of St. Stephen, the first deacon and martyr of the Church, we look to him as an example of living faith, loving service, vibrant witness, holiness and heroic virtue at the beginning of the Third Christian Millennium.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that the parish is the “place where all the faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The parish initiates the Christian people into the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this celebration; it teaches Christ’s saving doctrine; it practices the charity of the Lord in good works and brotherly love.”
Fed by the Holy Eucharist, instructed by the Sacred Scriptures and the teaching of the Church and enlivened by the presence of the Holy Spirit, the members of St. Stephen Martyr Catholic Church affirm the truth expressed by the early Christian fathers that whoever has God for his father has the Church for his mother (Cyprian of Carthage). We seek to be a living witness to the Risen Christ in this age and welcome men and women into a relationship with Him through membership in His Body, the Church.