16,951
edits
Changes
new article
Our father among the [[saint]]s '''Stephen of Sourozh''' (Russian: Стефан Сурожского), also '''Stephen the Confessor''', was the [[Archbishop]] of Sourozh during the eighth century. He is commemorated on [[December 15]].
==Life==
Stephen was a native of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. His date of birth is unknown. He received his education in [[Constantinople]] and soon entered a [[monasticism|monastic]] life of [[asceticism]]. He withdrew from civilization and lived in the wildness for thirty years. Having heard of Stephen's humility and virtuous life, [[Patriarch]] [[Germanus I of Constantinople|Germanus]] of Constantinople came to know Stephen and [[ordination|ordained]] him [[bishop]] of Sourozh in the Crimea, now the city of Sudak. Within five years, Stephen's ministry was so fruitful that no [[heretic]]s or [[paganism|pagans]] remained in Sourozh or its environs.
Stephen lived during the period of [[iconoclasm]] when [[icon]]s were being destroyed. As a defender of the veneration of icons and having refused to obey the orders of the emperor to remove the icons from the [[church]]es of Sourozh, the iconoclast Patriarch [[Anastasius of Constantinople|Anastasius]] had Stephen brought to Constantinople. There he came under the punishment of the iconoclast emperor Leo III the Isaurian who had Stephen tortured and imprisoned. After the death of Leo, Stephen was released and returned to his flock in Sourozh, where he died at a quite advanced age.
==Miracles==
An account has been preserved that at the beginning of the ninth century, during the time of a campaign into the Crimea, the Russian prince [[w:Bravlin Bravlin]] accepted [[baptism]], having been influenced by the miracle cure of his paralysis at the [[crypt]] of St. Stephen.
{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Bishop of Sourozh|
years=7xx-7xx|
after=?}}
{{end box}}
==Sources==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103551 OCA: St. Stephen the Confessor the Archbishop of Surozha in the Crimea]
*[http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/December/15-03.htm Sainted Stephen the Confessor, Archbishop of Surozh]
*[http://www.sourozh.org/st-stephen-of-sourozh-old/ St. Stephen of Sourozh]
[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Sourozh]]
==Life==
Stephen was a native of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. His date of birth is unknown. He received his education in [[Constantinople]] and soon entered a [[monasticism|monastic]] life of [[asceticism]]. He withdrew from civilization and lived in the wildness for thirty years. Having heard of Stephen's humility and virtuous life, [[Patriarch]] [[Germanus I of Constantinople|Germanus]] of Constantinople came to know Stephen and [[ordination|ordained]] him [[bishop]] of Sourozh in the Crimea, now the city of Sudak. Within five years, Stephen's ministry was so fruitful that no [[heretic]]s or [[paganism|pagans]] remained in Sourozh or its environs.
Stephen lived during the period of [[iconoclasm]] when [[icon]]s were being destroyed. As a defender of the veneration of icons and having refused to obey the orders of the emperor to remove the icons from the [[church]]es of Sourozh, the iconoclast Patriarch [[Anastasius of Constantinople|Anastasius]] had Stephen brought to Constantinople. There he came under the punishment of the iconoclast emperor Leo III the Isaurian who had Stephen tortured and imprisoned. After the death of Leo, Stephen was released and returned to his flock in Sourozh, where he died at a quite advanced age.
==Miracles==
An account has been preserved that at the beginning of the ninth century, during the time of a campaign into the Crimea, the Russian prince [[w:Bravlin Bravlin]] accepted [[baptism]], having been influenced by the miracle cure of his paralysis at the [[crypt]] of St. Stephen.
{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Bishop of Sourozh|
years=7xx-7xx|
after=?}}
{{end box}}
==Sources==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103551 OCA: St. Stephen the Confessor the Archbishop of Surozha in the Crimea]
*[http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/December/15-03.htm Sainted Stephen the Confessor, Archbishop of Surozh]
*[http://www.sourozh.org/st-stephen-of-sourozh-old/ St. Stephen of Sourozh]
[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Sourozh]]