died 815 (or shortly after); fl. early 9th century
Abbot of the monastery of Triglia who confessed the Orthodox veneration of icons under the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian. He endured persecution for the faith and was known as a wonderworker.
Our Venerable Father Stephen, Abbot of Triglia, Confessor and Wonderworker
Stephen the Wonderworker was a Byzantine monastic who served as igumen (abbot) of the monastery of Triglia, near Constantinople in Bithynia, in the early ninth century. From his youth he devoted himself to the monastic life, receiving tonsure early and in time rising to lead the Triglia community.
He is remembered as a confessor of the Orthodox veneration of icons during the second period of iconoclasm under the emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820). Summoned for interrogation and pressed to sign a document renouncing the veneration of sacred images, he refused and openly denounced the emperor's impiety.
For his refusal he endured severe physical torment and was imprisoned in 815. Weakened by his sufferings and by illness, he died in prison. He is honored in the Orthodox tradition as a confessor and wonderworker, commemorated on March 28.
Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship,
the enlightener of the universe and the adornment of hierarchs:
all-wise father Stephen, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things.
Intercede before Christ God to save our souls.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
According to his life, Stephen dedicated himself to God from a young age and received monastic tonsure early. He eventually became the leader of the monastery of Triglia, situated in the region of Bithynia near Constantinople.
As igumen he governed the Triglia community during the renewed campaign against icons, a period in which monasteries—strongholds of icon veneration—were particular targets of imperial pressure.
When the imperial authorities renewed their campaign against the veneration of icons, Stephen was brought in for interrogation. Officials demanded that he sign a document renouncing the Orthodox veneration of sacred images.
He steadfastly refused to betray Orthodoxy and boldly denounced the emperor for his impiety. Following his refusal he endured severe physical torment, and in 815 he was imprisoned. Weakened by his sufferings and by illness, he soon died in prison.
He is honored as a confessor in the Orthodox tradition, and liturgical texts—a Troparion and Kontakion—commemorate his faithful witness during the iconoclast persecution.
Stephen's confession falls within the second period of iconoclasm, which Leo V the Armenian initiated in 815, possibly spurred by military reverses including defeats at the hands of the Bulgarian Khan Krum. Leo seized the properties of iconodules and monasteries—among them the wealthy Monastery of Stoudios—and exiled Theodore the Stoudite.
Opponents of iconoclasm were frequently sentenced to flogging, and those who refused communion with the iconoclast patriarch Theodotos were driven into exile. The emperor appointed a commission of monks to gather historical texts supporting iconoclasm, while the patriarch Nikephoros led the clergy who defended the veneration of icons.
Because no contemporary iconoclast sources survive, accounts of this period—including the lives of its confessors—depend heavily on iconodule sources hostile to the imperial policy.
Stephen is titled a wonderworker in the Orthodox tradition, though the surviving notices of his life do not detail specific miracles. Other icon-venerating abbots of the same region and era were likewise remembered for charisms such as clairvoyance and wonderworking—for example Hilarion of Pelekete, who died a martyr for the veneration of icons.
A variant calendrical tradition lists Stephen's commemoration on March 26 rather than March 28; the OCA synaxarion and the anchor record give March 28.
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