Saint Stephen the Confessor of Surozh

Life

Stephen was from Cappadocia. Stephen was raised in Constantinople under Patriarch Saint Germanus. Stephen withdrew into solitude and lived hidden from the world. An angel revealed him to Saint Germanus and commanded him to appoint Stephen as bishop of the city of Surozh (present-day Sudak in Crimea). The patriarch did so. The zealous Stephen converted many to Christianity. Stephen suffered bitterly under Emperor Leo the Isaurian for the icons. Stephen foretold the emperor's swift destruction. After the evil death of this evil emperor, Stephen was returned to his diocese, where he tended his flock in a God-pleasing manner and reposed peacefully at the end of the eighth century.