VENERABLE STEPHEN

April 27

From the Prologue

Stephen was a disciple of St. Theodosius of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev. For a while, Stephen was abbot of the Monastery of the Caves and labored much in the regulation and organization of the monastic life and in adornment of churches. The devil incited malice among the monks against Stephen and, not only did they remove him as abbot, but banished him from the monastery. God, Who does not abandon the righteous for long under the humiliation of the unrighteous, directed the life of Venerable Stephen so that he was elected as Bishop of Vladimir. As a hierarch of God, Stephen governed the Church until old age and died peacefully in the Lord in the year 1094 A.D.