Venerable (Monastic) 8th century

Venerable Stephen the Hymnographer

c. 725 – 796 or 807

Also known as Stephen of Saint Savva Monastery

A monk of the Lavra of Saint Savva who composed liturgical hymns for the Triodion season.

Feast Day

October 28

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Stephen the Sabaite, the Hymnographer

Life

Stephen the Hymnographer, also known as Stephen the Sabaite, was a monk of the Lavra of Saint Sabas (Mar Saba) in Palestine who composed liturgical hymns for the Triodion season. Born around 725 in Julis, in the district of Gaza, he was a nephew of Saint John of Damascus and was introduced to the monastic life by his uncle.

He entered the same monastic community as his uncle at the age of ten and lived the ascetic life there for approximately fifty years. By his mid-twenties he sought greater seclusion and requested permission to live as a hermit. Because his gifts for spiritual direction were already recognized, the abbot granted him limited solitude on the condition that he remain available to others on weekends.

Together with Andrew the Blind, Stephen was among the first to compose idiomela for the Triodion, the liturgical book used during Great Lent. His feast is celebrated on October 28, and he is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He should not be confused with Stephen the Wonderworker of Saint Sabas's Monastery.

Timeline 5 moments Read Hide

c. 725 Birth in Gaza Stephen is born in Julis, in the district of Gaza, a nephew of Saint John of Damascus.
c. 735 Enters Mar Saba At the age of ten he enters the Lavra of Saint Sabas in Palestine, guided into monastic life by his uncle John of Damascus.
c. 750 Granted limited solitude By his mid-twenties he requests hermit status; the abbot permits a limited eremitic life on condition that he remain available to others on weekends.
8th century Composes Triodion hymns With Andrew the Blind, Stephen pioneers the composition of idiomela for the Triodion, with stichera for each weekday of Great Lent.
796 or 807 Repose at Mar Saba Stephen dies at the Lavra of Saint Sabas after about fifty years of monastic life. His feast is kept on October 28.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Monastic Life at Mar Saba

Stephen was born around 725 in Julis, in the district of Gaza, and was the nephew of Saint John of Damascus. At the age of ten he entered the Lavra of Saint Sabas in Palestine, the same community his uncle had joined, and was guided by him into the monastic life.

He remained at the lavra for roughly fifty years. By his mid-twenties, seeking a deeper solitude, he asked the abbot for permission to live as a hermit. Because his skill in spiritual direction was already valued by the brethren, the abbot allowed him a limited eremitic life on the condition that he make himself available to others on weekends.

Hymnography and Contributions

Stephen, with Andrew the Blind, was among the first to compose idiomela in the Triodion, the liturgical book used during Great Lent. Two stichera were written for each weekday of the Great Fast — one for Vespers and one for Matins — each chanted twice, spanning the weekday services from the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee through Palm Sunday.

These idiomela are described as exceptionally rich in doctrinal content, summing up the whole theology of the Great Fast.

Later Life and Legacy

Toward the end of his life Stephen reported that various cities, Gaza among them, were laid waste and depopulated by Saracen forces under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, and that many monks of Saint Sabas met their deaths during this time.

He died at Mar Saba in either 796 or 807. The events of his era and the account of his life are recorded by Leontius of Damascus in The Life of St. Stephen the Sabaite. In the past Stephen the Sabaite was sometimes identified with the author known as Stephen of Thebes, but that writer must have lived several centuries earlier.

Notes

Not Stephen the Wonderworker of Saint Savva's Monastery.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints