Stephen the Hymnographer

Who is Stephen the Hymnographer?

Saint Stephen the Hymnographer, also known as Stephen of St. Sabas, was a Syrian monk who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church.

Stephen lived the ascetic life at the Lavra of Saint Sabas in Palestine. He was the nephew of St. John Damascene.

Stephen was introduced to the monastic life by his uncle, and, at the age of ten, entered the same monastic community as his uncle. By his mid-twenties, he felt so drawn to a life of seclusion and contemplation, he asked the abbot of the community for permission to live as a hermit. Due to the great skill in giving spiritual direction he already showed at that young age, the abbot gave him limited permission. The condition was that he make himself available to others on weekends.

He and Andrew the Blind were among the first to compose hymns in the Triodion, chanted during the period between the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee and Palm Sunday. These idiomela are stichera of which two were written for each weekday of Great Lent. One is chanted at the aposticha of Vespers and one at the aposticha of Matins, each being chanted twice.