Elder Stephanos of Athos

Elder Stephanos of Athos. A Serbian by birth who made a promise to the Mother of God to take the angelic habit. He dwelt in the harshest region of athos, a cliffside known as karoulia, famous for isolation from the world. This inhospitable place became the home of great spiritual eagles, like this elder, who made their abodes in caves carved out in the cliff faces. Some hermitages could only be access by scaling down the cliffside on an iron chain bolted to the rocks above. Elder Stephanos was a fool for Christ, a prophet, and an extreme ascetic. He lived his las days in his homeland and now intercedes for us in the heavens.