Venerable
Venerable, Hegumen Stephen of the Lake, of Komel
2-я пол. XV века — †12 июня 1542
Also known as: Стефан Комельский
Venerable Stephen of the Lake, of Komel — founder and first hegumen of the St. Nicholas Ozersky (Komel) Monastery; born in the Vologda land in the second half of the 15th century to a family serving at the court of the Borodaty princes; he secretly went to the Glushitsky Monastery to St. Dionysius of Glushitsa, where he was tonsured.
Venerable Stephen was born in the Vologda land in the second half of the 15th century; his father served at the court of the Borodaty princes. Having heard from childhood of the ascetic labors of St. Dionysius of Glushitsa and of the strict communal rule he established at the Glushitsky Monastery, Stephen secretly left his parents' home for Glushitsy, where he was soon tonsured. He later withdrew to the eastern shore of Lake Komel, 35 versts from Vologda, where he built himself a cell and then a chapel, and took up ascetic life in solitude; around the brethren who gathered there he founded the St. Nicholas Ozersky (Komel) Monastery, becoming its first hegumen. Having reached deep old age, a week before his death he sensed his strength failing and foreknew the approach of his end. He reposed peacefully on June 12, 1542. His memory is kept on the day of his repose, June 12/25.