Venerable
Venerable Stephen of Khirsa
VI век
Venerable Stephen of Khirsa (6th c.) — one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers of Georgia, founder of a monastery dedicated to the Protomartyr Stephen near Khirsa in Kakheti.
Venerable Stephen of Khirsa was one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who came to Georgia in the mid-6th century under St. John of Zedazeni to establish Orthodox monasticism. With St. Zeno of Iqalto he preached throughout Kakheti, destroying pagan shrines, then settled near Khirsa and founded a monastery dedicated to the Protomartyr Stephen. No written Life survives. He reposed peacefully there; his relics remain in the monastery. Venerated in the Synaxis of the Fathers who shone in Georgia.