Stephen (Karbelashvili)

Holy Hierarch and Confessor Stephen (Karbelashvili), in the world Vasil, was a bishop of the Church of Georgia, one of the five Karbelashvili brothers who preserved Georgian chant and church tradition. He was born on 1 January 1858 at Kvemo Chala, studied in Tbilisi and at the seminary in Gori, and for a time at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1883 he was ordained deacon, then priest, and served in churches and monasteries in Tbilisi and Kakheti. A fighter for the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia, he came into conflict with pro-⁠Russian officials and was exiled to Azerbaijan in February 1903, accompanied by his wife Mariam.

On 24 October 1925 he was tonsured with the name Stephen, became Bishop of Bodbe, and in 1928 was transferred to Alaverdi. In 1934 he ceased to serve and retired. He wrote extensively on the autocephalous Church, taught Georgian language, music and catechism, published two collections of chant (1897 and 1898), and worked with his brother Polyeuctus to set the traditional chants in notation. He died on 8 April 1936 and was buried in the wall of the church of Saint Barbara in Navtlug. The Church of Georgia canonized him, together with his brothers, on 20 December 2011.