The Confessors Martyred with Stephen the New

The Confessor-⁠Martyrs with Stephen the New are Christians beaten, exiled or killed at Constantinople in the time of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V Copronymos, because they defended the holy icons. They are commemorated on 28 November and honoured locally; no date of canonization is known.

The fury of Copronymos and those around him did not stop with a single victim. After Stephen, other confessors of Orthodoxy endured torments and death. One of them, Basil, was blinded by the executioners as he went on confessing the right faith, then killed with kicks. Another confessor, John of Legataria, was exiled to Daphnousia, where he died of continual beatings. Others were put to death or exiled in other savage ways and led a life of unbroken martyrdom. The names of most have not been kept.