Saint Stephen Štiljanović (+1515)

Saint Stephen Štiljanović was born in the Serbian town of Župa into a family of devout Christians. At that time the Serbs were often attacked by the Turks, who laid the country waste. The saint served as a soldier in the army and bravely defended his homeland. When famine began in the land, the merciful warrior gave his rations to the starving. Charity, holiness, prayer, the Orthodox faith and sincere love for his neighbour were inseparable from him. The blessed one departed this world on 4 October 1515. Some time later the Turks noticed a light over his grave. They thought treasure was buried there, dug up the grave and found Stephen’s incorrupt body. Serbian monks ransomed the saint’s body from the pasha and translated it to the house of Šišatovac on the mountain of Fruška Gora.