 In 886 his brother, the new Emperor Leo VI, dismissed the Patriarch Photios and appointed the 19-year-old Stephen as patriarch in his stead.As patriarch Stephen participated in the ceremonial reburial of Michael III by Leo VI in the imperial mausoleum attached to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.There are no important events associated with Stephen's patriarchate and the patriarch, who acquired a reputation for piety, died in May 893 at the age of 25.