Stephanos 79 was one of the twelve monks (αδελφοί) whom Stephen the Younger (Stephanos 2) received under him when he founded his monastery on Mt Auxentius; later Stephanos 79 and Sergios 52 are said to have been bitten by Satan and left the service of God to become the slaves of the tyrant (i.e. Constantine V, Konstantinos 7): Vita Steph. Iun. 110, 19-28 (1097D-1100A) (cited under Sergios 52). The monastery was founded in the middle of the eighth century.

Of all the monks under Stephanos 2, Stephanos 79 and Sergios 52 were the only ones not to join him in exile on the island of Prokonnesos; they had both given up monastic dress; Stephanos 79, who had been made a monk by Stephanos 2, became a monk and priest in the monastery on Mt Auxentius (μοναχὸς καὶ πρεσβύτερος τῆς μονῆς τοῦ ὄρους καθίστατο), but then became the major-domo (though see Auzépy, n. 330) of Kallistos 8 (λειτουργός); later Stephanos 79 and Sergios 52 left the monastery; he abandoned God and the monastic dress and received secular dress from the emperor; he was something of a glutton (τὸ λαιμαργικόν αὐτοῦ), and so the emperor put him in charge of ceremonies at the Sophianai palace with the title of Papas of Joy (ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ παλατίῳ, ἔνθα καὶ τὰς μυσαρὰς αὐτοῦ προπομπὰς ἐποιεῖτο, τῷ ἐπιλεγομένῳ Σοπηιαναῖς, λειτουργὸν αὐτὸν κατέστησεν, καὶ τῆς χαρᾶς παπᾶν τοῦτον ἐπώνομασεν): Vita Steph. Iun. 147, 25-148, 11 (1148B-C). The word in the text is "Papas"; perhaps it should read "Papias". If so, Stephanos 79 perhaps became papias of the Sophianai palace. If so, this would be the earliest use of the title; see Oikonomides, Listes, pp. 306-307. See Auzépy, n. 332.

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