After the death of the archbishop, Stephen, being then twenty-four years old, went to Rome and remained there four years. There the vocation to the religious life growing stronger in him, he formed the resolution of imitating certain monks of Calabria, living in great holiness, of whom he had heard Milo speak, and whom he had once visited. He therefore asked permission of Pope Gregory VII. to live apart in some solitude, following the rule of the Calabrian hermits. The pope hesitated for some while, thinking him too delicate of constitution, but at length yielded to his pressing solicitations in 1073. Stephen then returned to France, and resided at Thiers for a short time with his parents; and then, departing, established himself at Aureille or Soviat, a few leagues from Limoges, where he placed himself under the direction of S. Gaucher, who had built a monastery of regular Canons, called S. Jean d'Aureille. But S. Gaucher having erected a nunnery in the neighbourhood, S. Stephen disliking the proximity to women, left Aureille, and retired to Muret, in 1076. This is a mountain near Limoges, where, amongst the rocks and trees, he built a small cabin, and vowed himself to Jesus Christ in a very special manner. Having retained a ring, the only thing belonging to his father and home, that he had not given away or refused, he placed it on his finger saying, "I, Stephen, renounce the devil and all his pomps, and offer myself to God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the One true God in Three Persons." Then having written these words, he placed them on his head, and added, "O God Almighty, who livest eternally, and reignest One in Three Persons, I promise to serve Thee in this hermitage in the Catholic faith; in sign whereof I place this writing on my head, and place this ring on my finger, that at the hour of my death this promise may serve as my defence against my enemies." Then addressing himself to the Holy Virgin he said, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, I commend my body, soul, and senses to thy Son and to thee."