Episode 940: St. Simeon Stylites

St. Simeon Stylite

Stylites comes from the Greek word stylos, which means pillar, or column. It was on top of a pillar that St. Simeon spent the largest part of his extraordinary life.

Simeon was born at Sisan near the northern border of Syria and began life as a shepherd boy for his father’s flock of sheep. When he was just 13-years-old, he heard the Gospel passage: “Blessed are they that mourn; blessed are the clean of heart.” He went to a wise old man and asked him the meaning of these words. He explained to the boy that eternal happiness can only be achieved with suffering, and that solitude is the most secure way to attain it. Impressed with this explanation, the young man joined some hermits who lived in a nearby monastery.

After some years in different monasteries, however, he retired to live alone and avoid the numerous visitors who were constantly seeking him out. He determined to take up his abode on the top of a pillar. There he remained most of the time standing, exposed to inclement weather, and absorbed in continuous prayer. He died in 459 at age 69, having lived 36 years of his life on the top of different pillars.