Simeon Stylites

Who they were

Simeon, born about 388 near the Syrian border, was a shepherd boy who entered a monastery before sixteen. His austerity was so extreme that he was asked to leave; he then passed whole Lents without food or drink.

He became the first of the 'pillar-hermits', living thirty-six years on top of a pillar, famed for holiness throughout the East. He died on 2 September 459.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

The first pillar-hermit, whose penance drew all the East.

Connected on this site

• Theodosius the Cenobiarch Saint Pupil
• Martha, mother of Simeon Stylites the Younger Saint
  “Saint Martha (Greek: Ἁγία Μάρθα; died 551) was the mother of Simeon Stylites the Younger.” — Wikipedia
• Saint Symeon Stylites of Lesbos Saint
  “He is known formally as Simeon Stylites the Elder to distinguish him from Simeon Stylites the Younger, Simeon Stylites III and Symeon Stylites of Lesbos.” — Wikipedia