Saint Simeon Stylite - Pillar Hermit

Saint Simeon Stylite was the first and most influential of the stylites, or “pillar-dwellers,” whose radical ascetic lives shaped Eastern Christianity for over six centuries. His life is unusually well documented and historically reliable.

Born around 388 in Sisan, Syria, Simeon began life as a shepherd. Long hours in solitude prepared him early for a life of prayer and renunciation.

Before age sixteen, he entered a monastery, where his fasting and discipline quickly surpassed normal monastic practice and drew concern from the community.

Judged unsuited for communal life, Simeon was asked to leave the monastery. He accepted this in obedience, seeing it as a call to a more solitary vocation.

For three years at Tell-Neschin, Simeon lived in a small stone hut, where he first undertook the extreme fast of passing the entire season of Lent without food or drink, standing in prayer as long as his strength allowed.

Seeking deeper solitude, he confined himself within a small desert enclosure, but pilgrims increasingly sought him out for prayer, healing, and counsel.

To preserve prayer while remaining accessible, Simeon chose a radical solution: he mounted a stone pillar and resolved to live there until death.

The first pillar stood about nine feet high, but successive columns were built, the final rising over fifty feet above the ground, topped by a tiny platform exposed to all weather.

From the pillar, Simeon taught disciples, wrote letters, and addressed crowds below; a ladder allowed visitors to ascend, and he never permitted himself any roof or shelter.

His influence reached emperors, including Theodosius II, Eudocia, and Leo I, who sought and respected his spiritual counsel, especially during times of doctrinal controversy.

After thirty-six years on the pillar, Simeon died on September 2, 459, refusing medical intervention and entrusting his life entirely to God.

A vast shrine, Qalʿat Simʿān, was later built around the base of his column near Antioch; its architectural design profoundly influenced later Christian churches and remains a powerful witness to his legacy.

Produced by David Coffey