St. Simeon Stylites

  Posted on August 24, 2024  by admin  No comments

Born: c.390 at Cilicia, near Syria

Died: c.459 of natural causes

Patronage: shepherds.

Also known as Simeon Stylites the Elder

Son of a poor shepherd, and worked as a shepherd as a child. A would-be monk at age 13, he was turned away from monasteries because his severe self-imposed penances. Tired of the gossip and arguments from fellow religious, he lived as a hermit on top of a column, occasionally preaching to those who gathered to watch and pray with him, and starting a movement of pillar-living among Eastern hermits.