St.
Simeon the Stylite:
Religious Devotion or Excess?
By
Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
Although
little known in the West, St. Simeon the Stylite remains a powerful
figure in eastern Christian hagiography (the study of the lives
of saints). Simeon was born around 390 AD to poor shepherds in
northwestern Syria, at a time when the Roman Empire had been officially
Christian for less than a century and the majority of its inhabitants
were not yet Christian. By his death in 459, Simeon had been instrumental
in the development of Christian doctrine and monastic practices
and the conversion of many pagans to Christianity.
Feeling
called by God at an early age to a life of religious devotion
and austerity, Simeon entered the monasteries of Eusebona and,
later, Telanissos. There he lived for ten years, engaging in
ascetic practices such as abstaining from all food during the
forty days of Lent. Eventually, his fervor and asceticism so
irritated his fellow monks—who were themselves hardly novices
to ascetic zeal—that he was asked to leave the monastery.
Thereafter,
Simeon became a wandering solitary hermit, seeking always to suppress
his physical desires and liberate his spirit through impassioned
ascetic practices. As an itinerant holy man, he attracted the
attention both of disciples who sought to follow his spiritual
path and supplicants seeking his advice, intercession with God,
or miraculous assistance.
Increasingly
annoyed by their constant questions and pleas, the exasperated
Simeon climbed onto the top of a column to escape his pursuers,
pray and meditate. He discovered his long-sought newfound solitude
to be so refreshing that he refused to come down. Descending
thereafter only briefly to mount a series of increasingly taller
pillars, Simeon eventually settled on a huge column, some sixty
feet tall and six feet in diameter, where he remained for the
final thirty years of his life, chaining himself to it while he
slept to avoid accidentally falling. There he lived, surrounded
by devoted monks and admirers who brought him food, and he was
increasingly visited by pilgrims or those curious for a glimpse
of the amazing spectacle. His unusual abode gave him his new
name, Simeon Stylites -- Simeon “of the column” -- or Simeon the
Stylite.
His
goal in living on the column was both to escape the throngs of
devotees seeking his advice and intercession and to mystically
“fly to heaven” by completely subduing all physical desires through
fasting, prayer, and meditation. Nonetheless, he was occasionally
willing to converse with the pilgrims who thronged to him from
all over the eastern Mediterranean. He offered advice, reconciled
enemies, discoursed on theology, and preached to the pagans, many
of whom he apparently converted to Christianity. Simeon’s fame
spread to the point that even Roman emperors sought his advice
on major theological issues of the day. Leo I, for example, consulted
him in christological controversies -- disputes concerning the
nature of Christ and His relationship to the Father.
At
his death in 459, Simeon was held in awe throughout the entire
Christian world. News of his sanctity reached even Paris, as
the Roman Empire in the West was crumbling under the attacks of
Huns and Germans. Later “stylites” -- ascetic monks residing
on columns -- imitated Simeon’s lifestyle, but none equaled his
fame.
Today,
the magnificent ruins of the monastery of Qal’at Sim’an (“fortress
of Simeon”), near Aleppo in Syria, stand as a striking reminder
of the power of Simeon’s sanctity. The monastic complex rests
on a ridge in the stark Syrian hills. The remains of Simeon’s
pillar have been chiseled down to a stub about eight feet high
by the tens of thousands of pilgrims who visited the site after
his death and carried off small pieces of the column as relics
of the saint. The column is enclosed by a huge octagonal shrine,
and was once surmounted by a dome which has since collapsed in
an earthquake. The entire complex was surrounded by four basilica
churches, a monastery, a cloister, a graveyard, a processional
way, and a huge baptistery. For nearly two centuries -- until
the Arab conquests around 640 AD -- Simeon’s pillar remained one
of the major pilgrimage sites in eastern Christianity. Simeon’s
story provides a fascinating example of the fine line between
religious devotion and religious excess.
The
hagiographies of St. Simeon have been collected and translated
by Robert Doran, The
Lives of Simeon Stylites, (Cistercian Publications,
1992)
Images of the ruins of the Church of St. Simeon:
http://babsouria.online.fr/gald457.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/st_simeon_syria.htm
