The Ascetic Life of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger of the Wonderful Mountain
Saint
Simeon the Stylite was born in the year 521 in Antioch, Syria of pious parents
John and Martha. From her youth Saint Martha (July 4) prepared herself for a
life of virginity and longed for monasticism, but her parents insisted that she
marry John. After ardent prayer in a church dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner,
the future nun was directed in a vision to submit to the will of her parents
and enter into marriage.
As a
married woman, Saint Martha strove to please God and her husband in everything.
She often prayed for a baby and promised to dedicate him to the service of God.
Saint John the Forerunner revealed to Martha that she would have a son who
would serve God. When the infant was born, he was named Simeon and baptized at
two years of age.
When
Simeon was six years old, an earthquake occurred in the city of Antioch, in
which his father perished. Simeon was in church at the time of the earthquake.
Leaving the church, he became lost and spent seven days sheltered by a pious
woman. Saint John the Baptist again appeared to Saint Martha, and indicated
where to find the lost boy. The saint’s mother found her lost son, and moved to
the outskirts of Antioch after the earthquake. Already during his childhood the
Lord Jesus Christ appeared several times to Saint Simeon, foretelling his
future exploits and the reward for them.
The
six-year-old child Simeon went into the wilderness, where he lived in complete
isolation. During this time a light-bearing angel guarded and fed him. Finally,
he arrived at a monastery, headed by the igumen Abba John, who lived in
asceticism upon a pillar. He accepted the boy with love.
After a
time, Saint Simeon asked the Elder John to permit him also to struggle upon a
pillar. A new pillar was raised by the brethren of the monastery with the
blessing of the igumen, near his pillar. Having completed the initiation of the
seven-year-old boy into monasticism, Abba John placed him upon this pillar. The
young ascetic, strengthened by the Lord, quickly grew spiritually, in his
efforts surpassing even his experienced instructor. For his efforts, Saint
Simeon received from God the gift of healing.
The fame
of the young monk’s deeds began to spread beyond the bounds of the monastery.
Monks and laypeople began to come to him from various places, desiring to hear
his counsel and receive healing from their infirmities. The humble ascetic
continued to pursue asceticism with instructions from his spiritual mentor Abba
John.
When he
was eleven, Simeon decided to pursue asceticism upon a higher pillar, the top
of which was forty feet from the ground. The bishops of Antioch and Seleukia
came to the place of the monk’s endeavors, and ordained him as a deacon. Then
they permitted him to ascend the new pillar, on which Saint Simeon labored for
eight years.
Saint
Simeon prayed ardently for the Holy Spirit to descend upon him, and the holy
prayer of the ascetic was heard. The Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a
blazing light, filling the ascetic with divine wisdom. Along with oral
instructions, Saint Simeon wrote letters about repentance, monasticism, about
the Incarnation of Christ, and about the future Judgment.
After the
death of his Elder, Saint Simeon’s life followed a certain pattern. From the
rising of the sun until mid-afternoon he read books and copied Holy Scripture.
Then he rose and prayed all night. When the new day began, he rested somewhat,
then began his usual Rule of prayer.
Saint
Simeon concluded his efforts on the second column, and by God’s dispensation,
settled upon the Wonderful Mountain, having become an experienced Elder to the
monks in his monastery. The ascent to Wonderful Mountain was marked by a vision
of the Lord, standing atop a column. Saint Simeon continued his efforts at this
place where he saw the Lord, at first upon a stone, and then upon a pillar.
Future
events were revealed to Saint Simeon, and so he foretold the death of
Archbishop Ephraim of Antioch, and the illness of Bishop Domnus, which overtook
him as punishment for his lack of pity. Finally, Saint Simeon predicted an
earthquake for the city of Antioch and urged all the inhabitants to repent of
their sins.
Saint
Simeon established a monastery on Wonderful Mountain,where the sick people he
healed built a church in gratitude for the mercy shown them. The saint prayed
for a spring of water for the needs of the monastery, and once during a
shortage of grain, the granaries of the monastery were filled with wheat by his
prayers.
In the
year 560 the holy ascetic was ordained to the priesthood by Dionysius, Bishop
of Seleukia. At age seventy-five Saint Simeon was warned by the Lord of his
impending end. He summoned the brethren of the monastery, instructed them in a
farewell talk, and peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year 596, having
toiled as a stylite for sixty-eight years.
After
death, the saint worked miracles just as he had when alive. He healed the
blind, the lame and the leprous, saving many from wild beasts, casting out
devils and raising the dead.
Source: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2000/05/24/101502-venerable-simeon-stylites-the-younger-of-wonderful-mountain
