Simeon Stolpnik ( Greek Συμεών ὁ Στυλίτης ; circa 390 - September 2, 459 ) is a Syrian Orthodox monk, the founder of a new form of austerity - treason . He is famous for having spent 37 years on the pillar in fasting and prayer, as well as other unparalleled ascetic feats. He was a preacher, according to life, received from God the gift to heal mental and bodily diseases, to foresee the future.
| Simeon the Pillar | |
|---|---|
| Συμεών τοῦ Στυλίτου | |
 Russian icon, 1465 | |
| Birth | about 390 |
| Death | September 2, 459 |
| Is revered | in the Orthodox and Catholic churches |
| In the face | reverend |
| Day of Remembrance | in the Orthodox Church on September 1 (14) in the Catholic Church on January 5 |
| Asceticism | treason |
It is venerated in the face of the saints in the Orthodox (commemorated September 1 according to the Julian calendar ) and Catholic (commemorated January 5) churches.
It should be distinguished from the Monk Simeon the Stolpnik Divnogorets († 596 ; Comm. 24 May), who also worked in the vicinity of Antioch of Syria.
Content
Biography
Information about the life of Simeon the Stolpnik is reported by Theodorite of Cyrus in the book “ History of God-Lovers ”. He was born in the village of Sisan on the border of Kirestiki and Cilicia in a Christian family and was baptized as a child. Hearing the reading of the gospel blessings in the temple, Simeon asked the old man who was standing nearby to explain their meaning and after his sermon went to a deserted place and began his ascetic exploits. The Life reports that, praying to God with a request to show him the way to salvation, Simeon received a vision that he was digging a ditch for the building, and his voice urged him to dig deeper and deeper. After a three-time call to dig, a voice said to him - “ if you want to build a building, build it, but work hard, because without labor you won’t be able to do anything ”. After that, Simeon came to one of the monasteries, where for seven days he lay in front of the gate and on the eighth was adopted by the abbot among the brethren and at the age of 18 he took monastic tonsure . At the monastery, Simeon began to exhaust his body, which caused bewilderment of the brethren:
Simeon once went to a well to draw water. Taking the rope from the scoop, very rigid, woven from palm branches, he wrapped it around his bare body, starting from the hips to the neck, so tightly that the rope crashed into the body. Ten days passed, and his body was festering from wounds, and many worms were swarming in these wounds. The brothers began to complain to the abbot:
- Where did you bring this person to us from? It is impossible to tolerate it: the stench comes from him. No one can stand next to him. When he walks, worms fall from him: his bed is also full of worms.- Dimitry of Rostov . The Life of the Monk and God-bearing Father of our Simeon the Pillar
The abbot questioned Simeon and found out that he wears a hair shirt , and said that he should not exhaust himself so much at such a young age. A hair coat was removed from Simeon, and his wounds gradually healed, but the brethren continued to notice that the young monk was exhausting his body, and the abbot ordered Simeon to leave the monastery.
He spent some time all alone, settling in a waterless well. Once the abbot had a dream that a lot of people surrounded his monastery and began to demand that Simeon be brought to them, threatening to burn the monastery. After that, he sent the monks in search of Simeon, who removed him from the well and brought him to the monastery. However, he soon left the monastery again and settled near the village of Talanissa. There he decided to test himself with a forty-day fast , which he did during a visit to the village by Bishop Wass:
... putting bread and water in cells, he blocked the doors with stones and set off on his way. As soon as forty days passed, he came again to the saint and, throwing stones, opened the doors and entered the cell. Here he saw that the reverend, as dead, was lying on the ground, and that the bread and water were intact in the same place they were set: the great fast did not even touch them. Taking a sponge, Wass washed and chilled the reverend's mouth, and as soon as he came to himself a little, he partook of the Divine Mysteries. After that, Simeon reinforced himself by eating light meals.
- Dimitry of Rostov . The Life of the Monk and God-bearing Father of our Simeon the Pillar
In 423, he chooses the form of asceticism that has glorified him - he secludes himself on a small stone platform at the top of a pillar (tower) and spends all his days in prayer and sermons, which he gives for many pilgrims.
Life ascribes to St. Simeon numerous miracles and predictions of the future (for example, the prediction of Theodosius , the founder of Palestinian communal monasticism, pastoral ministry). While standing on a pillar, according to the life, Simeon was tempted by the devil , who appeared to him in the form of an angel in a chariot of fire and said that for his exploits Simeon, like the prophet Elijah, would be lifted up to heaven alive. Simeon was about to step on the chariot with one foot, but he overshadowed himself with the sign of the Cross and the vision disappeared. Repenting, Simeon stood for a year on the foot of which he wanted to stand on a chariot. Life tells us that the devil struck that leg with an ulcer and “the body rotted on the leg, many worms appeared, and pus with worms oozed from the wound on the pillar to the ground. One young man named Anthony collected worms falling to the ground, and, at the behest of the holy sufferer, again carried them to him on a pillar. The saint, bearing the disease with great patience, like the second Job , applied worms to the wound, saying: "Eat what God has sent to you."
Emperor Theodosius II the Younger ( 408-450 ) respected the Monk Simeon very much and often followed his advice. When the emperor passed away, his widow Eudokia began to patronize the Monophysites . Monophysites did not recognize in Christ two natures - Divine and human, but only one Divine. Rev. Simeon sent Evdokia to Euthymius the Great , who lived in the Palestinian desert, a famous ascetic of his time [1] . He “ consoled Evdokia, convinced her of her errors and returned to Orthodoxy ” [2] .
The new emperor Marcian ( 450 - 457 gg.) In the clothes of a commoner secretly visited the monk and consulted with him. On the advice of the Monk Simeon, Markian convened the Ecumenical Council in Chalkidon IV in 451 , which condemned the Monophysite teaching. The first life of Simeon the Stylite was compiled by his disciple Anthony.
Followers of Simeon the Pillar
The deeds of Simeon inspired many ascetics of faith and piety, a new direction of Christian asceticism arose - tabernacle . His first follower was Daniel , who, with the blessing of Simeon, repeated his asceticism in Thrace . Of the Russian pillars, the most famous are Nikita , Savva Vishersky and Seraphim of Sarov , who imitating Simeon, prayed to God for 1000 days standing on a stone.
Memory
In the movie
- Surrealistic director Luis Bunuel shot the parable film " Simon the Desert " about Simeon Stolpnik.
Geographic features
- Simeon Mountains - a mountain range , district and nakhiya in Syria.
Notes
- ↑ Alphonse Kure. Palestine is ruled by Christian emperors. Saint Euphemios and Empress Eudokia. - SPb .: Ed. “Russian Pilgrim” , 1894 . Date of treatment 2010.01.24. Archived February 8, 2012.
- ↑ The Life of the Rev. Father Euthymius the Great
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simeon Stolpnik
- The Life of St. Simeon the Pillar, written by Anthony, his disciple // Alpha and Omega, 1996, No. 4 (11) . Eastern literature . Date of treatment March 4, 2011. Archived on February 8, 2012.
- Anatoly Grisyuk, Metropolitan of Odessa and Kherson. The historical outline of Syrian monasticism until the half of the 6th century // Andreevsky Vestnik, Zh. Odessa Seminary. - 2002. - No. 1 (5) .