Simeon Stylites the Elder

ON ST. SIMEON STYLITES.

Year of Christ 460.

Simeon Stylites, near Antioch in Syria (S.)

From Various Sources.

§ I. The celebrated name of Simeon Stylites the Elder.

[1] The ecclesiastical calendars present three Simeons Stylites. The Elder, and first founder of this manner of life, is venerated by the Latins on January 5, and by the Greeks on September 1. For Baronius errs when he writes that his feast day is celebrated on May 24, having rashly followed the Menologium of Cardinal Sirletus, in which, since it treats of the younger Simeon on that day, it is incorrectly added that his deeds were committed to writing by Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrrhus: for it is well established that Theodoretus died long before the younger Simeon was born. The second Simeon Stylites, therefore, on the Miraculous Mountain, recorded in the Roman Martyrology on September 3, is venerated by the Greeks on May 24, on which day we shall treat of him at greater length. The third is celebrated by the same Greeks on July 26, and is called Presbyter and Archimandrite; perhaps the same one who is mentioned by John Moschus in chapter 57 of the Spiritual Meadow, or Book 10 of the Lives of the Fathers, as having been struck by lightning.

[2] This Elder: celebrated in the Martyrology. The Roman Martyrology celebrates the Elder thus on January 5: At Antioch, St. Simeon the monk, who standing on a column lived for many years, whence he also received the name Stylites: whose life and conduct was admirable. Nearly the same words are found in Bede, Hrabanus, Usuard, and Bellinus; and at greater length in Ado, Notker, and others. The Greek Menologium on September 1: Commemoration of our holy Father Simeon Stylites, who lived under the Emperor Leo the Great, and Martyrius, Bishop of the city of Antioch, from the province of Cilicia, from the village of Sesan: who, having entered the monastic life, ascended a column, upon which he stood for forty-seven years, and having performed many miracles through him, rested in peace. The same is found on that day in the Menaea, and in the Greek Anthologion approved by Clement VIII. Christophorus, Patrician and Proconsul of Mitylene, in the epitome of the Menologium on the same day: Συμεὼν ἀνυμνείοθω μοι, οὗπερ σύλος τὸ γνώρισμα. Let Simeon be praised by me, whose emblem is the column.

[3] Maurolycus corrected. Franciscus Maurolycus in his Martyrology for January 5 writes thus of him: At Antioch, of St. Simeon Stylites, the admirable: for he lived many years in a dry well, and standing on a column for forty years upon one foot. Even the birds mourned his death. But Maurolycus errs in thinking that he lived many years in a dry well, where he remained only a very few days: nor did he, as Maurolycus implies, stand continually on one foot upon the column, but only for one year. Petrus Galesinius: At Antioch, of St. Simeon Stylites the monk, and Galesinius. who, enclosed in a hollow column for forty years, taking food once a week, lived on bread and roots of herbs and a drink of water. By this admirable abstinence and holiness, the man, also famous for many miracles, departed to the Lord. But from what source did Galesinius learn that he was enclosed in a hollow column? The contrary will be clear from the following section. Nor did he take food once a week, except at the beginning of his monastic life; but at last on the fortieth day, as will be related in the Life.

§ II. Whence the Stylites received their name. The form of the column.

[4] Origin of the name. It is worthwhile, while we treat of the Stylites, to explain the meaning of the word and the form of the column. The former is briefly set forth by our Rosweyde in his note on the Life of St. Simeon Stylites: Both στῦλος and στήλη are derived by grammarians from the same root ἵστημι, I stand. Suidas: Στυλίτης, ὁ ἐπὶ κίονος ἱστάμενος, A Stylite is one who stands upon a column. Who first built a chamber upon a column among the Romans, Asconius teaches us in his commentary on Cicero's Oration against Q. Caecilius, which is called the Divinatio against Verres: A building on a column. Maenius, when he sold his house to the Censors Cato and Flaccus so that a basilica might be built there, reserved for himself the right to one column, upon which he might project a roof from overhanging timbers, from which both he and his descendants might watch the gladiatorial shows, which were still at that time given in the Forum. Whence from the same Maenius the name Maeniana was given. Festus: The Maeniana are named after Maenius; for he was the first to extend beams beyond the columns, so that the upper stories might be enlarged. Glossary: Mænianum, ἐξώστρα. Menianus, ἐκθέτης. Thus far Rosweyde. Nearly the same is found in Raderus, Viridarium part 3, chapter 4, on the Stylites, who adds: Στήλη was Στήλη. properly a pillar placed upon the tombs of the dead, with an inscription. And he then adds that the misdeeds of criminals were customarily inscribed on στῆλαι as a mark of disgrace, and that they were in a certain manner tablets or columns of proscription. Whence λόγον στηλευτικόν and epistolam στηλευτικήν are understood as a defamatory writing, Στηλευτικὸς λόγος. in which the crimes of the accused are publicly posted for reading.

[5] The form of the column. A dwelling upon it. Concerning the form, the same Raderus discusses as follows: The columns, which I for my part rank above all the prodigious pyramids, painted obelisks, colossi, and columns of Trajan in Egypt, on account of the very stars that shone above them -- their form was, as I judge, generally round, their height varied. For Simeon, the founder of the Stylites, first ascended a small column of only six cubits (or nine feet), then one of twelve, afterwards of twenty-two, and finally of thirty-six, or, as Nicephorus and others relate, of forty. The platform or cell or dwelling placed upon the columns, in which they stood, extended two cubits or three feet in every direction, with no roof, so that they might freely contemplate the whole sky, and, exposed to all the injuries of the weather, might have a greater harvest and crop of endurance. Some had doors, others none, because the violence of storms had knocked down part of the wall. Ladders were placed against them when others climbed up to them or when they descended to others, which indeed they did either never or only when summoned for the gravest crises of the state. Moreover, they tormented themselves by standing eternally: for there was no room to lie down or recline; they could, however, sit; but I read nowhere that they sat, and I think they never did. For during the first forty days Simeon had himself tied to a beam, and during the next forty he stood free without support; his upper body protruded above the middle, like a preacher in a pulpit. Although I would not affirm this of all of them. Thus far Raderus. Concerning the measurement of the dwelling built above the column, Evagrius likewise testifies (Book 1, chapter 13) that it was scarcely two cubits, and Nicephorus (Book 14, chapter 51).

§ III. The age of St. Simeon Stylites.

[6] Concerning the age of St. Simeon, our Rosweyde in his note on his Life in Book 1 of the Lives of the Fathers relates the following: Concerning the time in which he lived, says Baronius, his beginnings can be gathered from Theodoretus, when he says that he had already inhabited the column in the time of Meletius, Bishop of Antioch, Baronius's opinion. who lived under the Emperor Valens and departed from human affairs in the year in which the great Synod of Constantinople was held, under the consuls Siagrius and Eucharius, which is numbered the year from Christ 381, according to the more accurate chronographers. Year of death. Moreover Simeon survived, as Cedrenus says, until the fourth year of Leo the Great as Emperor, which is also gathered from the Acts of Daniel the Stylite. That year from Christ is 460, by which reckoning he is recognized to have fallen asleep when already more than a hundred years old. In the margin of Nicephorus* it is stated that Simeon lived 103 years, but there is nothing of the sort in the text.

[7] Evagrius sums up the total of his austerely lived life thus in Book 1, chapter 13. Evagrius's calculation. Διέτριψε τοίνυν ἐν σαρκὶ τόνδε τὸν βίον, διαβλέπων ἔτη ἓξ καὶ πεντήκοντα. Ἐν μὲν τῷ πρώτῳ φροντιστηρίῳ, ἔνθα τὰ θεῖα κατηχήθη, ἔτη ἐννέα· ἐν δὲ αὐτῇ καλουμένῃ Μάνδρᾳ, ἑπτὰ καὶ τεσσαράκοντα· ἔν τινι μὲν στενωπῷ ἔτεσι δέκα τὸν ἀγῶνα διανύσας· ἐν δὲ κίοσι βραχυτέροις ἑπτά· καὶ ἐπὶ τεσσαρακοντα πήχει, ἔτη τριάκοντα: This Simeon, leading this severe manner of life in the flesh, prolonged his life to fifty-six years. For in the monastery where he first learned the divine precepts of living, he lived nine years. In the Mandra, as it is called, forty-seven years. Of these years, he completed ten in a very narrow place; on shorter columns, seven; and finally on the column of forty cubits, thirty years. The same is found in Nicephorus, Book 14, chapter 51, in which an error has crept into the numbers. For instead of twenty-nine, one should read thirty. If this reckoning is correct, he could not have reached his hundredth year. Otherwise it would be necessary to assert that he first entered the monastery when he was forty-four years old, which does not agree with the Life written here by Antonius, who writes that he entered the monastery immediately from his youth.

[8] Rosweyde's reckoning, from the Latin Life. From this the following summary of his Life is gathered: When he was thirteen years old, he was tending sheep. Thence he seems to have entered the monastery, where he lived for one year; then three years in enclosure; after that, four years on a column of four cubits; again, twelve years on a column of twelve cubits; then twelve years on a column of twenty cubits; after that, four years on a column of thirty cubits; and finally sixteen years on a column of forty cubits. And thus the years of his ascetic life amount to fifty-two, not differing greatly from the number given by Evagrius.

[9] Theodoretus's reckoning. According to Theodoretus, he remained two years in the first monastery; ten years in the monastery of Heliodorus; three years in the village of Telanessus; and twenty-eight years on the column, up to the time when Theodoretus wrote his Life. Here we have only forty-three years of ascetic practice, but at that time he was still living.

[10] Cedrenus's reckoning. Cedrenus in the Compendium of History says that in the twenty-fifth year of Theodosius the Younger he ascended the column, and that he died in the fourth year of Leo. From this interval, according to Baronius's computation of the Annals, only twenty-eight years are obtained.

[11] Thus far Rosweyde. Each point must be examined. Concerning the Meletius who dealt with St. Simeon, Baronius drew upon Theodoretus, chapter 26 of the Philotheus, who writes thus: But after that admirable Meletius, to whom the care of the episcopate of the region of the city of Antioch had then been entrusted, a man of good sense, distinguished for prudence, and adorned with keenness of intellect, etc. So Gentianus Hervetus translated it. But Albericus Longus of Salento rendered it: When Meletius, who was then set over the region of Antioch. From these words it is not clearly established Several bishops named Meletius, contemporaries of Simeon. that this Meletius was the Patriarch of the See of Antioch, although Metaphrastes clearly asserts this. If Simeon had stood on a column ever since the time of the great Meletius (whose life we shall give on February 12), how is it that neither St. John Chrysostom nor the historians of his time made any mention of him anywhere? I therefore judge that this Meletius praised by Theodoretus was a bishop of another see, in the region of Antioch. For besides that Meletius who was Theodoretus's colleague in the council against St. Cyril, who was perhaps translated from some lesser see under the Patriarch of Antioch to the see of Neocaesarea, there is also frequently mentioned in the Synod of Chalcedon a certain Meletius, Bishop of Larissa, who in that synod acted in place of his metropolitan Domnus, Bishop of Apamea in Syria Secunda. Now Larissa is a city of Cassiotis, a province in which Antioch is also located. Although if this was that Meletius, he does not seem to have been yet Bishop of Larissa at that time, since at the time of the Council of Ephesus, in the year 431, the Bishop of Larissa was Julian, who subscribed to the same schismatic council. Perhaps he was a Chorepiscopus of the Patriarch of Antioch: for we read that some also subscribed to the Council of Chalcedon through Chorepiscopi. What the function of Chorepiscopi was What a Chorepiscopus is. is explained by the Council of Antioch, in the year of Christ 341, under the consuls Marcellinus and Probinus, celebrated by Arian bishops, in canons 8 and 10, where it calls them τοὺς ἐν ταῖς κώμαις, ἢ ταῖς χώραις, ἢ τοὺς καλουμένους χωρεπισκόπους, those who are established in villages or districts, called Chorepiscopi, as the translation of Dionysius Exiguus has it.

[12] Domnus, Bishop of Antioch. If this Meletius praised by Theodoretus was such a Chorepiscopus (as I am strongly inclined to believe), then the foundation of Baronius's calculation already collapses. There is also the fact that Domnus of Antioch, as Nicephorus reports (Book 14, chapter 51) and Evagrius (Book 1, chapter 13), came to Simeon and was struck with astonishment at the sight of him: from which it is inferred that Simeon had not long before begun to dwell on that very high column. But Domnus, as Baronius has it, in the year 432 departed from the desert, against the will of St. Euthymius, in order to convert his uncle John, Patriarch of Antioch, who was favoring Nestorius; and then in the year 436 succeeded him in the episcopate. What cause, then, would he have had for such amazement, if Simeon had already maintained that station for fifty years? What is more, from the time when Simeon undertook that rigorous practice of abstinence under the discipline of Blastus or Bassus, until Theodoretus wrote the Philotheus, only twenty-eight years had elapsed? And yet Simeon had assumed that fasting at least three years before his meeting with Meletius. Therefore if Meletius the Great was indeed that person, those years must be counted from the year 377 or 378; When Theodoretus's Philotheus was written. and thus we must acknowledge that Theodoretus wrote in the year of Christ 405 or 406; which he himself refutes, when in his letter to Eusebius, Bishop of Ancyra, he lists the book on the lives of the Saints among the works he wrote after the Synod of Ephesus.

[13] The more accurate number of Simeon's years. Since therefore matters stand thus, and since the Menaea, the Menologium of Sirletus, and the Anthologion approved by Clement VIII follow the number of years transmitted by Evagrius, I do not see why we should disagree with it: especially since Metaphrastes also appears to concur, when he says that he lived a full fifty-six years, namely in the exercise of the religious life.

[14] As for the error which Rosweyde notes as having crept into the numbers in Nicephorus, it was not corrected even in the careful edition of Fronto Ducaeus. In the Greek, however, it expressly says ἔτη τριάκοντα, thirty years, spent on the column of forty cubits.

[15] The number of years which Rosweyde then calculates from the Latin Life edited by him is, as will appear below, not entirely certain, since the manuscript codices, corrupted by the negligence of copyists, disagree considerably. Here, according to that Life, we would most approve (were it not that Theodoretus stood in the way) the following calculation: In his parents' house he lived thirteen years; in the first monastery, four; in the cell, three or four; on the column of four feet, four; on the column of twelve cubits, twelve; on the column of twenty cubits, twelve years; on the column of thirty cubits, four years; and finally on the column of forty cubits, sixteen years; and thus the total of his life amounts to sixty-eight or sixty-nine years, and of his monastic exercise fifty-five or fifty-six, which comes closer to the number given by Evagrius: and this number is expressed in the Latin Life, chapter 8, number 33. Antonius counts far fewer years in the first Life, which we shall give from the Greek manuscripts: but it is well established that some error has crept in.

* Paris edition, year 1574.

§ IV. By whom the Life of St. Simeon was written.

[16] Antonius, Simeon's disciple, wrote his Life. The Life of St. Simeon was written by Antonius, his disciple, whom Evagrius indicates when he writes thus in Book 1, chapter 13: Τούτου τὰς θεοσημείας γέγραφε μὲν καί τις τῶν αὐτοπτῶν γενομένων· γέγραφε δὲ, καὶ λογίως ἀπέθετο καὶ Θεοδώρητος ὁ τῶν Κυρεστῶν ἐπισκοπήσας. The deeds of this man, which were altogether signs of divine power, were written by a certain one of those who had been eyewitnesses. They were also written and eloquently set forth by Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrrhus. We give here a twofold Life, It is now published for the first time. of which Antonius is cited as the author. The first, written in Greek, we received from the library of the Most Serene Duke of Bavaria, which Guilielmus Gratius of Bruges, a priest of our Society, rendered into Latin. This one, because it is much shorter, I would rather believe to have been written by Antonius. For thus Metaphrastes says: Μέγας τοίνυν οὕτως ὢν, καὶ πολὺς τὴν φήμην γενόμενος, πολλῶν ἔτυχε καὶ τῶν γραφέων· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδεὶς οὐδέπω κατὰ μέρος τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ διεξῆλθεν, ὅπως ἅπαντα καθῆκεν ἑαυτῷ· οὐδὲ ἀκριβῶς, ὅπως ἕκαστα εἶχεν, ἔγραψεν. Since he was so great, therefore, and celebrated in fame, he obtained many writers indeed. But no one at all recounted in detail the things concerning him, how everything befell him; nor wrote accurately how each matter stood. Which Metaphrastes of course promises that he himself will do. But the other Life, long since published under the name of Antonius, contains scarcely less than Metaphrastes.

[17] The other, in Latin: We therefore judge that it was composed long ago from that shorter account of Antonius, with additions drawn from what was reported of him either by fame or by the writings of others. Certainly it is not credible that the Life of one whom Theodoretus records as having been so celebrated at Rome and throughout the entire West was not also widely circulated there. Our Rosweyde had transcribed it from a very ancient codex of the monastery of St. Laurence at Liege, written before the year of Christ 1034, which we have collated with other manuscripts of the Imperial monastery of St. Maximin at Trier, of St. Mary de Ripatorio, and of the Church of St. Omer. In the Ripatorio codex it was in many places abbreviated. The same Life, but with the wording frequently differing somewhat, was edited by the same Rosweyde in Book 1 of the Lives of the Fathers.

[18] Unjustly censured by Johannes Hesselius. Johannes Hesselius of Louvain once passed a severe judgment on this Life, and wrote it in the book of the monastery of Parc, entitled Passionale of the Saints throughout the Year, when he was lecturing on Theology there. Johannes Molanus, a disciple of Hesselius, published it; the censure reads as follows: The Life of Simeon who stood on a column (which begins, St. Simeon was chosen by the Lord from his mother's womb, and from childhood meditated works pleasing to God. He was the son of one named Isicius) is displeasing, not only on account of fabulous elements, but because he himself is said to have taught men: Do not presume to swear by God, for it is a sin; but rather swear by me, a humble sinner, and swear whether justly or unjustly. This Life was not written by Theodoretus, but perhaps by Simeon Metaphrastes, who wrote it after Theodoretus, as Nicephorus attests (Book 14, chapter 51). So Hesselius. But it is well that, as the same Molanus attests, he used to say that he wished to revise and re-examine these and similar censures, after he had reread those histories more carefully a second time. Perhaps the things narrated in this Life that are marvelous would not then have seemed fabulous to him: and he might have judged that the permission to swear by his name was given to those barbarous men on the principle by which it is said that a lesser evil may be counseled to one who is absolutely going to do one or the other, whether from an obstinate will or from bad habit. Vincent of Beauvais, chapter 53, Book 20, reports the same thing. Baronius, otherwise a severe critic, when he cites the Acts of Simeon published in the Lives of the Fathers, adds nothing to indicate that he does not approve of them. Sigebert of Gembloux in his Chronicle at the year 458 brings forward this very thing from the Life of Simeon. Simeon, he says, who for forty years stood enclosed in a column, was renowned at Antioch for wondrous holiness: who among other things admonished that no one should swear by the name of God or of any saint, or indeed by the name of Simeon, promising that he would ask God for impunity for one who swore falsely by him.

[19] A third, written by Metaphrastes. Finally, the Life of St. Simeon was best written, after the great Theodoretus, as Nicephorus writes (Book 14, chapter 51), by his namesake Simeon Metaphrastes; setting before all a certain new and admirable banquet from every kind of food. Baronius in his Notes on the Martyrology, Raderus in part 3 of the Viridarium of the Saints, chapter 4, Molanus in his Notes on the Martyrology of Usuard, Heribertus Rosweyde in the Lives of the Fathers, and Petrus Ribadeneira in the Flower of the Saints write that it is not extant. We are the first to produce it from a Greek manuscript of the King of France, translated into Latin by the same Guilielmus Gratius of our Society. Nearly all the earlier portions are copied word for word from chapter 26 of Theodoretus's Philotheus, as anyone comparing them will see.

§ V. What other writers have mentioned him.

[20] Rosweyde treats of Simeon, The Life of Simeon which we give in second place, that edited by our Heribertus Rosweyde in Book 1 of the Lives of the Fathers, is from other manuscripts but with the wording differing slightly. The Life which Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrrhus, wrote first of all, while Simeon was still living, Theodoretus, is extant both among the published works of Theodoretus himself, and was included by Laurentius Surius in volume 1 of the Lives of the Saints from the translation of Albericus Longus of Salento, and then in our same Rosweyde's Book 9 of the Lives of the Fathers from the translation of Gentianus Hervetus. Surius,

[21] Vincent of Beauvais. Moreover, others wrote his Life as well: Vincent of Beauvais, Book 20, chapters 51, 52, 53, 54. Petrus de Natalibus, Book 2, chapter 45. Petrus de Natalibus. This last, however, must be corrected, for he says: First, that enclosed in a hollow column he stood for forty years; Second, that he performed a remarkable penance in a dry well for many years; Third, that he remained on a column of twelve cubits for forty years; Fourth, that a dragon, hostile to the people and hastening toward the city, was immediately driven back into the desert by his prayer, with a piece of wood driven into its eye; Fifth, that Abbot Antonius, who had come to visit him, found him dead and buried him. All of which are false, as anyone who reads the Life will easily understand. Haraeus. Grasius. Franciscus Haraeus of Utrecht also wrote; and Cornelius Grasius the Carthusian, who, in reporting that the relics of St. Simeon were translated to Constantinople, drew upon the Life of St. Daniel, as we shall say below. But as for his statement that the hair was then found completely intact, and the skin of the forehead, he incorrectly assigns this to the time of Leo, when Simeon had not long been dead; we shall say below that this occurred in the fourth year of Maurice, that is, the year of Christ 586.

[22] Villegas. Alphonsus Villegas in part 1 of the Flower of the Saints, in the Extravagant Saints as he calls them, also narrates the deeds of Simeon, chiefly from the Philotheus of Theodoretus and from Evagrius: but apart from other matters which we shall note below in the Notes, it must be corrected: First, that he reports Simeon died under Theodosius the Younger, around the year of Christ 440, when it is well established that he lived after the Council of Chalcedon, was consulted by the Emperor Leo, wrote to Basilius, Patriarch of Antioch, etc. Second, that he says his relics were translated to Antioch in Cilicia, when in fact they were conveyed to Antioch in Syria, which is on the Orontes.

[23] Ribadeneira. Our Petrus Ribadeneira in part 2 of the Flower of the Saints, but incorrectly says that he is celebrated by the Greeks on May 24, as we said in §1. The Life written in Spanish by Ribadeneira was translated into Latin by Jacobus Canisius, into Dutch by Heribertus Rosweyde, both members of our Society; and into Italian by Gratiamaria Gratij. Thus the praises of that great man were celebrated in the languages of all nations.

[24] Theodorus Lector. Glycas. Various Lives of Saints. Evagrius and Nicephorus, whom we shall often cite, wrote much about him. Theodorus Lector mentions him in Book 1 of the Collectanea; Michael Glycas in part 4 of the Annals, who however errs in reporting that St. Simeon ascended the column during the reign of Marcian; the Life of St. Daniel Stylites, December 11; the Life of St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch, January 11; Cyril the Monk in the Life of St. Euthymius, January 20; the Life of St. Auxentius, February 14; Suidas under the word Symeon, Suidas. Cedrenus. Gregory of Tours. Baronius. St. Eulogius. who testifies that the Emperor Marcian was accustomed to visit him in common dress; George Cedrenus at the twenty-fifth year of Theodosius and the fourth year of Leo; St. Gregory of Tours, On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter 26; Baronius in his Notes on the Martyrology and in the Annals at various places, especially at the year 460, number 17 and following; St. Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, in Oration 9, as found in Photius, Codex 230. The letters of the Emperor Theodosius to St. Simeon Stylites, asking him to pray for the peace of the Church and the safety of the Empire, and to recall John, Patriarch of Antioch, from defending the cause of Nestorius, are recited in the Council of Ephesus, part 3, chapter 25. Mention of St. Simeon is made in the Second Council of Nicaea. St. Damascenus. Later chronographers. Guinisius. Second Synod of Nicaea, or the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Act 4. St. John Damascene also mentions him in his Third Oration on Images; Alphonsus Ciacconius in his life of Hilarus; our Jacobus Gualterius in the Chronological Table, Century 5; our Jacobus Gordonus at the year 460; Henricus Spondanus and Abraham Bzovius in the epitome of Baronius's Annals; Sigebert at the year 458. There also exists an elegant epigram on St. Simeon, number 21, by our Vincentius Guinisius.

[25] The Life of St. Genevieve. Finally, mention of St. Simeon is made in honorable terms on January 3 in the earlier Life of St. Genevieve, chapter 6, number 26, and in the later Life, chapter 6, number 22. Citing these passages, Baronius writes thus: In Gaul also his fame was very well known, since St. Genevieve proclaimed his admirable holiness; who, although far distant, nevertheless knew him as if present through divine revelation, as is clear from the Acts of St. Genevieve herself. Indeed, it is rather clear from the Acts that Simeon proclaimed the holiness of Genevieve, and sent her greetings through merchants, and asked her to pray for him. In the second Life, however, it is implied that this knowledge was mutual, arising from divine revelation.

[26] Bellarmine. Against the calumniators of Magdeburg, the Most Illustrious Cardinal Bellarmine also ably defends him in volume 2 of the Controversies, general controversy 2, Book 2, On Monks, chapter 39; and Alanus Copus in Dialogue 2, chapter 18.

LIFE OF ST. SIMEON

BY ANTONIUS HIS DISCIPLE

TRANSLATED BY GUILIELMUS GRATIUS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.

Simeon Stylites, near Antioch in Syria (S.)

By Antonius, from Greek manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

St. Simeon becomes a monk at thirteen.

[1] A new and wondrous mystery has come to pass in our times. It has therefore seemed good to me also, Antonius the sinner, and the least of his disciples, to commit to writing those things which I have witnessed. For this great mystery has a usefulness that conduces to compunction of soul. Wherefore I exhort you: give ear to what I am about to relate to you.

[2] St. Simeon tends sheep. Our holy and most blessed Father Simeon, when he was still a boy, was tending the flocks of his father, just as the Prophet David. On Sundays he would go to the holy church of God and listen to the divine Scriptures. When On Sundays he attends church. he had grown older, and, struck with the fear of God, had one day entered the church, upon hearing the reading of the Apostle, he asked a certain old man: Tell me, father, what is that which is being read? The old man answered: It concerns the continence of the soul, my son. Blessed Simeon then inquired further: And what is the continence of the soul? The old man replied: Why do you test me by asking such things? For I see that you are both young in age and at the same time held fast by great ignorance. To this Blessed Simeon said: I do not do this, Father, to test you, but the mention of continence draws me. Then the old man said: Continence is the salvation of the soul, a guide to the light, leading into the kingdom of heaven. Blessed Simeon said to him: Teach me, Father, the things you speak of; for I am unlearned. The old man replied: My son, continence is when one fasts with a pure heart, and pays one's prayers to God with all fear and reverence: namely, one prayer at the first hour, likewise at the sixth and ninth hours, and also the nocturnal prayers, and other similar things which follow and are to be done at night. All these things are duly performed in a monastery. Have you understood, my son, what you have heard? Ponder all these things in your heart. For it is necessary for you to hunger and thirst; What a monk must endure. to be naked and suffer injury, to be struck with blows and assailed with reproaches, to groan and weep; to keep vigil and scarcely taste a light sleep; to experience now adversity, now good health; to seek and to renounce and to be humbled; to suffer persecution and to be scourged; to be sought out and apprehended, to endure much from men, and not yet be relieved by the comfort of the Angels of the Lord. Have you now heard all these things, my son? May the Lord of glory give you a good mind according to his will.

[3] Simeon prays for seven days. When Blessed Simeon had heard these things, he went out from the church and departed to a deserted place, and cast himself face down upon the ground for seven days, weeping and praying to God, and did not rise even to take food or drink. After the seventh day, rising up, he hastened to a monastery and immediately threw himself at the feet of the Archimandrite, weeping and beseeching him: Have mercy, he said, on me, a sinner and a wretch; save a perishing soul that desires to serve God. The Archimandrite said: Who are you? And from where? What is your name? And from where have you come to us? The Blessed one answered: He becomes a monk. I am indeed freeborn; my name is Simeon; but do not ask about my parents or where I come from, Lord; only redeem a single perishing soul. When the Archimandrite heard this, he kindly raised him from the ground. And he said: If you come from God, God will watch over you and protect you from every evil, from snares, dangers, and temptations; and you will render service to all the brothers, so that you may be loved by all. But his parents did not cease for two years to mourn and search for him. Blessed Simeon, however, remained in the monastery, serving all the brothers, and readily made himself acceptable to all, fulfilling every rule of the monastery.

a Hence it becomes even more probable that this Life was written by Antonius.

b Behold how ancient the custom of the ecclesiastical hours is.

CHAPTER II.

He afflicts himself with wondrous penance. Cast out of the monastery, he is brought back with honor.

[4] Now he found at the well from which water was drawn a bucket that had a rope woven of bristles; having untied this, he withdrew for a short time, He binds his body with a bristle rope. and wound it around his whole body, and put on over it his hair shirt, and entering the monastery, he said to the brothers: I went out to draw water and could not find the rope. The brothers said to him: Be quiet, lest the Archimandrite find out about this. And no one perceived that the rope was wound around his body. He endured in this manner for about one year. But the rope consumed his flesh, His flesh rots from it. and penetrated to the bones, and when the flesh putrefied it began to be covered over. Because of the stench, no one could stand near him, nor did the mystery of what he had done come to anyone's mind. Moreover his bed was filled with worms. He also took the food that was provided daily and distributed it to the poor.

[5] It happened, therefore, that one of the monks, going out, came upon him giving to the poor the bread and legumes he had received: He fasts an entire week. for while all the others fasted until evening, he prolonged his fast from Sunday to Sunday. That monk, entering, accused him before the Archimandrite, saying: This man wants to overturn our monastery and the rule you have given us. The Archimandrite said: How does he want to overturn the rule? The brother said to him: We have accepted to fast until evening; this one eats only on Sundays; and the food he receives, he gives to the poor. And not only this, but from his body proceeds an intolerable stench, so that no one can stand near him, and his bed swarms with worms; and we can bear it no longer. If you keep him here any longer, we will leave this place. Therefore dismiss him back where he came from. When the Archimandrite heard this, struck with amazement, he went to his bed and found it full of worms, and could not stand there because of the stench. And he said: Behold, another Job. And summoning him, he rebuked him thus: What is this you have done, man? Where does this stench come from? Why do you deceive the brothers? Why do you dissolve the rule of the monastery? Are you some kind of phantom? For if you were truly a man, born of human marriage, you would have told us of what family you were, and whence you came here.

[6] Hearing these things, Blessed Simeon was silent with downcast face, and tears fell abundantly from his eyes to the ground. Then the Archimandrite, seized with a kind of fury, said: Strip him, so that we may see where this stench comes from. They attempted therefore to strip him, but they were utterly unable to do so. His garment, stuck to his flesh, is removed with difficulty. So thoroughly were his garments glued to his putrefied flesh. For three days, therefore, they soaked him continually with warm water and oil, and even so were barely able to strip him. They found the rope so entwined about his body that it could scarcely be seen. The multitude of worms gushing from the wounds was beyond counting. The monks were indeed astounded by this incurable affliction. And they began to deliberate among themselves by what remedy they might remove the rope. But Blessed Simeon cried out: Leave me, brothers, leave me to die thus, a foul dog; let my sins be punished in this way. For I am a sea of sinners. The Archimandrite and the brothers wept abundantly, beholding that unheard-of wound. And the Archimandrite said to him: You are not yet eighteen years old, and what sins, pray, do you have? Blessed Simeon replied: The Prophet David says: Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me. Psalm 50. And I likewise.

[7] The Archimandrite marveled at his wisdom, that a rustic youth was so deeply struck with the fear of God. And summoning physicians, He is healed. with great labor and difficulty he had the rope torn away from his body, so that all considered him already dead. Within fifty days, with great care and industry, they partly healed him. And the Archimandrite said to him: My son, behold, you have recovered; go wherever you wish. When Blessed Simeon heard this, He is dismissed from the monastery. he left the monastery. Now there was a well nearby without water. A great number of unclean spirits inhabited it; and not only these, but asps, vipers, and serpents as well. For this reason many feared to pass near that place. But Blessed Simeon, having left the monastery, He enters the dry well. without anyone seeing him, threw himself down into that well, and lay hidden in a recess of it for seven days.

[8] Now the Archimandrite saw in a dream that the monastery was surrounded by a great multitude of men, all clothed in white garments and carrying torches in their hands, who cried out: We will burn you, Terrified by a vision, the Abbot searches for him. unless you hand over to us Simeon, the servant of God. Why did you cast him out? What did he do wrong? Do you not know that he is greater than you, and will be found greater on the day of judgment? And at the same time the Archimandrite awoke, trembling in his whole body, and said to the brothers: As far as I can see, brothers, that man is a true servant of God; for I have suffered much this night on his account. But I beg you, go out and search for him; and let none of you return without finding him. The brothers went out and searched for him everywhere, and when they could not find him, they reported to the Archimandrite: We have left no place unsearched except only that dry well; but no one dares go down into it. The Archimandrite said: Making the sign of Christ, descend with torches and search for him. And they departed, poured forth prayers above the well, and five monks descended on a lowered rope. The reptiles fled to the corners at the sight of the torches. But Blessed Simeon, when he caught sight of them, cried out, saying: I beseech you, leave me a little while, until I give up my spirit; for I grieve exceedingly that I have not yet fulfilled the purpose for which I cast myself down here. But the monks seized him, as if he had committed some crime, and brought him to the Archimandrite.

[9] When the Archimandrite saw Blessed Simeon, he fell at his feet, He begs his forgiveness. saying: Forgive me, servant of God, for what I did to you through ignorance. And I beseech you, allow yourself to be set over me, and teach what you know. But Blessed Simeon did not cease weeping and praying; and having remained three years in the monastery, he secretly departed from them all, and went to a deserted place, near which there was a village called Thalampsis, and there from dry stones he built a small dwelling, in which he spent four years; Simeon dwells in a cell for four years. afflicting himself with fasting, and enduring rain and the hardship of heat; and many came to him. His food was soaked lentils and water.

a Greek: σχοίνιον τρίχινον.

b Theodoretus has ten days.

c Greek: ἔγγυς δὲ αὐτοῦ ἦν χωρίον ἐπιλεγόμενον Θάλαμψιν.

CHAPTER III.

He lives upon a column. He prays well for his dead mother.

[10] After this he built for himself a column of four cubits, He lives on a column. and stood upon it for seven years. His holy fame spread in every direction. After this, the crowds built for him two enclosures of dry stones, and made a gate within the enclosure, and erected for him a column of forty cubits: on this he stood for fifteen years, performing many cures, imitating Christ the Author, restoring sight to the blind, the ability to walk to the lame, cleansing lepers, granting the faculty of speech to the mute, giving the power of movement to the paralyzed, and also bringing aid to those who had been worn down by prolonged illness. He forbids miracles to be attributed to himself. He further instructed and commanded each one: If anyone asks who healed you, say: God. Take care not to say, Simeon; for if you do, I warn you, you will fall back into the same afflictions. And this I say to you, that you should never lie, nor swear by God; but if it should be necessary for you, swear by me, a humble man, whether earnestly or falsely: for it is a great sin and a great peril to swear by God.

[11] He permits oaths to be sworn in his name. A miracle. Hear a wondrous mystery. His mother, having learned in the twenty-seventh year where on earth he dwelt, came and wished to see him: and when she wept profusely in the vestibule of his enclosure, He does not admit his mother to his sight. she was not permitted to behold him; but, having placed ladders against the wall of the enclosure, she fell to the ground. And Blessed Simeon sent word to her: Grant me pardon for the present, mother; and if we shall be worthy, we shall see each other in the next world. When his mother heard this, she was all the more inflamed with desire to see him. But the Saint sent her word, saying: His mother dies. Sit down a little while and rest, and soon I shall see you. And she sat down in the vestibule of the enclosure, and immediately gave up her spirit to the Lord. And he ordered her to be brought in; and they placed her before the column. Gazing upon her, he began to speak thus: Lord God of hosts, guide of the wandering, ruler of the Cherubim, who led Joseph like a sheep, who increased the Prophet David with glorious might, who raised Lazarus on the fourth day, receive in peace the soul of your handmaid. Her body moves while her son prays. When he had thus prayed, his mother's body was moved, and her face smiled; and all who stood by saw it and praised God. And when her funeral rites had been performed, they buried her before the column, paying her due honor at that place.

a See what was said in the Preface, §4.

CHAPTER IV.

Various cures of the sick. A worm changed into a pearl.

[12] The faculty of speech restored to the mute. Hear another new and wondrous thing. Certain men were traveling from afar to pray, and a deer met them, a doe heavy with young. And one of them said: I adjure you by the power of St. Simeon, stand still so that I may seize you. And immediately the deer stood still. But they seized and killed her, and ate the flesh, and the skin remained there. And immediately their tongues were bound as if by bird-lime; and when they wished to speak, they could not. They therefore hastened and came running, and fell down before the column, seeking a remedy; and when they had tarried there for some time in the presence of many, and had waited with great penitence, they returned healed to their homes, glorifying God.

[13] A woman freed from a serpent she had swallowed. It happened also that a certain woman, seized by thirst at night, swallowed a small snake with the water. And the creature, nourished within her, grew greatly in her belly. Many physicians labored to extract it, but in vain. They therefore brought her to the Saint and told him how the matter stood. He said: Put a little water and earth into her mouth. And when the beast sensed it, it dashed her to the ground, and came forth four cubits in length, and advanced before the column, and, as if venerating the man who bore his head among the Angels, it expired; and all who stood by praised God.

[14] They then made his column higher; indeed, they raised it to about forty cubits. And his fame spread far and wide, so much so that it drew even the Saracens to him, who were also converted by him to the fear of God. Simeon is tempted by the devil. The hater of mankind, the devil, therefore, as is his custom to tempt the servants of God and to assail them, transformed himself into the likeness of the Lord, sitting upon a Cherubic chariot; and he said to the Saint: Come, and mount this chariot, and receive your crown. The Saint, not thinking it a vain phantom, lifted his foot and placed it on the chariot; but when he perceived in spirit that it was a trick of the devil, he quickly withdrew his foot from the phantom now detected, and received a wound in his thigh from the devil, He suffers from an ulcer. just as Blessed Job: whence came the disease called Pannucula; and his thigh was dislocated. He stands on one foot. And from then on he began to stand on only one foot, and on it he stood for a long time until his death. Innumerable worms fell from his thigh to the ground. Therefore I, the least of all, had no other occupation than to collect them and, having gathered them up, to replace them in the place from which they had fallen, as the Saint said: Eat from what the Lord has given you.

[15] It came to pass by the will of God A worm fallen from his body is changed into a pearl. that the King of the Saracens came to him. And when he had drawn nearer to the column and had asked a blessing from the Saint, the Saint began to admonish him; and while they were conversing, a worm fell from his thigh, and the Saracen noticed it, but did not know what it was that had fallen. And running forward, he picked up the worm, and pressed it to his eyes and his heart, and went out carrying it in his hand. The Saint sent him word, saying: Come, cast away the burden that has fallen from me, a sinner; for it is a foul worm from foul flesh. Why do you defile your hands, illustrious man? And as the holy man said these things, the Saracen approached and said to him: This shall be to me for a blessing and for the remission of sins. And opening his right hand, he saw that the worm had been changed into a precious pearl; and seeing this, the Saracen glorified God.

a Greek: πανοῦκλα. This word, as Johannes Meursius notes in the Glossary, also signifies λοιμόν, plague; here it is understood as a great ulcer, which Theodoretus calls Chironium, that is, a great wound, as if requiring the excellent physician Chiron, and which is also called Telephium, as Hadrianus Junius says in the Nomenclator.

CHAPTER V.

The conversion and pious death of the robber Antiochus.

[16] There was in a city of the Isaurians a certain chief of bandits, The robber Antiochus takes refuge at his column: Antiochus Agonatus by name, whose robberies were everywhere notorious. A strong force of soldiers was once sent against him, and likewise several Patricians to track him down and bring him to Antioch: but they were unable to do so because of his enormous strength. They therefore dispatched a number they considered sufficient, and the entire city was roused against him. Chosen soldiers went forth, one hundred and fifty-six strong, armed with weapons, and found him in an inn drinking wine. When he learned of this, he began to act out a tragedy. Now there was a river nearby. He had a mare that obeyed him as if she were a human being. Rising, he threw his garments upon her and said to her: Go, and wait for me there. Without delay the mare went out from the inn, biting and prancing, and departed to wait for him at the river. The robber too came forth with drawn sword and began to shout, saying: Away with you all at once, lest I slaughter you all. No one dared to lay hands on him. Immediately he mounted his mare, departed with the greatest speed, and embracing the column of the Saint, cried out in a loud voice: Save a perishing soul, servant of God. St. Simeon said: What do you want, man? And he replied: I am that notorious prince of robbers, who has fled here to be saved. The Saint said: If you can rouse sorrow for your sins. The prince of robbers answered: For that very reason I have come here. While he was still speaking, the soldiers arrived, and finding him in conversation with the Saint, said to the Saint: It is not right, holy Father, that you should receive this criminal; let him go to pay the penalty. St. Simeon answered them: I, my sons, did not summon him here; but He who knows his purpose and his deeds will show him mercy. For I cannot pursue him. Know, however, that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the penitent. For with our Lord Jesus Christ two robbers were crucified; one of them obtained the kingdom of heaven, the other received as he deserved. If anyone can resist Him who sent this man here, let him come and drag him away. With these words he dismissed them.

[17] When they had departed, the robber said to him: My Lord, I am indeed going. The Saint said to him: Are you returning again to your crimes? The robber answered: By no means, Father, but the Lord Christ calls me. Showing signs of penitence, he dies. And stretching his hands toward heaven, he spoke only this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, receive my spirit. And he wept for two hours, so much so that he moved both the Saint and the bystanders to tears as well; and bowing his head toward the column, he gave up his spirit to God. The crowds prepared his body and buried him before the enclosure. Not long after, the soldiers came to seize him, and began to say to the Saint: Release the criminal, that he may receive what he has deserved. But the Saint said: Brothers, He who sent him here is more powerful than you and us; He had need of him as a man useful to Himself. He therefore sent against him two terrible armed soldiers, Two Angels summon him from life. who had the power to destroy an entire city with its inhabitants. They snatched him away: but I, the most abject of mortals, beholding their terrible appearance, was too frightened to dare contradict them, lest they should kill me also. When those men learned what had happened to him, and how nobly he had surrendered his soul, they too praised God, and returned to Antioch with fear.

a Isauria is a region of Asia between Lycaonia and Cilicia at Mount Taurus, and of the same region is the city which Ptolemy calls Isaura, and others Claudiopolis.

b The Greek is ἀρχιπάτριοι, which might perhaps be better translated as Magistrates or Prefects.

CHAPTER VI.

Water obtained for the inhabitants, offspring for a barren woman, a blessing imparted to one absent, a ship saved.

[18] Simeon obtains water through prayers. It happened that water failed the inhabitants of that region, to such a degree that they were perishing of thirst. The Saint, having prayed to God for seven days, spoke to no one, but was intent on prayer; and on the seventh day, about the ninth hour, water suddenly gushed forth most abundantly at the eastern part of the enclosure. And digging, they discovered a cavern of an immense spring of water. The crowds built there seven cisterns, and all glorified God.

[19] [He obtains offspring for the Queen of the Saracens, and voice and the ability to walk for the child.] There was a certain Queen of the Saracens who was barren. She came asking the Saint to obtain offspring for her from God through his prayers. And when she had prayed long and earnestly, while the holy man joined his prayers to hers, the Saint sent her word to go home; the Lord would do what was to her advantage. She departed home, and shortly after conceived and bore a little daughter. When this child was five years old, she had neither spoken nor walked on her feet. The mother, with her husband and the little daughter, came again and cast herself upon the ground in veneration before the holy man. He replied to them: Wait, and the Lord will bring help. And when they had remained there for seven days and felt no relief, they departed sadly, saying: The Lord has not wished to heal her. As they set out on their journey, they turned back to look at the Saint's column, and behold, suddenly the daughter cried out, saying: Glory to you, God of St. Simeon. Her parents, seeing the miracle, praised God, who works wonders through his Saints.

[20] One day, when soldiers were making a journey, a certain woman who had long desired to see St. Simeon, and had been deliberating how she might fulfill her wish, when she saw that they were setting out on their march, dressed herself in military attire and joined them on the road. When they had reached the place of the column, A woman comes in male dress to see him. she said to the soldiers: If you wish to leave your horses here for a while, go in and receive a blessing from the Saint; and when you have come out, I too will enter, that I may be worthy to receive his blessing. When they had entered and venerated the Saint, he said to them: A certain soldier has been left outside by you. They said: So it is, venerable Father. The Saint said to them: Go out and tell this person: Be of good courage, for your prayer has been heard, and you will be blessed by the Lord. The soldiers asked her: Simeon blesses her before she has entered. What good deed have you done? For the Saint has commanded us: Go out and say to the soldier who is waiting before the doors, Be of good courage, your prayer has been heard, and you will be blessed by the Lord. She replied: I confess to you, brothers, that I am a woman, and I have greatly desired to see the Saint. For I am a sinner. When the soldiers heard this, they were amazed, and praised God and the renown of the Saint, and continued their journey in peace.

[21] On one occasion a great multitude of people had gathered to receive his blessing. A minister therefore ascended with incense and said in a loud voice to the Saint: Servant of God, the crowd is patiently awaiting your blessing; command therefore and dismiss them, for behold, they have been waiting for you a long time. But he gave no answer to the minister; for his spirit was not within him. And while the minister alone continued to cry out and received no answer, he began to wail at the column, thinking the Saint had died. When the crowd saw this, they began to lament mournfully and to beat their breasts with great wailing, grieving for their sins. After some time his spirit returned, Absent, he rescues a ship in peril at sea. and he answered the crowd, saying: Brothers, a great ship was in danger at sea at this very time; three hundred souls were aboard it, and all were crying out, imploring my help with much lamentation. I, beholding the present crisis, called upon God, who is ever longsuffering toward our sins; and approaching the sea, I extended my hand to them and saved them. And the crowds, hearing this, glorified the God of St. Simeon. He dismissed them with his blessing to their homes.

CHAPTER VII.

A serpent healed. An earthquake stilled. The wicked restrained.

[22] He heals a sick serpent. I wish to tell you another miracle of our holy Father Simeon. A female serpent contracted a great ulcer, so that the groaning and hissing from her pain could be heard a mile away. Her mate, sharing in her agony, came with her to the Saint. When they had reached the column, they began to go in different directions: the female, not daring to come into the Saint's presence, withdrew to the area where women used to sit. The male, however, entered with the crowd of men, and venerated the column, nodding his head up and down, as if imploring the help of the holy man. The crowds, seeing the bulk of the serpent, fled in terror. When St. Simeon saw this, he said to the crowd: Do not be afraid, brothers. He has truly come so that he may share in our prayer, because his mate, being sick, has gone to the place of the women. And he said to the serpent: Take some earth, and carry it to your mate, and placing it upon her, breathe upon her, and you will heal her affliction. The serpent, having taken some clay, departed to cure her. The crowds, seeing this, followed him, and saw the female standing upright, with an enormous abscess. Then the male placed the clay upon it, and breathing upon it before everyone's eyes, healed her, and they departed together. The crowds, seeing the miracle, praised God.

[23] In an earthquake and storm all run to him. It happened, when a great calamity threatened the people of that region, that all flowed together to him to appease God. For everywhere the ruins of buildings could be seen, and deaths of men, to such a degree that even the Saint with his column was shaken like a leaf by the wind. The Saint therefore, weeping together with the rest, said: All have gone astray; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. You do not heed me, but you contend in avarice. Your fornications and injustices have superabounded. It is easier for me to speak with my Lord than with you faithless ones. And at the same time he commanded the supplications to cease. And when he himself had prayed, again the danger increased with a storm of winds. He commanded them to cry out: Kyrie eleison, One soul out of the whole crowd is heard with him. that is, Lord, have mercy. And when they had waited for a short time, and peace was given them, he offered prayers; and when these were completed, he said to the crowd: Brothers, of all of you, one soul has been heard. And so that I may give you full proof of this, behold, I shall place him in the midst of you. And having commanded him to come forward, he addressed him thus: Believe me, brother, that of all these people you alone were heard. But tell me, what good have you done? He answered the Saint: Grant me pardon, Father; I am a sinful man. At last, compelled by the Saint (for a voice was also coming from heaven saying: Your prayer has been heard, and that of the peasant who stands in the midst of them), he confessed to them: I am a peasant, and I am accustomed to divide my daily wages into three parts: the first I give to the poor, the second for the tax to the state, The holy life of a certain peasant. and the third I spend on daily necessities. I have never ceased until now to keep this rule of life. All therefore embraced him and venerated him, and pressed forward to see such a man.

[24] Hear another thing. There was a certain man named Julian, who served Ardaburius. Seized with a kind of madness, he began to press Ardaburius insistently, saying: A man who insulted Simeon is punished. Permit me to go up and drag him from the column, and heap insults upon him, and punish him as I wish. For he is an impostor and deceives the people. And they ran to him; and Julian, having set a ladder against it, climbed the column, confident that he could throw him down. But when he had ascended to the third rung, the ladder was lifted away from the column and hung in the air about four cubits from the ground. And all who looked on were amazed and afraid. Ardaburius, moved with anger, drew his bow, wishing to pierce the Saint with an arrow; and immediately his hand became numb, and he could not release the arrow; and not only were his hands afflicted with numbness, but his feet were also seized with gout, for the rest of his life.

a There were two men named Ardaburius: the first was a distinguished commander under Theodosius the Younger, Consul in the year 427, father of Aspar, as Socrates relates (Book 7, chapter 23). The second was the son of Aspar, appointed by Marcian as commander of the Eastern forces, as Suidas has it. And it is this one who brought the body of St. Simeon to Antioch, as will be said below.

b Others attribute this to Julian himself.

CHAPTER VIII.

St. Simeon dies. His body is carried to Antioch.

[25] Antonius discovers him dead. Holy Simeon stood upon various columns for forty-seven years. After these the Lord called him. It was the day of Parasceve, and he had been called as usual to give a blessing to those who had knelt; and when I, the least, saw this, on the second day I ascended to him, and I gaze upon his face. I see it to be bright like the sun, and such as it used to be when he would meet me or speak with me. But he made no reply. At first I supposed him to be resting. Then, however, I wished to ascertain more closely; but reverence and fear toward the man of God held me back. At last, having taken courage, I say: Father, why do you not speak to me? Many await your blessing. For this is now the third day that you have deprived them of your greeting. And when I had waited for one hour, I say again: Will you not speak to me, Father? And then, stretching out my hand, I touched his beard, and found that his body had become limp; and then I knew plainly that he had departed to the Lord.

[26] His body breathes forth a sweet fragrance. Then also, drawing back his garment, I kissed his feet; and his whole body breathed forth a fragrance as of ointment, so that I was amazed at that sweetness. The body moves with the column. A heavenly voice. And when I had paused for a moment, his whole body was moved together with the column. And I heard a voice that said to me: Amen, Amen. I, in my fear, spoke thus: Bless me, Father; remember me; sanctify me in your holy repose.

[27] Antonius reports the death to the Bishop. When I had departed, I disclosed the matter to no one, lest a tumult should arise, but through a trusted man I sent word to the Bishop of Antioch and to the Prefect Ardaburius. The Bishop of Antioch therefore came with six other bishops, and the Prefect Ardaburius with six thousand men, lest the inhabitants of that region should carry him away. For they had so intended. Silver curtains hung as far as the railings of the column. Three bishops ascended and removed his vestments, and after reciting three Psalms, they lowered him. Countless people mourn him, even the birds. Then at last the whole multitude learned that he had died. And the whole multitude was thrown into confusion, to such a degree that the mountain could not be seen for the crowd, the incense, and the torches. The voice of lamentation of men and women arose, so great that the mountain itself seemed to mourn with them. The number of the birds of that desert gathered at the enclosure was beyond counting.

[28] When therefore they had lowered him, He is taken down from the column. and were already preparing his funeral -- it being now the fourth day since his passing -- yet the body of the dead man was so composed in beauty, as it had been when he fell asleep. And his face appeared like a most blooming rose, and his hair and beard like the purest snow. The Bishop's hand withers when he tries to take relics; it is healed. The Bishop of Antioch was about to pluck hairs from his beard, and immediately his hand withered. And a voice said to him: O blessed one of God, you are safe; nothing remains to you of evils, nor of vestments, by the power of God. And then his hand was restored to health. And straightway they placed him upon a bier.

[29] Now I, brothers, the least, five days before his passing saw the appearance of the man; A vision previously shown to Antonius. his face was terrible, and I am unable to describe his bearing to anyone. My mind was indeed carried away, and I could not speak for horror, until our holy Father awoke. When he approached, I observed him eating, but what I do not know. And he sang a Psalm, which now no longer comes to my memory, except the final word, Amen. I indeed shuddered at the sight of the man. For his face was radiant as the sun.

[30] They then placed him upon a bier with psalms and hymns, His body is carried to Antioch. while the crowds lamented and sang dirges. Likewise they did at Antioch, with an immense throng of people. And when they had arrived at the place called Merum, about five miles from Antioch, the mules bearing the Saint halted and would not proceed. For a wondrous mystery was there. For on the right side of that road there was a tomb, in which a certain man dwelt. He had been desperately in love with a married woman for twenty full years, and had not been able to possess her. The woman at last died and was buried in that tomb. And he opened the doors of the tomb and satisfied his lust upon the dead body. Without delay he was immediately bound as if by shackles and detained in the tomb. He therefore sat continually on the steps of the tomb and was visited by many passersby. And each one brought him for a price what he needed: one clothing, another food. By the ordinance of God it came to pass, One who was mute and deaf is cured by his merits. that when St. Simeon was brought to that place, the sinner who had been deprived of both speech and hearing suddenly, while the carriage stood still, ran up from the tomb, crying out: Have mercy on me, St. Simeon! And grasping the carriage, the mules immediately began to move, and all praised God, to such an extent that the place resounded with the clamor. And that man cried out above all the rest, saying: Today through you I have been saved, servant of God, for you have delivered me from punishment.

[31] The funeral is received at Antioch with great acclaim. The entire city came forth to meet the wondrous spectacle: all were dressed in white garments, with torches and hymns, and they said: Our Shepherd comes, bringing a heavenly treasure. And all, rejoicing, gave glory to God; and they brought him into the church called Cassian's. But after thirty days, the Commander Ardaburius ordered him to be carried into the great church. And there, again by a revelation from God, an oratory was built for him, worthy of his glorious and holy relics. And thus with much glory and hymn-singing they laid him in his chapel, praising Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Many seek his relics. Many people offered the Bishop of the city a great sum of gold, that he might make them partakers of the holy relics for a blessing. But he did not dare to give anything, on account of the oath he had sworn. And that man of whom we have been speaking became a solitary, and persevered until the end of his life ... by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all praise, honor, and veneration, with the eternal Father and the most holy, most good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.

a The Latin Life agrees concerning the day.

b Something seems to be missing.

c This passage is rather confused, even in the Greek.

d Ἐν τόπῳ ἐπιλεγομένῳ Μέρῳ. See the Life by Metaphrastes, chapter 14, number 57.

e Something again seems to be missing.

ANOTHER LIFE OF ST. SIMEON STYLITES

FROM ANCIENT LATIN MANUSCRIPTS.

Simeon Stylites, near Antioch in Syria (S.) BHL Number: 7957

From Latin manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

St. Simeon, from zeal for salvation, becomes a monk.

[1] St. Simeon as a boy tends sheep. Holy Simeon was chosen by the Lord from his mother's womb, and from childhood meditated works pleasing to God. He was the son of a certain man named Hesychius; his mother was called Mathana. Nurtured by them most carefully, when he was thirteen years old, after the manner of Blessed David, he tended his father's sheep.

[2] One day, seeing a church of the faithful, he left his flocks and ran to it. Entering, he heard someone reciting the Apostolic reading. And asking a certain old man, he said: Lord Father, what is this that is being read? The elder answered him: My son, the substance of the soul, and continence, and contempt for this world, is what is read in this lesson. And he said: What is the substance of the soul? He inquires about the way of salvation. Teach me, Father. The elder said: To fear God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Blessed Simeon then answered and said: What is it to fear God? The elder said to him: My son, why do you weary me? Perhaps you are testing me. And he said: I do not test you, Lord Father, but I desire to know more fully what you have said. And he added: I ask you as one asks God. I wish to learn these things, for I am uneducated and ignorant of the things you speak of, Father. And the elder said to him: My son, if you desire to hear the truth, attend carefully to what I say: If anyone fasts continually and renders prayers worthy of God at every moment, and humbles himself before God and men; and does not love gold, nor silver, nor clothing, nor possessions; and honors father and mother and respects the priest: he shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. But if anyone is talkative or injurious, not honoring father or mother, nor an elder, nor a neighbor: he shall inherit the outer darkness, which God has prepared for the devil. All these good things which I have mentioned, although they may be faithfully fulfilled by many in the Church, are nonetheless more easily tested and practiced in a monastery with the help of God.

[3] Grateful toward his teacher. Hearing these things, blessed Simeon fell at the feet of that elder, saying: You are my father and my mother, and a teacher of good works, and you are a guide to the kingdom of heaven. For you have gained a soul that was already sinking into perdition. May the Lord repay you in return for my soul. For these are the things that build up, just as they also save. But I, my Lord, shall go, as you have taught me, into whatever monastery the Lord wills, and may his will be done in me. That elder said to him: My son, before you enter a monastery, I will tell you this mystery, that is, I will lay open for you the rule and discipline of a monastery. You are going to have tribulations. It is necessary for you to serve and keep vigil in nakedness, and to bear evils patiently: for injuries are to be inflicted upon you, because you have become a precious vessel of the Lord.

[4] He seeks the monastery of St. Timothy. And immediately, having bidden farewell to that elder, blessed Simeon leapt up and went to the monastery of the great St. Timothy. He cast himself down before the doors of the monastery, neither eating nor drinking for three days. On the fourth day, Abbot Timothy came out, raised him up, and said to him: Where are you from, my son, and who are your parents? Why are you so wasted? And what is your name? Have you perhaps committed some crime? Or are you perhaps a slave, and fearing your master, have you fled to the protection of the monastery? But Blessed Simeon said with tears: By no means, Lord, have I committed any crime, nor do I owe service to any man; but I desire to be a servant of God, if he himself wills it. If you are willing to save my lost soul, command me to enter the monastery and to serve all the brothers, and do not suffer me to be tormented here any longer.

[5] Then he took his hand, and leading him into the monastery, he said to the brothers: My little children, behold, I entrust this young man to you: teach him the rules of the monastery. He spent about four years in that monastery, serving God without complaint and rendering obedience to all the brothers with all humility. During this time he went through the Psalter, learning it quickly and perfectly. And taking his daily food, he secretly distributed it to the poor, not anxious about the morrow. He fasts an entire week. For the brothers, as was the custom, fasted until evening; but he took food only on the seventh day.

a MS Liege: Isici. St. Maximin: Ysicij. St. Omer: Hisirici, and in the margin Isici. Rosweyde: Susocionis. Ripatorio: Ysichij.

b MS Ripatorio: Marabana; by others she is called Martha. See what is narrated below concerning her death.

c MS Ripatorio: twenty-seven.

d Rosweyde: are heightened.

e In the MS of St. Maximin these things are set forth more fully, nearly as in the first Life.

f Others: unceasingly.

g Metaphrastes mentions two monasteries, in one of which he lived two years, in the other ten. The one who is here called Timothy is called Heliodorus by Metaphrastes and Theodoretus; perhaps, having renounced his former name, he was called Timothy; or he may have had two names. A certain Timothy is venerated by the Greeks on February 1, whom our Raderus conjectures to be this teacher of St. Simeon.

h Others: five.

i Others: fifth.

k Others: to be burned. Others: to be accused.

l MSS St. Maximin, Ripatorio: six months. Others: four months.

m MS St. Omer: prepared.

n Rosweyde: divine; and adds in the margin: he communicated daily. This is not confirmed and is not found in any other MS.

CHAPTER II.

Cast out of the monastery for excessive zeal in penance, he is brought back with honor.

[6] He binds his body with a rough rope. One day, going out to the well and seeing the bucket from which they drew water, which had a rope of the roughest palm fiber, which is called butcher's-broom; he seized it and wound it most tightly around his bare body from his loins to his shoulders, and returning, he said to the brothers: I went out to draw water and did not find the rope in the bucket. They said to him: Be quiet, brother, lest the Abbot find out about this, until the matter passes. In a short time his body became putrefied from the binding and the roughness of the rope, because it cut into him and penetrated to the bones, so that it could scarcely be seen. One day some of the brothers going out found him giving his food to the poor, and entering, they said to the Abbot: Where did you bring this man to us from? For we cannot abstain as he does. He continues his fast from one Sunday to the next; and the food he receives, he distributes to the poor. He swarms with worms. And a most grievous stench rises from his body, so that no one can stand near him; even as he walks, worms fall from his body. And indeed his bed is full of worms.

[7] And the Abbot went out and found things as they had said. Then he summoned him and said: My son, what is this that the brothers say about you? Is it not enough for you to fast as we do? Have you not heard the Gospel saying of teachers: The disciple is not above his master; for he will be perfect if he is like his teacher? Matt. 10:24. Tell me, my son, where does this terrible stench come from? And where do these worms come from, with which your bed is full? Blessed Simeon stood therefore with bowed head and gave him no answer. And the Abbot, angered, said: Strip him, and let us see where this stench comes from. And stripping him, they found the rope driven into his body, and with the skin broken, embedded so deeply that nothing could be seen of it except the top. The Abbot, crying out in a loud voice, said: Where have you come to us from, man? You wish, as I see it, to destroy the rule of the monastery. I ask you therefore, depart from here and go where you wish. And yet with great labor and pain they removed the rope from his body, with which he was wrapped, He is healed. together with his putrefied flesh. And applying care and diligence over many days, they healed him.

[8] After this he left the monastery with no one knowing, and entered a dry well in the desert, not far from the monastery, in which there was no water; but unclean spirits dwelt there. He enters the dry well. And on that very night it was revealed to the Abbot that a multitude of people surrounded his monastery with clubs and swords, saying: Give us Simeon, the servant of God, Timothy. Otherwise we will burn you with your monastery, because you have mistreated a righteous man. And waking, he said to the brothers: My little children, I have seen a vision and was greatly troubled by it. And the Abbot related what he had seen. And on another night he saw a multitude of strong men standing before him and saying: Give us Simeon, the servant of God; he is beloved by the Angels. Why have you vexed him? He is greater than you before God, in both merit and grace. All the Angels have been saddened on his account. And God intends to set this man before the world, so that he shall perform many signs which no one has performed. The Abbot, terrified by a twofold vision, searches for him. The Abbot therefore arose with great fear and said to the monks: Brothers, seek out that man for me, and bring him to this place, lest perhaps on his account we should all die. He is truly a saint of God. For I have seen and heard great wonders concerning him. For I saw him standing in the midst of Angels, keeping watch over him.

[9] Then all the monks went out to look for him, and searching everywhere they did not find him. And coming, they reported to the Abbot, saying: We have left no place where we have not searched for him, except only the desert well. And he said to them: I beg you, brothers, let me also go with you to seek him. He is truly a saint of God. And taking five of them with him, he came to the well. When Blessed Simeon saw them, he began to adjure them, saying: He is found in the well. I beg you, servants of God, leave me for one hour that I may give up my spirit. It is still a little while to my end. My soul is greatly wearied, because I have provoked the Lord. And the Abbot said to him: Come, servant of God, let us go to the monastery. Now I have learned about you, that you are truly a servant of God. But when he was unwilling, they brought him by force to the monastery; and all prostrated themselves at his feet, weeping and saying: We have sinned against you, servant of God; forgive us. But Blessed Simeon groaned, saying: Why do you burden me, brothers, a putrid and most humble dog, wretched and sinful? For you are the servants of God and my fathers. And he remained there for one year.

a Ruscus is commonly called wild myrtle, in Dutch pungens palma. Virgil, Eclogue 7: horridior rusco, rougher than butcher's-broom.

b MS St. Maximin: drip.

c MS Ripatorio: saddened. Liege: provoked.

d MS Liege: entering the well with five monks, he brought him out by force.

CHAPTER III.

He stands on a column. He converts many. He is tempted by a demon.

[10] After this, he departed secretly and went to a mountain not far from the monastery, and there he spent much time. He built himself an enclosure of dry stone and stood thus for three years. And many came to him for prayer. Then he made for himself a short column of four cubits, He stands on a column. and stood upon it for four years. And his holy fame spread throughout the world and was proclaimed with all admiration. And again they built for him a column of twelve cubits, and he stood upon it for twelve years. Again they built a column of twenty cubits, and he stood upon it for twelve years.

[11] Then all the inhabitants of that place gathered and built two basilicas beside the column, and a column of thirty cubits. And he stood upon it for four years. And he began to perform many miracles: many who were sick and possessed by demons came to him, and he healed them. The blind received sight, He is renowned for miracles. the deaf received hearing; the hands of the disabled were restored, lepers were cleansed. By his faith he humbled many nations and brought them to the Christian faith, He converts various nations. namely the Saracens, Persians, Armenians, Lazi, and Azabeni. Likewise the Allophyli, hearing about him and the miracles he performed, came and worshipped him; and they were so softened from their barbarity that they did not harm the provinces of that place at all.

[12] Then, by God's permission, through the envy of the devil, a wound developed in his thigh, and it became putrefied, so that a multitude of worms swarmed from it. They ran down from his foot onto the column, and from the column to the ground. For an entire year he stood on the column upon one foot. A certain young man attending him, Antonius collects the worms and returns them to him. named Antonius, who saw and wrote these things, at his command collected the worms that fell to the ground and handed them up to him. And he placed them back upon his wounds, in the manner of the just Job, saying: Eat what the Lord has given you.

a The MS of Liege adds: bound with no mortar or cement.

b MS Liege: four.

c MSS Ripatorio and St. Maximin: eight.

d MS Ripatorio: ten.

e Others: twenty-two.

f Rosweyde has Armacenos, from Armaca, or rather Armaxa, a city of Cappadocia in Antoninus; but he considers that Armenios should be read, as indeed all the MS codices which I have used have it.

g Thus some MSS. But Ripatorio: Lagos. Others: Lautos. Rosweyde has Laotos, on which word he notes: I find this nation nowhere. The word in Greek means "people with ears." Are they the same as the Panotii? Isidore, Book 11 of the Origins, chapter 3: The Panotii are said to be in Scythia, with ears so enormously spread that they cover their whole body with them. For πᾶν in Greek means "all," and ὦτα means "ears." The peoples which this Life names -- Saracens, Persians, Armaceni, Laoti, and Allophyli -- are found in Theodoretus as Ishmaelites, Persians, Armenians, Iberians, and Homerites. The same are in Cedrenus, except for the Homerites, unless one suspects that in Cedrenus ὁσημέρας ("daily") is a corruption of Homerites, or vice versa in Theodoretus; or rather Cedrenus drew his from the latter passage of Theodoretus, where he omits the Homerites, although in the former passage he joins them with the others. Thus far Rosweyde. But Lazos should be read. Λαζοί, the Lazi, are a people of Scythia according to Stephanus, and according to Ptolemy (Table 3 of Asia), Λάζαι or Ζάλαι, who hold the coast of Colchis. The Homerites are a people of Arabia, of whom we shall treat more fully on October 24 and 27, in connection with Saints Aretas and Elesbaan.

h MS St. Maximin: Azabinos. Among the peoples of Arabia Felix, Ptolemy numbers the Astageni or Astapeni, called by others Asateni. Could they perhaps be the Asabeni or Asapeni? Or the Arabeni? This name occurs in the Life by Metaphrastes. In the same Arabia there were Rhabanitae, as is clear from Ptolemy's Table 6 of Asia, or Arabanitae. Are the Azabeni perhaps used for the Adiabeni, a people of Assyria? Or those whom others call Azazeni? Or the Asibeni, that is, the inhabitants of Antioch in Mesopotamia, which is also called Mygdonia, and is called by the natives Ἀσίβη, whence Ἀσιβηνός, as Stephanus says?

i I do not recall this word being used elsewhere to designate a particular nation, but only to mean foreigners in general.

k This is narrated more fully in Rosweyde's edition, in the following manner: Then the envious devil transformed himself into the appearance of an Angel, shining with splendor, with fiery horses. And a fiery chariot appeared beside the column where Blessed Simeon stood, and it shone with brightness and splendor as if gleaming with the appearance of an Angel. And the devil said in smooth words: Simeon, hear my words, which the Lord has commanded me to speak to you. He has sent me, his Angel, with a fiery chariot and fiery horses, to carry you away as I carried away Elijah. Your time has now come. And you likewise, mount with me now upon the chariot: for the Lord of heaven and earth has sent this. Let us ascend together into the heavens, that the Angels and Archangels may see you, with Mary the Mother of the Lord, with the Apostles and Martyrs, Confessors and Prophets: for they rejoice to see you, that you may pray to the Lord who made you in his own image. I have now spoken to you; delay not to ascend. Simeon, having completed his prayer, said: Lord, do you wish to carry me, a sinner, into heaven? And lifting his right foot to mount the chariot, he raised his right hand and made the sign of Christ. When he had made the sign of the cross, immediately the devil vanished from sight; he disappeared with his contrivance, like dust before the face of the wind. Then Simeon understood that it was a trick of the devil.

Returning therefore to himself, he said to his foot: You shall not go back from here, but shall stand here until my death, until the Lord summons me, a sinner. Meanwhile the devil, in the cold, set a wound upon his thigh, and it became putrefied, so that a multitude of worms swarming from it descended from his body, and ran down from his feet onto the column, and from the column to the ground. For an entire year he stood on the column upon one foot. A certain young man stood by him, Antonius by name, etc.

CHAPTER IV.

A worm changed into a pearl. The sight of himself denied to his mother: eternal rest obtained for her.

[13] When Basilicus, King of the Saracens, heard of his fame, he came to him with great humility and faith, that he might be worthy to receive his blessing. And seeing him standing above and praying, suddenly a worm fell from his body to the ground; and the king ran and seized it with faith, and placed it upon his eyes. But Blessed Simeon, seeing this, said: Why have you done this, illustrious man? And why have you burdened me? For I am burdened under my sin. It is a worm from my putrid body that you have placed upon your eyes. When King Basilicus heard these things, he opened his hand and found a most precious pearl. A worm fallen from his body is changed into a pearl. And he said to Blessed Simeon: This is not a putrid worm, but a most precious pearl. And Simeon said to him: Man, this has been given to you according to your faith, not for my merits. And it shall be blessed in your hands all the days of your life. You sought a blessing; it shall be given to you by the Lord. And so the man returned, full of faith and joy.

[14] After a long time, his mother, learning of his whereabouts, came wishing to see him; but she was prevented, because no woman entered that place. And he said to her: Simeon denies his mother the sight of himself. Bear it a little while, mother, and we shall see one another, if God wills. But she, hearing this, began to beat her breast and to beg to see him; and with her hair unbound she reproached him, saying: My son, why have you done this? For the womb that bore you, you have filled me with grief; for the nursing with which I nursed you, you have given me sighs; and for the kisses with which I kissed you, you have returned to me the bitterest tears; for the labor and pain which I suffered for you, you have inflicted upon me the cruelest wounds. And she spoke at such length that she made all the bystanders weep. Hearing her voice, he placed his face in his hands and wept most bitterly, and sent her word, saying: Be still a little, mother, and we shall see each other in eternal rest. But she began to say: By Christ who builds you up, if it is possible to see you after so long a time away from me -- and if it is not, at least let me hear your voice, and I shall die at once; for your father has died of grief on your account. And do not destroy me in this bitterness, my son. And from grief and lamentation she fell into sleep. For she had spent three days and three nights without ceasing to implore him.

[15] She expires while he prays. Then Blessed Simeon, making prayer for her to the Lord, she gave up her spirit. And gathering up her poor body, they brought it into his sight, and he began to weep most bitterly, saying: May the Lord receive you in joy, for you were afflicted and labored on my account, and you bore me in your womb for nine months, and nursed and nourished me with toil. And as he said these things, his mother's face began to sweat, and her body was moved, He prays for her soul. as all who were present looked on. And he raised his eyes to heaven, saying: Lord God of hosts, who sit upon the Cherubim and search the foundations of the abyss; who knew Adam before he existed; who promised the riches of the heavenly kingdom to those who love your name; who spoke to Moses from the burning bush; who blessed Abraham our father; who brought into paradise the souls of the just, and plunged the souls of the wicked into perdition; who humbled two fierce lions and quenched the mighty fires of the Chaldeans for your servants; who sent food to Elijah by ravens bearing it to the mountain: receive her soul in peace, and place it in the place of the fathers, for yours is the power forever and ever. Amen.

a Thus the MSS and Vincent of Beauvais. But MS St. Maximin: Basiliscus.

b This is a gesture of veneration.

c MS Ripatorio: all of us began to rejoice.

d The MS of Liege adds: Nebuchadnezzar and Holofernes.

CHAPTER V.

Various benefits bestowed upon mortals.

[16] After these days they again built for him a column of forty cubits, and he stood upon it for sixteen years until his death. During this time an exceedingly large dragon dwelt near him and stood on the north side; whence not even grass grew there. A piece of wood had also entered its left eye and blinded its sight. He heals a blind dragon. On a certain day, behold, the blind dragon came dragging itself, and drew near to the gate of the monastery beside the column, harming no one, and laid its right eye on the threshold of the monastery, lying there for three days, setting no trap for those who entered. Then St. Simeon commanded that earth and water be poured upon it. And immediately the piece of wood sprang out of its eye, measuring one cubit. All who saw it glorified God, though they fled out of fear. But the beast itself coiled up and remained motionless in the place until all the people had passed by. And at last, rising, it worshipped for about two hours at the gate of the monastery, and so returned to its lair.

[17] He frees a woman from a serpent she had drunk. A certain woman, being thirsty at night, came to the water jar to drink, in which there was a small serpent; and drinking, she swallowed that serpent, and it remained in her belly; and it was in her for three years. Many physicians, enchanters, and sorcerers applied their skill to her, but accomplished nothing. After many days she was brought to holy Simeon. And he commanded that earth and water be put into her mouth. And she cried out loudly. Immediately a serpent came out of her mouth, three cubits in length. At that very hour it burst, and as testimony for many it was hung up there for seven days. And the woman was made well from that hour.

[18] He obtains water by prayer. The miracles of his are many and innumerable, so that one could scarcely enumerate them all. Nevertheless, as my abilities allow, I shall explain them briefly. It came to pass that water was not to be found in that place, and all the people and all the animals were in peril from the lack of water. When St. Simeon saw their distress, he stood in prayer. About the tenth hour of the day, the earth was suddenly rent asunder, and a great chasm opened on the eastern side of the monastery; and there was found within it, as it were a cavern, containing an immeasurable quantity of water. Then he commanded that seven entrances be made into it; and from that time water has abounded there to this very day.

[19] At a certain time, some men coming from afar to his prayers turned aside at noon to rest a little in the shade of a tree because of the heat. As they were sitting, behold, a pregnant doe was passing by them. And they said to her: He restores the faculty of speech to the mute. By the power and prayer of St. Simeon we adjure you, stand still a moment that we may seize you. And at that very hour she stood still. And seizing her, they killed her with most impious boldness; and they ate a portion of her; and immediately they were struck mute, and began to bleat like a deer. Running, they came to the man of God, carrying the hide; and they spent two years there, and with great difficulty were they at last able to recover their health. For their sin was grievous. The hide of that deer they hung up there as a testimony for many.

[20] There was also a monstrous leopard in those parts, which was killing both men and animals. The inhabitants of that place came and reported to St. Simeon what great evils the leopard was causing. And he commanded that earth and water from the monastery be sprinkled on those places. And it was done. And when that leopard came there, A leopard dies when sprinkled with dust and water from the monastery. it immediately fell and expired. Searching, they found it dead. Taking its skin, they hung it up next to the one they had taken from the deer. And all who saw it glorified the God of Simeon.

[21] He commands that the honor of cures be given to God. And whomever he healed, he commanded him, saying: Go to your house and glorify God who has healed you; and do not dare to say that Simeon healed you, lest something worse suddenly befall you. And do not presume to swear by the name of the Lord, for it is a sin; but rather swear by me, a humble sinner, He permits oaths to be sworn by himself. whether justly or unjustly. And for this reason all the Eastern peoples and the barbarous nations in those regions swear by him.

a MS St. Omer: thirteen. MSS St. Maximin and Ripatorio: forty. MS Ripatorio adds: and the total time of his life was 100 years. But it has twice regarding the column of forty cubits: first it says he lived on it forty years, then sixteen. In one place or the other, the copyist seems to have been drowsy.

b Others: right.

c MS Liege: Marsi. Pliny treats of the power of the Psylli and the Marsi against serpents in Book 28, chapter 3, and elsewhere. The Marsi are a people of Italy.

d MS St. Maximin has only: water blessed by the Saint's prayers, offered to her as a drink.

e It is not clear wherein the gravity of this misdeed consists, unless the deer belonged to someone else and was kept within an enclosure or pen; or perhaps they killed it with blasphemies and impious jests; or finally this was done on a day when eating meat was not permitted.

CHAPTER VI.

A fraud exposed. Avarice punished.

[22] After this, two partners who had worked together and collected their earnings together for five years divided between themselves what they appeared to have acquired. But one of them defrauded his partner, having subtracted one hundred gold solidi from their common earnings; and he hid fifty in each of his stockings, without his partner knowing. After this, what remained they divided equally. He detects a man's fraud. The other partner, then, did not know of his companion's fraud, and said to him: Brother, we have labored so many years, and what the Lord has given us, we have divided equally. Let us therefore go to St. Simeon. And they went together. When they came to him, they asked him to pray for them. St. Simeon asked them: Where are you from? They said: We were partners, and we labored together; and what the Lord gave us through your prayers, we have divided equally. Now therefore we have come to give thanks to God. St. Simeon said to them: See that you have committed no fraud. And they said: We have committed no fraud, Lord, but have divided everything simply. Then St. Simeon said to the one who had defrauded his partner: Take the stocking from your leg and give it to your partner, and so you will be equal. When this was done, St. Simeon said to the one to whom the stocking had been given: Open that stocking, and the gold pieces you find, with which your partner defrauded you, keep for yourself, so that you may be fully equal, since in that other stocking your partner has the same amount; and return to your homes in peace.

[23] Money not given to pious works perishes. There was a certain very wealthy man from the city of Antioch, whose house was suddenly destroyed by fire, and the man came out of it stripped bare. He therefore went to St. Simeon, crying out and saying to him: Lord, my house has been consumed by fire, and my fortune has perished in it. St. Simeon said to him: How many solidi did you have there? And the man said: I had three thousand. Blessed Simeon said: See, you do not wish to say, I had half a modius. Why do you not tell the truth? Man, you had seven modii of gold coins, and you never did anything good: you did not help the brothers, you did not clothe the naked, you did not support the orphans, you did not give comfort to the widows, you never made an offering in church; and now what do you seek? And he answered: Those gold coins, Lord, which I have lost. St. Simeon said to him: Look upward. And he looked and saw the sky. And St. Simeon said: What do you see? And he said: I see the sky. And St. Simeon said: As high as the sky is, so deep into the earth have those gold coins gone, because you never did any good with them.

a This chapter is absent from Rosweyde's edition and from some MSS. It is found in the MSS of Liege and St. Maximin.

b This is a hyperbole. For it is certain that the distance between heaven and earth is greater than the entire diameter of the earth.

CHAPTER VII.

The remarkable conversion and death of a robber.

[24] A most notorious robber named Antiochus, who was also surnamed Gonathas, doing much evil, was pursued by many The robber Agonatus takes refuge with him. and could not hide himself from them. One day, fleeing like a lion before the face of many pursuers, he suddenly entered the monastery and, embracing the column of St. Simeon, began to weep most bitterly. And Simeon said to him: Who are you, or where have you come from, man? Or why have you entered here? He answered: I am Gonathas the robber, who have done every evil, and I come here to repent. St. Simeon said to him: For of such is the kingdom of heaven; but do not try to tempt my wretched soul, and be found again in those very crimes you have committed. While he was saying this, behold, officers came from Antioch, saying: Hand over to us the enemy and criminal Gonathas, lest the city be suddenly stirred to sedition; for wild beasts are prepared to devour him. St. Simeon answered them: My little children, I did not bring him here; for He who brought him is greater than us, and He comes to the aid of such as these; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. But if you have the power, enter and take him from here; I, however, cannot, because I fear Him who sent him to me.

[25] When those men heard these things, they went back with great fear and reported everything at Antioch. But Gonathas, embracing and holding the column for seven days, said to Blessed Simeon: Lord, if you permit, I wish to depart. He answered: Are you hastening again to those same evils? The robber Agonatus dies a blessed death. Gonathas said: No, Lord, but my time is now fulfilled. And while he was saying these things, he gave up his spirit.

[26] And when they wished to bury him near the monastery, behold, other officers came from Antioch, saying: Give us the enemy of God and of us all. For the whole city is in turmoil on his account. Blessed Simeon answered them: He who brought him came with a multitude of the heavenly host, who has the power to cast your city with its inhabitants into hell; who also has reconciled this man to himself. And I feared him, lest he might suddenly kill me also; therefore I kindly received this man who fled to me. Therefore trouble and weary me, a humble and poor man, no further. And they returned with fear, reporting all the things they had heard and seen.

a Vincent of Beauvais, Rosweyde's edition, and MS Ripatorio: Ionathas. MS St. Maximin: Zonathas. More correctly in the other two Lives: Agonatus.

CHAPTER VIII.

Various benefits bestowed upon mortals, both publicly and privately.

[27] A certain Queen, being barren, sent to St. Simeon, He obtains a son for the Queen, and the ability to walk and speak for the child. begging him to obtain from the Lord that offspring be given to the Queen; for she could not bear the reproach arising from her barrenness. The holy man sent her this message: Return to your home, and the Lord will grant the fulfillment of your petitions. She returned and soon conceived and bore a son, who for five years neither walked nor spoke. Then the Queen approached the territories of the holy man and sent her husband to him with the little child, weeping. When they had come, Blessed Simeon said to them: Stay here; God is able to help the boy. While they remained, the boy was healed; and they returned in peace.

[28] One day, when certain soldiers were making their way to the holy man, there was a woman who desired to see him. But since she could not, when she saw many soldiers going, she took a military garment and accompanied them. When they arrived at the appointed place, the woman said to the soldiers: A woman in male dress, recognized and blessed by him. Leave me, if you will, to guard your animals, since I do not dare to enter with you into the dwelling of the man of God. You therefore go in for his blessing. When they had entered, St. Simeon said to them: One soldier of yours has remained outside? They said: Yes, Lord; he guards our animals. St. Simeon said to them: Go to him and say this: Do not be troubled, nor enter contrary to my rule. For the Lord too, seeing your faith, has had mercy on you. When they came out, they asked the one they still thought to be a soldier, not a woman, to tell them the truth. And the woman disclosed the whole truth to them. And the soldiers, hearing this, blessed the Lord, marveling at her faith.

[29] He rescues a ship in peril. At a certain time, when a multitude of people came to be blessed by him, his minister ascended as was the custom with a censer, crying out: Servant of God, this people awaits your blessing; command that they be dismissed. For behold, they have been waiting for you many hours. And he gave no answer. And after a little while he said to the people who were bowing before him: Dearest brothers, I ask that you not be troubled at my delay; for I perceived in spirit that I was called to the aid of a great ship in peril at sea with nearly three hundred persons, that I might pray for them; and I prayed for them to the Lord Jesus Christ, who granted them his help. And blessing them, he dismissed them in peace.

[30] In an earthquake the people of Antioch take refuge with him. At that time, therefore, the wrath of divine chastisement was great in that same region, and all the Antiochenes flocked to him, imploring him to pray for them. For many buildings were collapsing and men were dying in countless numbers, so that the frequent earthquakes even shook the column of Simeon himself. Then Blessed Simeon said to them with tears: My brothers, these evils do not come without cause. All have turned aside; they have together become unprofitable in their pleasures. There are not in so great a multitude any who do good. And he commanded them all to prostrate themselves with him in prayer. And he himself prayed with them to the Lord, while all cried out with tears: Lord, have mercy. And when they had spent part of the day in cries and groaning, St. Simeon said to them: Of this whole multitude of yours, one has been heard together with me. He alone is heard together with a certain man. For a voice was heard in my ears, which said to me: You are heard, and this farmer also -- making him known to me, so that you might understand how much a just man avails before the Lord. Then he commanded that farmer to come forward before all; and as the crowd marveled, he said to him: Brother, persevere in all your good works. It has been made known to me that you alone from this crowd have been heard by the Lord. But satisfy us: what good work do you have, so that these people, hearing you, may imitate you? He, however, refused to confess this, but protested that he was most unworthy and a sinner. St. Simeon said to him: Do not, my son, hide the good work of God in you; for we do not command you to speak out of vainglory, but so that, giving thanks to God, you may reveal your works to the rest, that they may desire to imitate them. Then that man began to speak: The holy life of that peasant. Since I am a farmer, it is my custom to divide what I earn from my daily labor into three parts: one for the poor, another for the tax, and the third for my sustenance; desiring, according to what is read in the Gospel, to be content with my own wages and to render to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's. Matt. 22:21. And I have never plotted against anyone, nor harmed my neighbor, desiring for him as for myself. When the Antiochenes heard these things, they honored him, kissing his goodness. Blessed Simeon dismissed them in peace.

[31] A certain wicked man named Julian asked Ardaburius, the Master of the Soldiers, saying: Command me, Lord, and I will ascend and pull that Simeon down from his column and heap insults upon him. One who wishes to insult him is punished. For he is a deceiver and deceives the people. And having received permission, he went with a large number of men. His companions, approaching, set up a ladder against the column for him to climb up and take down St. Simeon. As he ascended to the third rung, the ladder was separated from the column, and he was suspended about four cubits from the ground, hanging in the air, and all marveled. Hanging there in anguish and pain, he drew his bow, wishing to shoot St. Simeon with an arrow; and immediately his hand withered, and he could not release the arrow; and not only was he seized with gout in his hands, but also with gout in his feet, until his death, for his presumption and audacity. Most blessed Simeon stood on the column for forty-seven years.

a This chapter is absent from Rosweyde's edition and from some MSS.

CHAPTER IX.

St. Simeon dies. His body is carried to Antioch.

[32] Simeon dies on a Friday. After many years, when the day of his death was at hand, it happened one day -- that is, on a Friday -- he bowed himself in prayer, as was his custom, and departed to the Lord. And all the people waited for a blessing from him, enduring three days from Friday until Sunday. And the Saint of God remained for three days just as he had bowed himself. Then I, terrified, ascended to him, and stood before him for no small space of time, and said to him: Rise, Lord, and bless us; for the people have been waiting three days and three nights for a blessing from you. And when he made no reply to me, I said again to him: Why do you sadden me? Or how have I offended? I beseech your Angel to forgive me. Or have you perhaps departed from us and rest in the Lord's peace? And perceiving that he did not speak, I resolved to tell no one, because I was afraid to touch him.

[33] And standing for about half an hour, I bent down, The dead body breathes forth a sweet fragrance. and placed my ear close to listen, and there was no breath, but only as it were the scent of many spices rising from his body. And so I understood that he had rested in the Lord. And greatly stunned, I wept most bitterly, and bending down, I kissed his eyes and embraced his beard, and grasping the hairs of his head, I said with groaning and wailing: To whom, Lord, do you leave me? Or where shall I seek your angelic teaching? What answer shall I give about you? Or who can look upon your column without you and not grieve? What shall I answer the sick, when they come and seek you here and do not find you? What shall I say, or what shall I speak? I, a lowly one, see you today; but tomorrow I look to the right and to the left and do not find you. And with what covering shall I drape your column? Alas for me! When some shall come from afar seeking you and not finding you, what shall I answer, or what shall I do, wretched that I am?

[34] And saying these things, from great sorrow I fell asleep, He appears to Antonius, his disciple. and immediately he appeared to me, saying: Do not be afraid. For I will not abandon this column, nor this place, nor this blessed mountain on which I was illumined. But go down, attend to the people, and report about me secretly at Antioch, lest there be a tumult among the people. I have rested, as the Lord willed. But do not cease to minister in this place, and the Lord will give you your reward in heaven. Rising from sleep in fear, I said: Lord, remember me in your holy rest. And lifting his garments, I fell at his feet, and kissed his footprints, and taking his hands, I placed them upon my eyes, saying: Bless me, I beseech you, Lord. And again I wept and said: What relics shall I take from you as a memorial? And as I said these things, his body was moved; but I was afraid to touch him.

[35] And so that no one should know, I descended quickly and sent a trusted brother to Antioch, to the Bishop. He came at once with three bishops, and with them Ardaburius, the Master of the Soldiers, with his men. He is carried to Antioch. And stretching curtains around the column, they fastened his garments; for they were fixed because of the wind. And taking him down from the column, they laid him before the altar beside the column. The birds gathered and flew above the column, crying as if mourning, Even the birds mourn him. so that all could see. And the lamentation of the people and of the beasts of burden resounded for seven miles. And indeed the mountains and fields and trees were saddened around those places.

[36] Simeon is escorted by Angels. A dark mist fell everywhere round about. But I watched an Angel coming to visit him. About the tenth hour, seven elders were speaking with the Angel, whose face was like lightning and whose garments were like snow. And I beheld his voice in fear and trembling for as long as I was able to look. Yet what the mystery was, I do not know. For that disciple also who announced his death to the Bishop said that at more secret hours he had frequently seen an Angel speaking with him, whose appearance was like lightning and whose garments were like snow.

[37] When St. Simeon was lying upon the bier, the Bishop of Antioch, wishing to touch some part of his beard as a relic for a blessing, the moment he stretched out his hand, it withered. The one wishing to take relics is punished. And many prayers and supplications were made to God on his behalf; and so his hand was restored. And lifting his body with the bier, they carried it to Antioch. All the people who lived in the surrounding region lamented, because such relics were being taken from them; and because the Bishop of Antioch had adjured that no one should touch his body.

[38] When they arrived at the fifth milestone from Antioch, in the village called Meroe, no one could move him. In that place there was an ancient memorial beside the road, and there was a certain man there, deaf and mute for eleven years, who suddenly came and fell prostrate before the bier and began to cry out, saying: A deaf and mute man is healed. Welcome, servant of God; for your coming has saved me; and if I deserve to live, I will serve you all the days of my life. And rising up, he grasped one of the mules bearing the bier, and immediately it moved from that place; and so the man was made well from that hour; and all gave glory to God. The sin of that man was as follows: He had loved another man's wife and, wishing to commit adultery with her, had been unable to do so; and she died and was placed in a tomb. And he went and violated her sepulcher, and immediately he was struck mute and deaf, and was bound in that place.

[39] Then all going out from the city of Antioch received the body of St. Simeon upon gold and silver, with psalms and hymns, canticles, torches, and palm branches, and carried it into the greater church of Cassian; from which, by a revelation of the Lord, they translated it to another church called Concordia of Penitence. An Angel appears at his funeral. And behold, a man appeared holding a golden rod in his hand, dressed in linen; and he stood there for as long as the sepulcher was closed with all diligence. And beyond that he appeared no more in those places, nor was he ever seen again.

[40] Many miracles also take place at his sepulcher, more than during his life. And the man who was healed served there until the day of his death. Many seek his relics. Many offered treasures to the Bishop of Antioch in faith, requesting relics from his body, but on account of his oath he gave them to no one.

[41] I, the humble and sinful Antonius, have set forth this account as briefly as I could. Blessed is he who has it written, and reads it in the Church and in the house of the Lord, and makes commemoration of him: he shall receive his reward from the Most High, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

a Neither does January 5 in the fourth year of Leo fall on a Friday, but on a Tuesday; nor does September 1, on which day the Greeks venerate him.

b MS St. Maximin: I adjure you by your Angel, forgive me.

c Rosweyde: A rite of veneration, by which they touched with a kiss the noblest members and parts of the body. St. Jerome in the Life of St. Paul the First Hermit, chapter 11: Having kissed his eyes and hands. Similarly below, from humility: And I kissed his footprints.

d MS Liege: a reward in the heavens.

e The MS of St. Maximin adds: on another day.

f Rosweyde: made of gold. This reading is not satisfactory and is absent from all the MSS I have used.

g MS Ripatorio: upon.

h This is expressed at greater length in the MS of Liege: Standing nearby, they signified by certain signs of barrenness and sterility that they were burdened by the death of the man of God. For the mountains together with the valleys, displaying no greenness of spring, shuddered with wintry dryness. And the trees, putting forth no abundance of flowers nor growing fat with a yield of fruit, were believed to have withered from that curse with which the Lord, when hungry, is read to have cursed the fig tree.

i Rosweyde: the seventh.

k St. Simeon had several disciples, among whom Sergius is mentioned in the Life of St. Daniel Stylites, December 11.

l Others: forty.

m Rosweyde: Although burdo is an ambiguous word, it is clear that here it is understood of an animal; because in the Greek it is μοῦλαι. Isidore, Book 12 of the Origins, chapter 1: Burdo, from a horse and a she-ass. Glossary: Burdo, ἡμίονος ἐξ ἵππου καὶ ὄνου θηλείας; similarly mulus, ἡμίονος ἐξ ἵππου θηλείας καὶ ὄνου. This is what Varro says in Book 2 of Rural Affairs, chapter 8: From a mare and an ass comes a mulus; conversely, from a horse and a she-ass comes a hinnus. Burdones are mentioned in Law 49, Digest, On Legacies, Book 3.

n MS Liege: Concordia and Penitentia. MS St. Omer: Poenitentialis. Rosweyde: Poenitentia.

o The MS of Liege adds: For he had sworn in the anguish of his withered hand that he would never disassemble the frame of his body, but preserve it intact in one place; although he believed that this man, even if not in body, was present everywhere through his merits; and thus in attestation of this oath, his dead hand, with the fingers stiffening upward, rose to health.

p Hence it is clear that this is an ancient Life written by Antonius, long since translated into Latin but amplified and circulated in the West.

ANOTHER LIFE OF ST. SIMEON STYLITES

BY SIMEON METAPHRASTES

TRANSLATED BY GUILIELMUS GRATIUS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.

Simeon Stylites, near Antioch in Syria (S.)

By Metaphrastes.

CHAPTER I.

The birth of St. Simeon, and the beginnings of his religious life in two monasteries.

[1] The fame and deeds of Simeon. Simeon, a man of the most celebrated fame and a great wonder of the inhabited world, is known to all who are subject to the Roman Empire: his name has flown even to the Scythians and Nomads. Persians and Indians, the Ethiopian nation, and whoever inhabits another part of the world -- some perceiving with their own eyes, others learning of his deeds by report -- have proclaimed him with praises. Since he was therefore so great and so celebrated, he indeed obtained many writers; yet no one has yet encompassed his virtues individually in writing, nor has anyone applied his mind to reviewing each one accurately. But those who in earlier times discussed his life in a brief compendium touched hastily upon certain matters belonging to the middle period of his life, and did not carry his celebrated deeds through to the end. For this reason our discourse about this man will be most useful: we shall begin from the beginning and follow through to the end. But I fear that the narrative may seem to posterity more like fables and bare of truth. For men are accustomed to measure past events by nature; and whenever something has exceeded the limits of nature, every account of it is deemed false by those unskilled in divine things. Since, however, this man did not yield to the laws of nature, nor indeed suffer the things of humanity, but showed in a mortal body the constancy of incorporeal beings; and since, especially, every land and the seas themselves are filled with those who were taught divine things by him, I shall begin my narrative from here.

[2] There is a certain village situated between Syria and Cilicia; the inhabitants call it Sisa: from it this wondrous Simeon came. His homeland. First he was taught by his parents to tend sheep, As a boy he tends sheep. so that in this he might be numbered among men of great virtues of old -- with Jacob the Patriarch, I mean, with Joseph the continent, with Moses the lawgiver, with David the King and Prophet, and also with Micah, and finally with the other most holy men of that order.

[3] When at some time, on account of the excessive quantity of snow falling from the sky, the sheep were forced to remain at home, he took advantage of the leisure and went with his parents to the holy Church: there, when he heard the words of the Gospel He is converted. which proclaim the mourning and weeping blessed, and declare the laughing unhappy, and likewise proclaim worthy of imitation all who are pure of heart, and whatever similar teachings are joined to these -- he asked one of those present what a person must do to attain each of these things; and the other, who was himself also a cultivator of virtue, as it appears, recommended to him the monastic life and showed him its sublime philosophy.

[4] Simeon, therefore, having received the seeds of the divine word and hidden them in the inmost recesses of his soul, fled to the nearest temple of the holy Martyrs. There, with face and knees fixed upon the ground, he prayed to God, who desires all men to be saved, to direct him to the right path of piety. While he devoted himself to this for some time, he gradually fell asleep and perceived the following vision. He seemed to himself to be digging foundations, and then to hear from one standing by that he should dig the trench still deeper. He is stirred to perfection by a vision. When he had already, as commanded, applied himself to the digging, he began to rest from the work. And behold, the one who had appeared again commands him to dig further and not to cease from the work. When he had ordered this to be done a third and fourth time, and at last, because of the excessive depth of the trench, he could dig no further, he declared that enough had been dug and commanded the building to be erected, and assured him that since the labor of digging was now over, the construction would henceforth not be difficult. The event corresponded to the prophecy. For the vision signified that what was afterward accomplished by him would exceed the limits of nature. For monastic life, after those remarkable labors which Simeon undertook at the beginning, succeeded according to his heart's desire.

[5] He becomes a monk. Thence, when he had risen, he turned aside to a nearby community of monks, where having stayed for two years, desirous of more perfect virtue, he withdrew to the village of Teleda; in which the care of monks was entrusted to the admirable man Heliodorus, The monastery of Heliodorus in the village of Teleda. who, of the sixty-five years he had lived, had spent all but three enclosed in his cell -- for he had spent three in infancy and childhood education; for from his third year of age he was consecrated to God by his parents and entered this admirable flock of monks. This man, after the example of the great Jacob, was simple, and had attained such a degree of meekness and piety that, surpassing the laws of asceticism, he exceeded all men in every kind of virtue and at last drew near to God himself.

[6] Simeon enters it: Our champion of the five contests, reaching this man, that fighter for piety, spent ten years in this spiritual contest; and though he had eighty fellow soldiers, he surpassed them all; while the others always took food after two days, he went a whole week without food; which the rest of the company of his fellows bore with great difficulty, He fasts the entire week. since they could not imitate Simeon, and called his spiritual exercise a kind of confusion and recklessness.

a Theodoretus calls it Sesan. In Greek here it is Σισάν.

b The Greek is: ἐπὶ τὸν πλησίον τῶν ἱερῶν μαρτύρων ἀποτρέχει ναόν -- he runs to the nearest temple of the holy Martyrs.

c The location of Teleda is described at length on January 23 in the Life of St. Eusebius. In the Life of St. Daniel Stylites, December 11, Telada is called Τελλαδάν.

d Theodoretus adds that Simeon did not enter the monastery of St. Eusebius, but another which had sprung from it, built by Eusebona and Abiton, upon whose death Heliodorus succeeded. Sozomenus appears to treat of this Heliodorus in Book 6, chapters 33 and 34, where he lists the celebrated monks of Coelesyria. Theodoretus writes that he himself had dealings with him and admired his simplicity and purity of soul.

e Theodoretus says that even the superiors bore this with difficulty.

CHAPTER II.

Wondrous penance and abstinence.

[7] But he did not stop at these things, nor did he rein in this eagerness, but offered a hidden contest to God, the Searcher of all hidden things. He girds his loins with a palm-fiber rope. You all know how rough are the ropes woven from palm, and how troublesome they are even when lightly touched by the hands. With such a rope Simeon girded his loins, not merely on the outside, but pressing it so close to his skin as if to make it grow into him, and binding it so tightly that the whole area of his body oozed with pus on every side. He had passed ten days or more in this manner, when behold, as the ulcer grew worse, the pus flowing together with blood proclaimed the wound hidden within. Then one of the onlookers asked what the cause of so much blood was. When Simeon said there was nothing at all painful beneath, he did not persuade them, since the blood flowing in the sight of all contradicted his assertion, and, rising above the man's every protest and patience, seemed as it were to triumph over the secret. And so, when one of his fellow ascetics forced his hand violently into his side, he finally discovered the cause and reported the whole matter to the Superior; who, having severely rebuked him and censured the great cruelty of the act with reproaches, at last freed him from the bond, which he suffered patiently to be removed; but that any remedy be applied to the ulcer, he stubbornly resisted.

[8] Wherefore, when his ascetic companions saw Simeon doing these and other similar things, and on the one hand recognized that they could not compete even with the least of his virtues, and on the other hand, unable to bear being surpassed, they ordered him to leave the village, lest perhaps, as they said, he become a cause of harm to the weaker members. He dwells in a dry cistern. Simeon, making for the solitude of the mountain, found a certain cistern without water and not very deep, into which he let himself down, applying himself to his customary prayers and meditations. After five days, those who had been the cause of his dismissal began to repent of what they had done; wherefore they selected two from the whole number and sent them to search for Simeon, with orders to bring him back to the common monastery if they found him anywhere. He is brought back to the monastery. Those men, wandering about the mountain in every direction, fell in with shepherds, and when they had asked them about Simeon, describing the man's appearance and dress, the shepherds pointed out to them the nearby cistern into which he had thrown himself. Hastening to the place, they called Simeon by name, and having lowered a rope, drew him out of the well, not without great labor; for ascent is usually more difficult than descent.

[9] Thence they brought him back again to the community of brothers; where Simeon, having stayed a short time, withdrew to the village of Telanissus Three years enclosed in a small dwelling. (it is situated at the foot of the mountain), where, having found a small dwelling, he enclosed himself in it for three years. Here he constantly strove to accumulate ever greater riches of virtue, entering upon a glorious contest with Moses and Elijah, enduring forty whole days without food.

[10] Blasus was a man of religious devotion toward God, and very attentive to the advancement and benefit of the brothers; moreover, being at that time the Superior of the priests dwelling in the villages, he made the rounds of the places entrusted to him, ever more strengthening the monks in the spiritual life, exhorting them to greater endurance in prayer and increase of fasting. It happened that at some time he also visited Simeon in the course of his office; Simeon received so great a man as a counselor of his way of life and shared with him the secrets of his mind. When Blasus learned of so arduous and violent a manner of living, he earnestly warned Simeon and urged him not to consider a violent death as a form of virtue; but rather to regard such a course as extreme folly, as separation from God, and as the most certain death of the soul. He spends forty days without food or drink. Simeon replied to this: Place ten loaves beside me, together with a vessel of water, so that when I see my body in need of nourishment, I may immediately take some and justly refresh it. Simeon's proposal is approved: the loaves with water are placed beside him, the doors of the little dwelling are closed, and clay is spread around in place of a lock, so that the place remains inaccessible to all comers. When at last forty days had passed, that admirable Blasus stood before the doors, coming to visit Simeon again, and having removed the clay seal, he entered the dwelling and found the number of loaves not diminished in the slightest part, and the skin still full of water; in addition, he saw his champion prostrate on the ground, who declared by the sole sign of breathing that he was not dead; for he could neither move nor speak in any way, his vital spirits having been nearly extinguished by the long fast. Then he receives the Eucharist. Wherefore the divine Blasus, having moistened and washed Simeon's mouth with a sponge dipped in water, offered him the symbols of the sacred mysteries.

[11] Having received these, he began to be strengthened; then, gradually rising from the ground, he refreshed his body with light nourishment, namely wild lettuce and endive. He observes this abstinence for his entire life. And so Blasus ceased to censure him further, since he was nearly consumed by fasting, and rather marveled at the man's temperance, and returned to his own flock, intending to recount that great miracle to his brothers (he had more than two hundred). Simeon indeed from that time onward observed the same fast for the whole of his life, passing a full thirty-nine days without any food; the fortieth day, the end of the present abstinence, gave the beginning to the next, and as it were lifted up by hand his exhausted body, which was no longer equal to perpetual standing but was now lying down. For twenty days he stands singing psalms, then sits, and at last lies down. When he began the fast anew, he took up his customary station, singing celestial hymns and dedicating them to God while standing upright. When he had reached the middle of the forty days, excessive weariness compelled him to sit even against his will, his bodily faculties having been gradually consumed by fasting. After a further cycle of days had elapsed, his vital functions ceased, and then his body was prostrated to the ground; yet even in this condition he did not abstain from sacred hymns; indeed the relaxation of his labors, even his nourishment, and finally his sleep, were the divine words. Such was the manner of life of Simeon, already worthy of heaven, though still dwelling upon earth.

[12] After the column held him raised on high, he seemed to have forgotten all things in the nature of things; he refused every seat and opportunity to lie down. Afterward he stands for forty days, tied to a beam. In addition, he set up an upright beam upon the column and bound himself to it so firmly that he could neither sit nor incline himself even if he wished; by this means he completed that forty-day course of fasting. Afterward, even unbound, he stands perpetually. Later, having obtained more abundant grace from heaven, he did not even need this support; but for a full forty days, freed from bonds, without a roof, standing upright, not bending, without food, indeed almost without flesh, he stood as a kind of living and animate column.

a Theodoretus says he received these facts from the one who at the time of writing presided over the monastery.

b These things are narrated quite differently in the other two Lives.

c Theodoretus says they were the Superiors of that training school.

d Theodoretus calls it Telanessus and adds that the village was situated at the foot of the summit of the mountain upon which he later stood on high. Haraeus calls it the town of Telasinum.

e Theodoretus calls him Bassus.

f Theodoretus here expounds the austere manner of their life.

g Ribadeneira says that Simeon did this once a year for many years, but later was compelled by bodily weakness to moderate this austerity. He cites Theodoretus; but Theodoretus does not say this. His words are: Time and habit greatly lessened the labor.

CHAPTER III.

The great concourse of peoples to him.

[13] But our narrative has anticipated the order of events, as things which approach the fragrance of flowers draw all things to themselves. Let our account therefore adhere to what came first and proceed accordingly. After he had endured for three years in the aforementioned small dwelling, he ascended that celebrated summit of the mountain, where, surrounded on all sides by a wall, he had an open-air dwelling, He chains himself to a rock. in which he struggled with cold and heat. In addition, he procured an iron chain twenty cubits long, one end of which he fastened to an immense rock, and the other he fitted by a ring to his own foot, so that even if he wished he could not cross the established limits. But he remained perpetually within, attending to heaven alone; and he was so fixed and fastened in the contemplation of it that he seemed already in mind to dwell there; yet he was borne by a still greater and more fervent desire toward the Creator of heavenly things. Then Meletius, a man in whom religion had fixed its seat, who held the governance of the Patriarchal throne of Antioch, roused by the spectacle of the man, since his fame was now running far and wide, came and saw him dwelling in the open air; He removes the chain, at the disapproval of Meletius. and while he regarded other things with admiration, he by no means approved of the iron chain, declaring it superfluous, since the mind sufficed to impose rational bonds upon the body. The admirable Simeon obeyed without delay, and having ordered a smith to be summoned, he commanded his foot to be freed from the iron bond; yet once freed, he did not even so exceed the limits of the chain: for the love of Christ held him bound more tightly than any iron chain.

[14] Moreover, on that part of his shin which was encircled by the iron, a sheepskin had been placed beneath, which occupied the same space as the iron on his shin, lest it might strike against the bare flesh and grievously wound it. After, therefore, the iron chain was removed and the skin placed beneath was taken away, Twenty bedbugs on his shin. more than twenty bedbugs were found lurking on his shin and feeding upon his flesh. And let no one rightly reproach me here for narrating such things, when other great and supernatural deeds remain to be commemorated. For I shall not pass over even these most trifling details; nor, because bedbugs are tiny creatures, do they therefore create only small pains in the human body by their bites, or cause less annoyance. Those who have experienced it know this well. The chain alone would have sufficed as a proof of greater endurance; but when, with bedbugs added besides, he persisted in this affliction for so long a time -- especially when it would have been easy to kill them by hand and so free himself from the pains, yet he chose instead to continue to nourish them and to fatten them with his own flesh -- what magnitude of endurance, however illustrious, does this not equal?

[15] Since the fame of Simeon was now spreading far and wide throughout I know not what regions of the world, Great crowds flock to him. we know that not only the neighbors flowed together to him, but also those at a distance of many days, even months of travel, each seeking a cure for whatever affliction tormented him. Nor did they return the same as when they came; but whereas they arrived sad and sorrowful, they departed joyful and glad, each having found the remedy for his ailments; and, having laid aside all distress and calamity, they gave thanks to God and to Simeon with glad voice and tongue. Every road, therefore, that led to this physician resembled a marketplace; and the place where the streaming multitude gathered presented the appearance of a city -- some pitifully lamenting their illness, others celebrating the health they had obtained. Nor did this happen only once, but it frequently occurred that one who saw the crowd of people from a distance would conjecture it to be a city; but upon approaching more closely, it appeared to be not just a city but, judged by the multitude of distinct groups, a congregation of many cities.

[16] What purpose is there now in enumerating the Syrians or Cilicians, or the flocks of Phoenicians, or all to whom the scepter of the Romans is known? From every part of the world. Even the nation of the Ishmaelites and of the Arabs, of the Persians too, and of the Armenians, and whatever people inhabits Iberia, flowed together to him. Indeed even the Homerites, and those more remote still, swelled the number of this multilingual multitude. From the West came not a few: Britons, Spaniards, and Gauls, and whoever inhabited the regions in between.

[17] His image displayed for protection. One can scarcely express in words how greatly the virtue of this man shone in Italy; for Rome itself so marveled at this admirable man, and showed him so much honor and veneration, that in many columns, porticoes, enclosures of chambers, and indeed in nearly every place, his image was engraved, as if thereby an infinite treasure of blessings was to be obtained.

[18] He reconciles those at variance by his mere appearance. Such grace and beauty shone in the countenance of Simeon that if anyone who was hostile and antagonistic to another cast his eyes upon him, the very sight of him immediately uprooted from his soul all hatred and enmity, and bound their hearts to one another with the bond of friendship, harmony, and goodwill. This is made clear by the following. Various nations from among those who flowed together to him, which previously delighted in one another's blood, after both parties came into the sight of the Saint, first dissolved their enmities and then struck a treaty among themselves, converting their ancient quarrels into a noble rivalry, as each strove with the greatest zeal to outstrip the others and to be the first to obtain the man's blessing. To touch the holy man's feet with their lips or hands seemed a great thing. Many who touched only the skin The touch of his garment, an ample blessing. with which he was clothed (for this was his only garment) considered that they had obtained every blessing whatsoever. But to handle his hand or kiss it with their lips -- that belonged to those to whom familiarity contracted through virtue granted a greater freedom than to others.

a Theodoretus: the right foot.

b Who this Meletius was, we inquired in the Preface, §3. Haraeus, Grasius, Metaphrastes, and others make him Bishop of Antioch.

c Greek: τὸν ἀρχιερατικὸν θρόνον τοῦ Ἀντιόχου διέπων.

d Villegas incorrectly translates this as mosquitos or gnats. He meant to write chinches bedbugs.

CHAPTER IV.

Standing upon a column. Approved by the Fathers.

[19] He begins to stand on a column. Since those who came exceeded all number, partly because he wished to avoid honor, partly because he found the crowding burdensome, and partly because he longed to be, as far as he could, closer to heaven not only in mind and thought but also in his very body, he devised that station upon a column. At first the column was erected to six cubits, then to twelve, afterward extended to twenty-two, and finally the total height was fixed at thirty-six cubits.

[20] If this seems to some a novelty and nearly incredible, it is not surprising; for since many great things, of which no prior example existed, were first undertaken by this champion, surely that life upon a column is not to be despised simply because it lacks a precedent, but rather, because it was set forth without any precedent as a pattern for others, it is to be praised. Especially since what follows will bear witness that it was done not without mature deliberation and divine inspiration. For the Ishmaelites, who had grown to many myriads He converts the Ishmaelites and others. and were wrapped in the darkness of impiety, were rescued by this new manner of living upon a column, and the light of the divine word, illuminating their minds, made sons of light and of day those who had formerly been sons of night and darkness. Finally, having received laws from that divine mouth, they promptly renounced the orgies of Venus (for this demon was their ancestral goddess). Many of the Iberians, as has been said, and of the Persians and Armenians, holding their inherited error in contempt, were themselves also joined to the Gospel teaching.

[21] Therefore, when Simeon had devised this new manner of living upon a column, and his fame was spread abroad most swiftly in every direction (for fame is accustomed in matters so novel to travel on swifter wings, as it were), He is tested by an experiment of humble obedience. the Fathers who by their spiritual exercises and labors in the desert were making a kind of heavenly city, astonished by this so unusual and extraordinary way of life, sent certain men to this sublime person and instructed them to reproach him for such strange innovations, and to teach him to enter upon the customary path trodden by all the Saints, and not to despise the way which so great a chorus of the Blessed had trod and by which they reached heaven and entered those eternal tabernacles. Then, fearing lest this practice of his might truly be pleasing to God and wishing to put his conduct to the test, they gave this command to those whom they sent to him: that if they saw the man willing to descend from on high, having abandoned his own will, they should immediately oppose him and bid him adhere to his first purpose, and not permit him to neglect his goal. For by this reasoning, judging that such a way of life could proceed from none other than God, there would be no further cause for doubt about the future; for where there is a good beginning, it is clear that the end will be the same. But on the other hand, if he were indignant and did not admit the admonition even in the slightest, but simply and without reason followed the impulse of his own will, it would be clear that he was far from the virtue of humility, and that therefore such thoughts must be judged as having been suggested to him by the Evil One alone. Accordingly, they commanded that if matters stood thus, they should immediately tear him away and compel him, even against his will, to come down from the column.

[22] When the mandate had been thus formulated, Commanded to descend from the column, he obeys. and the envoys arrived before Simeon, the parent of all obedience and humility, they, from the very sight of him, forgot in their reverence to address him, and did not dare to look upon him; yet, on account of the mandate of the Fathers who had sent them (for this was the perfection of their ministry), they set forth to him everything entrusted to them by the Fathers. He, however, with a gentle spirit, truly meek and humble of heart himself, bearing the reproof, did not contradict, was not indignant, did not break out into insults -- indeed he spoke neither little nor much; but with a most cheerful countenance and downcast eyes, accepting the rebuke, he first devoutly gave thanks to God, and then, having professed himself greatly indebted to the Fathers themselves for such care and solicitude, he prepared without any hesitation to descend from the column. They, however, immediately forbade it, He is confirmed in his purpose. revealing the mind of the Fathers, by whose authority they declared his station upon the column to be permanently established and approved. Finally, praying for the best possible end and a firm rest from his continual labors for Simeon, they departed. But his sublimity of humility and greatness of obedience may be seen in many other instances as well.

a Theodoretus treats this more fully, as does Cedrenus at the twenty-fifth year of Theodosius the Younger.

b The same is clear from Evagrius, Book 6, chapter 21, where he reports that the golden statue of Venus was melted down by Naaman, the leader of the Saracens, and the proceeds distributed to the poor.

c This is absent from Theodoretus. It is reported by Evagrius, Book 1, chapter 13, and Nicephorus, Book 14, chapter 51. Suidas, under the word Simeon, says that this delegation was sent to the holy man by Egyptian monks.

CHAPTER V.

Intent on divine things, he denies even his mother the sight of himself: he prays over her when she has died.

[23] But let our discourse now resume the order which a digression has interrupted. When the Ishmaelites, divided into tribes, came to Simeon as their guide to salvation, He asks Theodoretus to baptize the people. and detested their ancestral impiety, and at last partook of holy Baptism, one group handing on to another the rites of the sacraments, Theodoretus, the Bishop of the Church of Cyrrhus, was also sometimes present. The man of God therefore presented to him no small multitude of people and urged him to recite the customary prayers over them and to baptize them. As the Bishop undertook to comply with his commands, each of them strove to be the first to wash away the filth of their sins and to cleanse the defilement of impiety; each one, eager to be the first to receive grace, created a kind of dispute out of a sacred matter: so rudely did they rush toward him, some dragging him this way, others pulling him back in turn. Those who stood at a distance ran into others and stretched out their hands. Some seized his beard, others his garment: they nearly tore the man apart, had not the admirable Simeon raised his voice from on high; for thus he restrained their disorderly surges, so that all were immediately changed and approached to receive grace with all modesty and were immersed in the divine bath. Thus the torch of his tongue could both terrify and illuminate those he wished; for he performed both out of care for fraternal salvation. He instituted continual meditations on divine precepts. He meditates constantly on divine things. But neither did his industry rest content with the observance of these: for unless he had added something more to them, he would have considered it no ordinary loss -- so unrelenting was his zeal and so indefatigable his spirit in all these things.

[24] He had left his father, as was previously related, and also his mother, clinging to Him alone whom he loved and devoting himself entirely to His love, which is the chief point of the Lord's commandment. But he also added this further thing to the rest from his own initiative. Twenty-seven years had already passed since this man, who was higher than the world, had renounced the laws of nature and all worldly things; He does not admit his mother to his sight. when behold, his mother, bearing within her the inborn fire of maternal affection and unable otherwise to extinguish the flame, went to her son, who was still living in the flesh without the flesh (for reason compels me to speak of him thus), desiring to behold her son and enjoy his conversation, of which she had been deprived for so long. He, however, upon learning of his mother's arrival -- see how he both paid honor to his mother and fulfilled the commandment -- did not admit her to his presence, but ordered the following message to be brought to her: If it pleases you, O mother, we shall reserve our mutual sight for another age; and if our manner of life has been pleasing to God, after we have departed from here, we shall see each other in Christ far more intimately and clearly. This he ordered to be reported to her. But since his mother, on account of the flame of love burning her soul within, had not understood what had been said, and still blazed with desire to see her son, he said again through a messenger: I myself, O mother, would prefer to admit what is fitting for both of us, and not to press thus for a mutual meeting. But since you, as I see, count everything else secondary to your desires, I must first rest. And I shall see you shortly; for so it has seemed good to God. The mother, having accepted the promise with the utmost pleasure and desire, raised her spirits, and so rejoiced and was cheered by the hope of what was to come, that she seemed almost to see her son already present before her, and to embrace and kiss him, and already to hear his voice. She dies a pious death. The matter had this outcome. She shortly afterward ended her life and surrendered her soul to God -- she who had been blessed and happy in life was far more blessed at the end, because she had been called the mother of such a son and had left behind her one adorned with such great virtues.

[25] The divine Simeon ordered her body to be brought within the enclosure (for so the area around the column was called); for a wall had been built around the column, so that it was not lawful for women to enter. Simeon prays for her. After his mother had been brought in, the son saw her, just as he had previously promised; and after he had performed the customary rites and poured forth prayers for her, he committed her to burial beside the column. Thus he imparted due honor to his mother and not only kept the Lord's commandment but also continued to augment it by his own advancement.

a Cyrrhus is listed by Aubertus Miraeus among the autocephalous metropolitan sees subject to the Patriarch of Antioch. It is distant two days' journey from Antioch, as Theodoretus himself relates in chapter 2. It is not the place that Ptolemy calls Cyropolis, for Cyropolis is in Media on the Caspian Sea; but Cyrrhus is in Syria, Κύῤῥος according to Stephanus, whence Κυῤῥέσης, as he says, and the region itself Κυῤῥεστική. Ptolemy also has Κύῤῥος, but I doubt whether correctly. For Procopius, Book 2 of the Buildings of Justinian, calls it Κῦρος and states that it was built by Jews and named after King Cyrus.

b In Theodoretus there is no mention of Baptism, but only of the priestly blessing.

c This story about his mother is absent from Theodoretus.

CHAPTER VI.

Various benefits bestowed upon the Ishmaelites.

[26] Thenceforth again, like a most brilliant torch, he shone with every kind of outstanding virtue; by which he guided those lying in the thickest darkness of night and, as it were, in the storms of the sea -- that is, of impiety -- to the true harbor of religion; and many could be seen enjoying the calm of a more serene breeze through the aid of Simeon. There were at one time two tribes together of that Ishmaelite nation which I mentioned a little earlier; The Ishmaelites contend over who should first receive his blessing. both suppliantly sought a blessing from his mouth, so as to carry it as a most ample gift to their chieftain; but concerning the gift itself a dispute suddenly arose, and no small sedition broke out among them: one party thought the blessing should first be brought to their tribune, the other preferred their own prefect and strove to seize the blessing first. And so, with the tribes in conflict among themselves, the matter would have erupted into barbaric cruelty, had not Simeon, a man most loving of peace and concord, quelled the tumult with a stern threat, and, having imparted an equal prayer and blessing, dismissed them in peace. Then indeed one could have seen those who had previously been faithless, and who had brandished their tongues like spears against piety, now choosing to do and suffer anything for the blessing of the holy man. Nor would they have raged so against one another, had they not firmly believed that the blessing of this divine man possessed the greatest power.

[27] Now let another Prefect come forward, himself also a prince of the Saracens. He approached and besought that sacred head not to be unwilling to help a man whose limbs were paralyzed; he said that this man had fallen ill near Callinicum (this was the greatest fortress), and that the illness was still in its vigor and at its very beginning; and that his disease was most grievous, both because he was unaccustomed to lying down and because he wished to overcome those violent pains of suffering. This he begged; and at the same time he ordered the man with broken limbs to be brought in, and the pitiable spectacle to be presented to the admirable Simeon, in the hope that the very sight of the calamity might move him to mercy. He heals a paralytic. The man, brought forward into the middle, wept over the evil that had come upon him, and provoked the holy man to compassion, and finally begged to be freed from his affliction. Simeon, quick to pity and abundant in compassion, concerned first for the cure of the soul rather than of the body, ordered the sick man to abjure the impiety of his parents; for he knew that the man still took pleasure in it. When he willingly obeyed and fulfilled the command, then Simeon, truly the great wonder of the world, asked him whether he believed in the Father, and in his only-begotten Son, and in the Holy Spirit. When the other openly professed his belief, he said: Believing in these Persons, arise; and immediately the word -- O unspeakable grace of Christ toward this man! -- became for the infirm man a cure of his pains. He, moreover, imitating his Lord in this as well, commanded the man to carry his own bed upon his shoulders, which also exhorted those present to greater thanksgiving.

[28] And this is by no means to be passed over in silence. A certain man of distinction among the Ishmaelites who had already given their names to Christ, Food turns to stone for one who violated his vow. had made a vow with the venerable Simeon as witness, that he would never taste anything from an animal that had had life, until his death. In the course of time, for some reason -- whether forgetting his vow or enticed by the bait of desire -- he killed a bird; and as he prepared to eat it (O wondrous thing!), it was instantly changed into the nature of stone; so that even though he very much wished to taste it, the stone repelled his appetite. The barbarian, stupefied by this event, went without delay to the master of penance, opened his sin and fault with the utmost contrition of heart, and asked by what means he might render favorable to himself the Deity whose pledged faith he had broken; nor was his petition disappointed. For the miracle that occurred regarding the bird, although not immediately, yet in the course of time had the testimony of many eyes: for the breast, which retained its original shape, was afterward seen by many to consist of bone and stone -- the bone indicating its original nature, while the stony substance applied over it attested the transformation of the flesh.

[29] Another Prefect of a Saracen tribe, enrolled in the flock of the faithful, himself also came to the great Simeon. Having at last obtained what he had come for, he sat down beside the column, gathering the sweetest flowers of that sacred tongue, Worms spring from Simeon's ulcerated shin. and enjoying his discourse for as long as he was permitted. Meanwhile, one of the worms springing from the holy shin (for from that constant and unrelenting standing, since the foot contracted an ulcer, the shin had become a kind of habitation of worms) rolled off the column and fell before the Prefect's feet. He immediately picked it up with eager hands and placed it respectfully in his bosom, and applied it to his eyes, mouth, ears, and other members, A Saracen Prefect picks one up. as a remedy for all diseases; and -- O excess of love! -- he believed that what he honored was not a worm, but something divine, and that he was beholding it with his eyes and carrying it about with him; for faith surpassed sight, and desire concealed the form. When the great Simeon saw this from above, he rebuked the Prefect for the honor paid to the worm, and clearly informed him both that it had fallen from his own body and that it was merely a little worm to which he was paying honor; and that it was not fitting that what was born of corruption and putrefaction should be handled or touched with any part of the body. It is changed into a gem. The Prefect, opening his hand to examine what kind of worm it was, found it changed -- O miracle! -- into a gem conspicuous for its splendor and beauty; and so he departed, rejoicing both in the gift of faith and enriched by the miracle of the gem.

a Theodoretus says he was present himself and tried to quell the tumult with words.

b Theodoretus adds that Simeon called them dogs.

c Theodoretus writes this somewhat differently: He commanded the man to carry the Prefect of the tribe on his own shoulders all the way to the very tent (he had an enormous body), and the man immediately took him up and departed.

d Otherwise, and not correctly in my opinion, the translator of Theodoretus says that a part of the bird, consisting of bone and stone, was seen in its breast.

e This miracle is absent from Theodoretus.

CHAPTER VII.

Offspring obtained for a barren woman: healed.

[30] A certain woman of no ignoble birth, married to a prince of the Saracens, He obtains offspring for the barren Queen of the Saracens. was barren; she had this further increase to her calamity, that her husband frequently reproached her for her childlessness. Wherefore, desirous of children, she went to the great Simeon, where, standing at the vestibule of the enclosure (for all access was barred to women), she bewailed her lot, lamented her affliction, brought forth her husband's reproaches, prayed, and not seldom also supplicated through those who were permitted to enter; she besought and begged for a release from her barrenness, adding that she would gladly pour out her very life if only she might see offspring from herself. The most divine Simeon here by no means forgot his customary compassion; rather, moved by the woman's fervent tears, he removed the deprivation of childbearing by his prayers, and exhorting her to go home, added that God, who in the beginning fashioned human nature, would change her barrenness into fruitfulness for the better. Then she -- for it was in no way fitting to doubt what that divine mouth, moved as if by God, had pronounced -- was greatly encouraged and, having returned home, conceived without delay and afterward became the mother of a little daughter, whose birthday was celebrated by the parents with great pomp. The Saracens celebrate the birthdays of their children. But the happiness was cut short in a brief space of time, and the festive joy was succeeded by bitter sorrow, and the relief from calamity was turned into a more grievous mourning; so much so that the parents counted it a misfortune that they had ever given birth, and greatly preferred their former childlessness. The little girl was now three years old; already the first babbling and the childish walking, which are customarily the most delightful things for parents, were being awaited; but she remained fixed to her bed, entirely speechless and immovable, for she had feet as if paralyzed and a tongue that was bound. To her parents she seemed a kind of monster, and such an heir of the family was not only unworthy of the splendor of her ancestors, but would also bring disgrace upon their glory and the utmost shame upon all their relatives. When the parents, indulging their grief beyond measure, accomplished nothing at all, they again took refuge in the skilled and industrious healer of incurable conditions, and they repaid him thanks indeed for his benefits, but they also asked and vehemently besought him not to allow the offspring divinely obtained by him to remain in this state any longer, so that the gift might seem to them more of a reproach and disgrace, whence their life might produce more grief and sorrow than joy and gladness; but that he might deign to remove the paralysis of her limbs and restore their child whole and perfect. These things they said with tears, and they persevered, waiting for mercy. Simeon, as a treasury of compassion, soothed their affliction with words for a time, and did not allow them to be tormented in spirit for long. The seventh day was now passing since their perseverance had seemed to be in vain; utterly despairing of their daughter's health, with minds full of sorrow and unpleasant faces, they returned home, carrying their daughter with them, reproaching themselves for their untimely counsels in having wished to be called parents from the beginning. St. Simeon obtains voice and strength for the mute and disabled girl. But after they had covered so great a distance that they could no longer see the column, the girl turned toward the direction in which the column stood, and suddenly the bond of her tongue was loosed, and she cried out: Praise and glory to you, holy Simeon! Then, having gained the movement and strength of her feet, she walked straight home, delightfully frolicking along the way before her parents. They, stupefied by the unexpected miracle, could scarcely believe their own eyes, but feared, because of the greatness of their desire, that their daughter might not be truly healed, and thought it was some kind of optical illusion. Then, after the matter was diligently ascertained through careful investigation, when they found their daughter completely healed, they began to praise God for the benefits bestowed and to celebrate Simeon, his servant; and the joy over their daughter's birthday was far surpassed by the celebration established for her healing. At last they declared themselves blessed in the birth of a daughter; and with joy and festivity the whole household received them with rejoicing.

a This is absent from Theodoretus, who relates another story that also appears a little below here, about a son obtained for the Queen of the Ishmaelites.

CHAPTER VIII.

A woman, not yet having entered his enclosure, is recognized and blessed.

[31] But one deed of Simeon had almost escaped me. A woman in male dress comes to see Simeon. A divine desire had seized a woman to behold the holy man with her own eyes and to enjoy his grace and blessing; but the enclosure placed in the way, barring all access to women, posed an obstacle to this desire. The pious matron, seized with this fire of love, turned over in her mind all the ways and means she could think of. Meanwhile, certain soldiers set out on a journey to visit Simeon; the woman, assuming a similar dress, conformed herself in every way to their appearance. Seeing everything was safe, she mounted a horse and quickly completed the journey riding alongside them. When they arrived at the enclosure, dismounting from their horses, the soldiers entrusted them to the woman as to one of their comrades, since it was not yet apparent that she was a woman. She willingly took charge of the deposit entrusted to her, wishing to obtain an equal favor from them; for she was bargaining with them on these terms, that she might in turn entrust her own horse to their keeping after they had returned from their visit to Simeon. This was her sole care; to this she directed all her thoughts -- that she might obtain the sight of the holy man and enjoy his blessing. But it did not at all fall out that she should obtain her wishes; for after the soldiers had come to Simeon and were now fulfilled in their desire, the divine Simeon said to them: One of you indeed has been left behind; when you reach him, announce to him in these words: The prayer of your mind has reached the ears of the Lord; already Without entering, she obtains a blessing from heaven. the Lord God, who searches the inmost desires and thoughts of the heart, has bestowed his blessing upon you; having obtained his blessing and the sum of your desires, it will not be necessary for you to come here. When these things had been said by the admirable Simeon, the soldiers, having left the enclosure, were no less amazed at the holy man's words than they marveled at the virtue of the comrade left outside (for they still called that person a soldier, not yet suspecting her to be a woman); for they believed that one proclaimed by so great and blessed a mouth could only be adorned with outstanding ornaments of virtue. Going out therefore, they immediately delivered the message with which they had been charged; then they wearied the blessed matron with various questions, asking who she was and whence she was adorned with such great merits of virtue. For in no way, they added, would that sweet and honeyed mouth, that blessed tongue of Simeon, have made such honorable mention of you, unless some hidden treasure of virtue were concealed within you. When asked, she reveals to the soldiers that she is a woman. Then she, recognizing that nothing of her affairs was hidden from the holy man, disclosed to those men the secrets of her heart, even against her will, saying in these words: Brothers, a great desire to behold the holy man face to face and to see with my own eyes the gifts and graces of the Spirit that are in him has long possessed me. But since women are by no means permitted to enter the enclosure that stands in the way, I judged it fair to conceal my sex (for I am a woman) and to obtain a view of him by artifice. But since I cannot escape the notice of one who is the knower even of hidden things, I willingly depart from here and will not resist this command, for I have already obtained the blessing; and not because I succeeded in hiding, but because I was discovered, have I obtained the grace I desired. When these things had been said by that good woman, the soldiers admired the man all the more, and each returned to his own territory.

a A different outcome of a similar plan, but one undertaken with some (as it appears) rashness and forwardness, is related by St. Gregory of Tours, On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter 26, where, speaking of St. Simeon, he writes thus: After the Saint, burning with holiness, mounted the loftier column, he permitted himself to be seen not only by no strange woman, but not even by his own mother. And even now the place itself is defended from the approach of this sex. For they say that a certain woman put on a man's garment and wished to enter the basilica of the column. The wretch thought that by a change of clothing she could escape the notice of the Most High, not knowing the Apostle's words: God is not mocked. And although she came to the temple and raised her foot to cross the sacred threshold, yet she immediately fell backward and died; and it was sufficient warning to the people that no woman should presume to do this further, when they saw vengeance most terribly inflicted upon this one. Ado of Vienne in the Martyrology, Notker, and certain MSS under Bede's name also report the same thing.

CHAPTER IX.

The conversion and pious death of the robber Antiochus.

[32] Antiochus Agonatus, chief of robbers. And such indeed was that miracle. But who could pass over what is next to be told? A robber, by far the cruelest and most bloodthirsty of all brigands, named Antiochus, surnamed Agonatus, commanded a band of cutthroats, and ruled his subordinates no less by counsel than by bodily strength and boldness of spirit, and by remarkable recklessness in facing dangers. For he was so endowed with bodily strength and swiftness of foot, and trusted so much in these, that he did not hesitate to invade and plunder the most populous villages and even the very suburbs of the city of Antioch. Whenever he had to ride, he mounted mares for greater speed. After the fame of this man, who gave himself to a predatory life without anyone being able to prevent him, had spread widely, many laid traps for him; and especially those to whom the duty of punishing criminals had been entrusted strove with all their might to apprehend Antiochus. When he was once staying at an inn He alone breaks through a cohort. and drinking there, a cohort of one hundred and fifty soldiers, deeming this a suitable time to capture him, surrounded the building on every side. But when he sensed the trap, neither the weight in his stomach nor the drowsiness from wine caused him to abate in the least his predatory boldness; burning with rage he leapt up, threw the bundle of his clothing onto his mare with all possible haste, drew his sword, and brandishing it ceaselessly in the air like a madman and a lunatic, gave no one leave to approach him; and so, altogether terrifying, he left the inn. The mare, too, was of no small help to him in striking terror; for she sprang at those who came near with her forelegs and bit with her teeth, and was entirely sufficient to stun those who approached and to strike great fear into them. Having thus thrown the multitude of soldiers into confusion with all these means, and having besides the reputation of his deeds opening the way before him as it were, and greatly assisting him, and striking fear into many who had not yet seen him, he escaped the ultimate danger. Mounting his beast, like another robber, he fled to Simeon, who was fixed upon his column; for he knew He takes refuge with Simeon. that Simeon was a disciple of Him who for the salvation of the human race was affixed to the cross. And then indeed the robber, utterly broken with grief, cried out piteously from a distance: Save a perishing soul, O Saint of God; save, I say, this soul. He displays great signs of a contrite spirit. Alas! What refuge shall I have? Where shall I find one to ward off every evil? All hope of salvation is gone; nor is there any time left for me to seek a cure further. I deserve a thousand deaths for the consciousness of my crimes; nor do I shrink from them, even if it were possible to die many times. For what is there fearful about a death inflicted by the sword? How slight a punishment it is to be deprived merely of the present light once, for one who has taken the lives of many and daily pollutes himself with the blood of his fellows! But that inextinguishable fire and perpetual torment strikes fear in me and disturbs me so greatly as almost to bring on madness. At the thought of it I shudder entirely, for it pierces my inmost heart; for my hands still drip with fraternal blood, and the recent slaughter of my associates still haunts my mind. What hope of consolation, then, is left for me? What way of salvation? Bring help, servant of God, to one destitute of all counsel; stretch out your hand to a soul brought to the extreme peril of destruction.

[33] As he lamented these and similar things before the holy man, Simeon rouses him to hope. he powerfully moved him to compassion for his calamities; for even before he began to speak, Simeon beheld the repentance of his inmost heart. Feeling compassion therefore for the robber, he began to restore his spirit with great kindness of words and bade him hope well. While these things were taking place, the soldiers, seeing him no longer stretch his hands aloft in the manner of robbers but in the manner of suppliants, most cruelly demanded him for punishment -- to such a degree that they dared, in the presence of that sacred personage, to say with incredible audacity that it was not fitting, and was beyond human judgment, to help a man who had killed so many with his own hand. But that calm and gentle mouth, making little of their long complaints, spoke thus: He defends him against the soldiers. He who always desires the repentance of sinners -- the same one also brought this man here, preserving him safe beyond all hope as he was already rushing into the pit of perdition; not I. How then could anyone hand over to the hands of executioners one whom He himself summoned with his own hands? That band of soldiers withdrew upon hearing these words, for they too revered the man's virtue, even though they were borne with all their force against Antiochus. Antiochus himself threw himself prostrate on the ground, shedding hot tears and sighing bitterly. At last, with great emotion, like the robber who was led to the cross with Christ, and showing the repentance of his soul, he opened his sins to God; but the multitude of his crimes blocked every approach to the favor of divine clemency. But since he made use of a good mediator, through the prayers of the divine Simeon, he too shortly obtained pardon for his offenses. The robber is summoned by a heavenly voice. And so a voice was heard from heaven confirming the support of that sacred mouth, namely that the robber's repentance had been accepted, and at the same time that the end of his life was imminent, and that his departure to the common Lord of all was at hand, giving this as a sufficient sign of the divine kindness toward him. When therefore these very words had also sounded in the robber's ears, he turned to the master of penance and told him of the extraordinary voice; He dies a pious death. while the words were still lingering on his lips, Antiochus raised his hands to heaven and burst forth in these words: Lord Jesus Christ, he said, only-begotten Son of the Father without beginning, who came not for the sake of the righteous but for the repentance of sinners, receive my spirit. And immediately, as he prayed in this manner, life departed from him on the spot, and pardon was manifestly and wonderfully granted to the man. Wherefore an immense astonishment seized everyone, and a new compunction took hold of the minds of the people; the theater itself was bathed partly in tears, partly in joy -- the latter arising from the remission of sins, the former from repentance -- and for all these things God was praised by all, and Simeon, his servant and savior, was proclaimed.

Thus did the providential care from above administer these things, which both exalted the great Simeon still more and opened to all the gate of repentance, to be embraced as the way to salvation without excuse.

[34] The soldiers, ignorant of what had happened (for they were concentrating all their forces on the single object of capturing Antiochus; especially since the report of the event, on account of the extraordinary nature of the deed, seemed hardly sufficient to produce belief unless one had seen what had happened with his own eyes): The soldiers demand that he be handed over to them. and so with greater recklessness and impudence than before they approached the great Simeon and with loud clamor demanded that the perpetrator of the gravest crimes, who had inflicted injuries beyond all pardon, who had been caught in the greatest wickedness, and who was the destroyer of the entire city, be handed over to them, crying out: Do you then think your judgment should be preferred to all laws and decrees? And do you look upon the contemner of those laws with a kind glance of compassion? Do you strive to exempt him from the punishments he deserves? He, however, abating nothing of his customary gentleness, replied with a cheerful and mild countenance: Since I did not summon this man here, but the common Lord of all brought him here -- which I first asserted, and which now his tomb confirms with the indelible testimony of truth -- He who called him to repentance has also taken him from here and snatched him from human affairs to Himself. When the admirable Simeon said this and showed them the body in their very presence, an incredible tremor seized the hearts of all, from which they conceived immense grief; Upon learning the truth, they are moved to compunction. and then, having obtained pardon from that blessed soul for their error, they departed as proclaimers of this great miracle and as heralds who did not deceive.

a Ἀγόνατος, without knees. Perhaps this surname attached to him from some incident, says Rosweyde.

b Thus the Greek: Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὑμνεῖτο Θεός, καὶ σωτὴρ ὁ ἐκείνου θεράπων ἀνεκηρύττετο.

CHAPTER X.

He knows things absent and future by divine revelation.

[35] Let a ship be brought forth for us in this ocean of miracles, carrying an infinite cargo, and let it offer safety to those in peril at sea through the intercession of his prayers. For once a most severe storm assailed this ship in the middle of the sea, and already, with the waves striking it with great force, it seemed about to be submerged. The sailors, having abandoned all skill and all hope of a favorable outcome, exchanged their last words of farewell with embraces, awaiting the danger. He aids those in peril at sea. At last they cast the final anchor, and calling to mind the remembrance of Simeon before the common Lord, they at once had him upon his column praying for their safety, and at the same time he appeared to them again on the ship; and soon they perceived the sea to be calmed: for presently a gentle breeze blowing, they were brought through the calm sea under full sail and reached the mainland.

[36] Nor should this be passed over regarding him. He predicts an impending famine: Once, Simeon seemed to see a rod falling from heaven. God, he said, will send a scourge upon us after two years. Already the time he had prescribed was at hand, and the earth bore nothing at all, lacking rain; for a great drought had seized it, and at the same time famine and pestilence, the evils that followed, afflicted it more gravely than any punishment and bitterly tormented the people. Such eyes of the mind, therefore, did Simeon have, so thoroughly purged of every earthly dimness, that he beheld all future things as if already present. He also predicted a plague of caterpillars. then a plague of caterpillars. But he was not so swift and prompt in foretelling the wrath of God as he was negligent or powerless in averting the evil; rather, he forewarned for this reason, that evils foreseen might do less harm. For the punishment, he would say, still stands decreed within its threats; let us only correct our sins. This he said, covering his own rightly-performed labors; and hence he wished it to be attested that this was not so much a matter of his own confidence before God as of their repentance; for he knew that He would not neglect those who suffered undeservedly, but that it would come about that by his own intercession he would calm the wrath of the divine Majesty, and he was confident that he could halt the impending scourge. Not yet, therefore, had thirty days elapsed, when behold, an immense cloud of caterpillars spread around all but covered the entire face of the earth. The people had no good thing to hope for in the future, nor could they know if there was to be any relief from the evil; indeed they utterly despaired of escaping from so great a peril of creeping things, The caterpillars are destroyed by his prayers. and expected nothing other than the most immediate destruction, the fruits of the earth being partly not yet sprouted and partly already consumed by the caterpillars. But scarcely had Simeon prayed to God, when behold, the entire multitude of caterpillars, which had nearly destroyed the forage of the beasts of burden, was instantly consumed, with absolutely no damage done to the fruits of the earth destined for human use.

[37] Worthy of addition to these is the following. [He foresees an impending war from the Persians and Scythians and averts it by prayers.] Two rods once appeared to this spectator of invisible things as being brought down from heaven, one of which inclined toward the rising sun, the other toward the north. He declared that the vision indicated an invasion by the Persians and Scythians against the Romans, and he narrated this vision to those present. He himself, however, with a great outpouring of tears and prayers, supplicated God; nor did he desist from prayer until the Persians, who had been roused against the Romans, dissolved their military preparations on account of a civil dissension that arose among them. The Scythians likewise, upon learning of the Persians' hesitation, themselves remained quiet, and gave no public indication of their agitation.

[38] Such was the admirable Simeon: he so cared for the common salvation of all that he did not neglect that of individuals either. And in this too he was a prophet and seer. This was known to Bishop Theodoretus, whom we have already mentioned. He was vehemently attacked by a certain person, from which he contracted grief and bore the accusation heavily. After he had, He consoles Theodoretus and predicts future events. as the proverb goes, pulled on every rope, and saw that he was obtaining no fruit from his labor, he then took refuge with the admirable Simeon as the source of all hope and committed his entire affair to him. Simeon refreshed his grieving spirit with consolation, admonished him that calumnies must be borne, and showed from the sacred pages how much profit comes from trials. Then, pausing briefly, he said: But you must also give the greatest possible thanks to God, dearest friend; in fifteen days your adversary will die, and then at last you will repel this whole storm from yourself. When that number of days had elapsed, the adversary exchanged life for death, and Theodoretus stood in calm outside every storm, since the judgment of the divine Majesty set a limit at the words of St. Simeon.

a Otherwise Theodoretus: they fell upon the Eastern and Western lands. Baronius refers this to the year 420, when upon the death of Isdigerd his successor Varanes broke the treaty, to his own harm. But it was not at the very outset that the war was suppressed because of civil dissensions, as is clear from what Socrates narrates (Book 7, chapter 18), which Theodoretus and Metaphrastes here attribute to the prayers of St. Simeon. On the kings of Persia who succeeded Isdigerd and Varanes, see Agathias, Book 4, and Pedro Teixeira, Book 1, On the Kings of Persia.

b Theodoretus suffered much from adversaries, which is recounted by Baronius, Volumes 5 and 6.

CHAPTER XI.

He exhorts the monks Theodosius and Daniel to holier things. He variously assists the barbarians.

[39] Theodosius too, watered by the eloquence of this sacred tongue, flourished; He exhorts Theodosius the Cenobiarch to holiness. Theodosius, I say, the summit and chief of spiritual exercises and of pastoral wisdom. He had recently nourished the love of virtue in the inmost chamber of his mind, but had not yet kindled it into flame. He approached the common mystagogue of salvation, and drawing nearer to the column, before he uttered any word from his mouth, he was thus addressed by the admirable Simeon: Welcome, man of God, Theodosius. He was then stupefied at the foreknowledge of his own name, because, though he had not yet come to the man's notice, he was called by his own name as though he had dwelt with him for a long time. And so, with his head bowed to the ground, he asked that a blessing be given to him. Simeon not only fulfilled his request but also commanded him to ascend to him above, and stirred the one who came to him toward ascetic contests, saying: Friend Theodosius, set out on your journey with joy; your steps will be directed by the Lord. Nor did he stop his discourse here, He predicts future events to him. but also foretold his future: that he would attain great virtue, and would bring many who were entangled in worldly vanity to the monastic life; and finally, that he would be set over a flock of men; that he would reach an outstanding greatness and loftiness of virtue; that he would produce many imitators of his labors and offer them to God. All these things the admirable Simeon predicted to Theodosius; whether they came to pass afterward, whoever reads the life of that Theodosius will know.

[40] Let Daniel come forward, Daniel the Stylite ascends to him upon the column. who undertook the same contest as Simeon, and let him reveal the charisms of his prophetic tongue working upon himself. For Daniel was still exercising the labors of the ascetic contest under a master and shepherd, and a great desire had seized him to ascend the column and to converse with Simeon face to face. When therefore he had once come with his master to Simeon, he earnestly begged both of them: the latter to permit him to ascend the column, and then his master to allow him the ascent. He obtained the wish of both, for he ascended the column freely. When Simeon received him in a fitting manner as he arrived, he said: Be strong and show yourself a man, my son Daniel; for many labors must be endured by you for the sake of the common Lord. But rejoice; for strengthened by his grace, having overcome the common enemy, you will at last enjoy the blessedness that awaits those who fight so bravely. And at the same time, placing his hand upon Daniel's head, he sealed with prayers what he had just spoken.

[41] These things thus spoken were afterward confirmed by the event. For Simeon dismissed Daniel, filled with his grace and blessing, and held him more dearly thenceforth in his heart, and was inflamed not only with great love for him while still present, but also with longing for him when absent after his departure. When Daniel was once journeying from Mesopotamia to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places, and from there desired to seek the desert, Simeon appears to him on the way. behold, Simeon, having assumed the garb of a traveler, appeared in person and detained him from the journey he had almost begun, for many reasons, but especially lest he should have anything in common with the wickedness of the Samaritans; for at that time a great and fierce sedition had been stirred up among them, making the road to Jerusalem dangerous with criminals who everywhere threatened robbery and slaughter to those passing by. On the other hand, he persuaded Daniel to direct his journey toward Byzantium, where nothing pertaining to the salvation of his soul would be lacking. It was about evening when St. Simeon, having assumed the guise of a traveler, gave these instructions to Daniel. When he turned aside to a lodging and waited for his traveling companion to rest with him, the companion was nowhere to be seen. Again in dreams. But when Daniel, having taken his supper, fell asleep, Simeon appeared to him again and gave the same instructions as before; and Daniel, with a wakeful mind and having shaken sleep from his eyes, carried out the commands. Long afterward Simeon, having left behind his little body and his column, After death he admonishes him to live upon a column. was translated to the abodes of immortal and blessed spirits, and appeared once more to Daniel in a dream, standing beside him, and summoning him to the columnar life, commanded him also to ascend a column. Upon seeing this, Daniel rose from his bed and immediately resolved to ascend a column just as the vision had shown him, and he entered upon the same manner of life which Simeon had previously observed, appearing as a new Elisha who had set before himself the example of Elijah. And so much for these matters.

[42] The King of the Persians, who had hitherto suffered himself to be conquered by no one, was overcome merely by the fame of this man; He is venerated by the King and Queen of Persia. so diligently did he question all who frequented Simeon about him, and what the man's life was like, and what miracles he performed; and the memory of Simeon was no less important to him than affairs of state. Not only the man's deeds, but even his fame alone struck the king. His wife too, equally astounded together with her husband at the admirable miracles of Simeon, asked that blessed oil be sent to her from him and received it most gladly; Diseases driven away by blessed oil. with which she not only cured her own ailments but also applied a remedy to many of her kinsmen, whatever malady pressed upon them. And indeed all the subjects of the King himself, captivated by the man's fame, and having carefully learned of his deeds, everywhere called Simeon a divine man.

[43] The Queen of the Ishmaelites, being barren and bearing her lack of children with a bitter spirit, He obtains a son for the Queen of the Ishmaelites. and drawing no pleasure from created things, first sent certain distinguished men who begged on her behalf that she might be able to conceive and bear offspring. After she was granted her wish, freed from all sadness and filled with tranquility of soul as well as joy, she hastened to St. Simeon with her newborn son; and since his enclosure was inaccessible to women, she sent the boy to him and asked that he be favored with his blessing, saying: He is your sheaf. For I sowed the seed with tears and prayers, and you made the sheaf by divine grace, drawing down rain from above with your prayers. And so the woman, having obtained what she had sought with great desire, returned joyfully to her home. But how long shall we continue to pursue in speech things more sublime than all human understanding?

a We shall give the Life of St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch on January 11, where these very things are narrated, and are said to have occurred near the end of the life of the Emperor Marcian.

b These same things are narrated more fully on December 11 in the Life of St. Daniel Stylites, and other matters which we shall relate below concerning the relics of St. Simeon.

c Somewhat differently in the Life of St. Daniel: for it says that when he had come from his monastery to the enclosure of St. Simeon, he set out from there toward Jerusalem.

d On the crimes of the Samaritans we shall treat more fully in the Life of Simeon Stylites the Younger on May 24. But what Baronius says at the year 452, number 27, that Daniel was prevented from going to Jerusalem on account of a tumult raised by the Eutychian monks against Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, is not said in the Life of Daniel, although he cites it.

e Theodoretus narrates these things somewhat differently, and shows from what source he knew them, writing thus: His fame was also great among the King of the Persians; for as the ambassadors who came to him related, the King diligently inquired what his life was like and what miracles he performed. They say that his wife also both asked for oil honored by his blessing and received it as a very great gift. And indeed all the King's attendants, moved by his fame and receiving many calumnies devised against him by the Magi, diligently inquired; and when they understood, they called him a divine man. The rest of the crowd, approaching the muleteers and servants and soldiers, both offered money and asked to be partakers of the oil of blessing.

CHAPTER XII.

His daily exercises. Precepts given to various persons.

[44] He stood night and day conspicuous to all; He stands night and day. and with the door open and no small part of the enclosure dismantled, he was set before all as a spectacle surpassing all admiration -- now standing for a long time, now frequently bending his body and offering adoration to God. Many indeed attempted to count those adorations; He bends his body very frequently. and once a certain person reported to the virtue-loving Theodoretus that he had counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four adorations. In bending he always touched his forehead to the tips of his toes; for the stomach, being empty for lack of nourishment, easily permitted the back to bend.

[45] An ulcer develops on his foot: Moreover, from that perpetual and beyond-nature admirable standing, the result was that he contracted a great ulcer on one of his feet, from which a great quantity of pus flowed. But nothing of this repressed his philosophy; for he bore all things nobly, conquering his labors by the readiness of his soul. He was once compelled, however, to show that ulcer to a certain person. For there was a man of the rank of deacon, zealous for virtue, who, roused by the fame of Simeon, came from Ravenna, and ascending the summit of the hill, said: Tell me, by the very truth, are you a man, or some other nature without a body, which has counterfeited a human appearance? He shows it to one who did not believe he was human. When those standing by took this question ill, the divine Simeon calmed the disturbance and, turning to him, said: Why do you ask me this? The other replied: Because all those whom I hear speaking of you affirm that you neither take food nor sleep; yet both are proper to a human being, for no one having this nature lives without sleep or nourishment. At this, Simeon ordered ladders to be placed against the column and told him to come up. When he arrived, he first commanded him to examine his hands, then to put his hand within his garment of skins, and not only to see his feet but also to behold that most grievous ulcer. Having scarcely seen the magnitude of the festering ulcer, the man descended from the column and went to Theodoretus, whom we have mentioned before, and accurately narrated everything. He then returned to his homeland as a most eloquent herald of this man's contests, which exceeded all nature.

[46] His various exercises day and night. For other athletes, the revolutions of days bring a welcome relaxation after their labors; but for this man, the rest from that continual penance was merely a change of labors. The sun had already set; he, stretching out his hands to the intelligible and never-setting Sun, stood through entire nights, neither charmed by sleep nor overcome by sloth, until the sun returned again to the eastern horizon and ended the sadness of night with the pleasantness of day. These contests were then succeeded by other exercises, other practices, and finally other modes of prayer far more difficult still.

[47] His affability toward all. Thus, amid such great hardships, such a great weight of noble deeds, such a multitude of miracles, having ascended the summit of virtue and surpassed all mortals by many lengths, he was so moderate in feeling, so pleasant and agreeable, that he gave answers to each person who came to him, whether they were artisans, beggars, or rustics who approached him. And just as he left all others far behind in the dignity of virtue, so the beauty of spiritual discourse blossomed upon his lips above all others, and a certain divine persuasiveness, so that he gave exhortations twice daily, Two exhortations daily. seasoned with a singular grace and bringing the greatest benefit; and he urged them to look up toward heaven and to fly upward on the wings of the virtues; and, leaving the earth behind, he bade them contemplate the prepared kingdom of heaven; at other times, to fear the threats of Gehenna, to despise earthly things, and finally to await the things to come.

[48] It was also a spectacle to see him judging: He settles disputes. for many who had previously disgraced their lives with various shameful acts, after his judgment became distinguished cultivators of justice; and he whom his verdict declared the loser departed no less joyful than the victor. These and similar things he performed after the ninth hour; for the whole night and the space of the day until the ninth hour he spent in prayer. He expounds the catechism. After the ninth hour, he first explained sacred doctrine to those present; then he applied a remedy to each person's petitions, and rendered a just judgment, and resolved controversies for those who were in doubt and at odds with one another. Around sunset he again entered into conversation with God.

[49] While he was occupied with these things and thus divided among so many concerns, he did not neglect the care of the Churches, He combats Jews, pagans, and heretics. now attacking the impiety of the Gentiles, now dissolving the audacity of the Jews, and at other times scattering the fellowship of the heretics; He admonishes the Emperor and Bishops. now admonishing the Emperor about such matters through messengers, now stirring the hearts of the rulers to the love of God, and commending to the Pastors of the Churches greater care for their flocks. But it is fitting to mention some particular instance.

[50] Theodosius the Younger, to whom the Roman scepter had devolved by succession [The Emperor Theodosius, rebuked by him for restoring synagogues to the Jews, takes them away and begs pardon.] (for he had ruled as a young man, and accordingly, in contrast to his grandfather, was called the Younger): that pious Theodosius, then, having been persuaded by the wickedness of certain persons who -- alas! -- were selling piety for money, in the city of Antioch granted the Jews, as before, their synagogues. When the zealous champion of divine things and of piety, Simeon, learned of this, he vehemently denounced the impiety of the act and rebuked it with the greatest freedom. Theodosius immediately changed his decision and revoked his own decrees, and not only took the synagogues from the Jews, but also removed from public office the very Praetor (for he it was who had suggested those malicious schemes to him) and placed him in such great danger that he feared for his life and safety, lest his life be taken from him along with his office. These things Theodosius did while still young; then he sent a letter to Simeon, the wonder of the world, and humbly begged pardon for his offense, which he had committed through the fault of others.

a Theodoretus has these things.

b Somewhat differently Theodoretus: For since the stomach receives food only once a week, and that a small amount, which is the partaking of the divine Sacraments, it allows the back to bend easily. From which it is inferred that he was accustomed to receive the Body of Christ every week. For if Theodoretus were speaking of other food, he would contradict himself, since he had previously written that Simeon was accustomed to taking food only on the fortieth day. Haraeus certainly contradicts himself when he writes that at first he took food only on the fortieth day, and then once a week. Alphonsus Villegas says the same.

c In Greek: ἀπὸ Ῥαβέννης. Theodoretus in Hervetus's translation: from Arabena; in Longus's translation: from Rhamene. See the notes to chapter 3 of the second Life, letter h.

d Villegas and Ribadeneira: of hair-cloth.

e Theodoretus writes that he was accustomed to do these things on feast days.

f More clearly Theodoretus: after he had performed some cures.

g The same is narrated by Evagrius, Book 1, chapter 13; Nicephorus, Book 14, chapter 51; Baronius, Volume 5, year 432, number 51. But at number 49 he recites (which also pertains here) letters of the same Theodosius in which he asks Simeon to work toward restoring peace to the Churches and especially to recall John, Patriarch of Antioch, from defending the doctrine of Nestorius.

h This is where what Evagrius commemorates in Book 2, chapter 9 should be referred, namely that the Emperor Leo sent letters both to bishops and to other pious men recommended for their monastic manner of life, and specifically to Simeon the Stylite, in which he consulted them about the Council of Chalcedon and the case of Timothy Aelurus, who, covered in every kind of infamy, had invaded the see of Alexandria, after the murder of St. Proterius (of whom we shall treat on February 28). And indeed Simeon replied to Leo and sent other letters to Basilius, Patriarch of Antioch, which the same Evagrius recites, as does Nicephorus (Book 15, chapter 19) and Baronius at the year 458; who, however, seems to err when he thinks that the monk Sergius was then sent as a legate from Simeon to the Emperor Leo, as we shall say on December 11 in the Life of St. Daniel Stylites; for Sergius then announced the death of Simeon to Daniel and offered him the gift sent to the Emperor. To the same St. Simeon the Empress Eudocia sent a legate to ask what he thought of the Council of Chalcedon, since she herself had obstinately adhered for a long time to the Eutychian heresy. Know, said St. Simeon, that the Evil One, seeing the riches of your virtues, has sought to sift you like wheat, and through that pestilential Theodosius (who, having expelled the holy Bishop Juvenal, of whom we treat on July 2, had invaded the see of Jerusalem; he was a Eutychian by sect; see Baronius at the year 452, number 27) has corrupted your soul. He then sent her to St. Euthymius, as Cyril the Monk narrates at greater length in the Life of the same Euthymius on January 20; Nicephorus, Book 15, chapter 13; Baronius at the year 451, numbers 18 and following.

CHAPTER XIII.

Voice restored to the mute. A public calamity averted.

[51] And such was that affair; but how should the following not be related? Certain travelers, turning aside from their road, in a field not far distant but at about the range at which the eye can distinguish objects, A deer is halted in Simeon's name. caught sight of an enormous deer grazing. Held back by love of the game, since they had nothing at hand with which to hunt the deer on the spot, using a new kind of net -- namely, invoking the name of Simeon -- they immediately caught the beast as if bound by some snare, killed it, and prepared a supper, refreshed at once both by the hunt of the animal and by the banquet. But this joy was shortly afterward succeeded by pain. For their speech was as it were extinguished, and suddenly, by means of the very power through which they had captured the deer, it was cut off. And so, examining themselves on every side, since they could not even by conjecture discover the cause of this, they questioned one another by signs and inquired why their voice had failed them. At last they suspected the reason and recognized that through their wickedness they had fallen into this calamity; for the divine Simeon, with his characteristic clemency, had generously bestowed the deer upon them; but they had used the gift too cruelly and had set about slaughtering the beast with their own hands without mercy. Simeon restores voice to the mute. Therefore they took refuge once more with Simeon in great pain and lamentation, displaying the deerskin which they then carried in their hands as proof of their inhumanity and savagery. Pitying their repentance and confession, he restored the faculty of speech and dismissed them grateful for the benefit received and rejoicing.

[52] Not long afterward, a great earthquake shook the city of Antioch and the neighboring places. A terrible earthquake. This was followed by a surge of the sea, and also a chasm that extended in a horrible manner all the way to the mountains of the East. And so it laid flat all the temples and buildings -- some casting down from above, others tearing up from their foundations. Men together with various kinds of animals, some shut in within their collapsed houses, likewise brought their lives to an end; others, as if a grave had been prepared for them on the spot by the fissure of the earth, were pitiably buried alive. In so bitter a destruction, when the scourge fell so unbearably upon every sex and age without distinction, the one and common consolation for all was the admirable Simeon. They used him as a reconciler with God, and having found relief, they were freed from their affliction. For after he had first Simeon rebukes the luxury of the people. rebuked their luxury and intemperance and other crimes and sufficiently chastised them, he then exhorted them all to cry out with one voice and with tears: Kyrie eleison, that is, Lord, have mercy. Then, wishing to appease God on their behalf and to stir them to compunction, he himself also turned to prayer.

[53] When the supplication had been drawn out at length with tears, he signaled to the people, indicating silence with his hand, and himself, showing in his voice and feelings a vehement sorrow, burst forth in these words: Men and brothers, he said, what I am about to say to you first greatly torments my heart and pierces my inmost soul as with a wound; I know indeed that these same things will also greatly affect you, yet I will say them. See, I beseech you, One out of all the people is heard. how great your number is, how many tears you have shed, what a clamor you have raised; yet God has lent his ear to only one of all of you, and the prayer of him alone has reached his ears. Having said this, he addressed a certain man by name and commanded him to come to him in everyone's hearing. Your prayer, he said, has stayed the just wrath of God, and therefore all evil, however great, shall cease. But tell me, omitting nothing, in what way especially you have so pleased God. For God commands you to explain everything, so that, emulating your virtue, they may be spurred to do the same. He, however, feared all the more, and proclaimed himself a sinner and devoid of every virtue, and not conscious that in his whole life he had even involuntarily performed anything good. But when the divine Simeon strongly pressed him and compelled him to speak, he said at last: Simeon sets forth his virtue before the people. I sustain my life by the work of my hands, devoted to tilling the earth, and I sleep in the open air. First I cultivate my own small plot, but at other times I also serve anyone who wishes for an agreed wage. Collecting both what comes to me from my own small estate and what I receive as wages for cultivating the earth, I divide it into three parts: the first I bestow upon the needy, with the second I pay my annual tax, and I spend the third on necessary expenses. Meanwhile, I have never in my life been aware of having done anything good. These words were heard by an innumerable multitude of people, who, when they saw the wrath of God appeased and the course of the scourge halted, were stupefied and, as was fitting, glorified God with tears. They all gave thanks to Simeon; they celebrated that rustic man with favorable acclamations, escorted him, greeted him, embraced him, gave thanks, emulated his virtue, and accused themselves of negligence in good works; and finally, for many who dwelt in the vicinity, it served as a useful example for embracing better things in spirit.

a This earthquake occurred in the second year of the Emperor Leo; Evagrius narrates it in Book 2, chapter 12; Nicephorus in Book 15, chapter 20; Baronius at the year 458, numbers 27 and following.

b Evagrius appears to assign the same cause for this earthquake: Τινῶν μὲν παρὰ τοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν δήμου παραγεγενημένων, πρὸς πᾶσαν ἐκβακχευθέντων μανίαν, πάσης τε θηριώδους ἐπέκεινα γενομένων γνώμης, ὥσπερ δὲ προοίμιον τοῖς τοιούτοις κακοῖς παρασχομένων. -- Certain of the populace, raging with every madness and far surpassing all bestial disposition, as it were furnished a prelude to such evils. Nicephorus likewise says that this was the beginning of those evils: that the citizens, alienated from the divine laws, became bestial in every disposition, raging with every madness. And so both seem to note the same crimes which the Saint here censures: luxury and intemperance, and the lust for shedding human blood which usually follows these. Baronius at the cited passage, number 29, judges that these evils proceeded from no other source than the impiety of heretical depravity, which, sprouting from the evil seed of Nestorius who had long dwelt there, had grown under the Patriarch John. That there were certainly many Apollinarists there, the same Baronius shows at the year 471, number 7.

CHAPTER XIV.

St. Simeon dies. His body is carried to Antioch.

[54] Simeon, adorned with many great benefactions, after he had lived in all fifty-six years, Simeon dies. the bond of the body being dissolved, passed over to his Beloved, to enjoy him more purely and closely. With the material dissolved, the man was at last believed by those who then lived on earth to have been human -- a thing which no one previously could persuade himself of, because of the endurance of labors that surpassed all nature and such outstanding tokens of the most illustrious virtues. He was separated from his body, who had previously renounced all bodily things and dwelt in spirit among the heavenly realms and was not infrequently present amid the splendors of the Angels; but now he returns to his former desires. The dead body remains standing upright. The body was now empty of soul and left without spirit; yet not even so could it refrain from its accustomed exercises; for it refused to recline upon the ground even for a brief rest, but remained upright upon the column, expressing to the life the figure of its champion.

[55] Wherever he had previously dwelt, miracles occur. After his body, reduced to dust, had paid its debt to the earth, the heavenly Craftsman did not neglect his clay as though unworthy of honor; but, laid away in a venerable tomb, it became renowned for many miracles. These were not only performed around the sepulcher, but also in whatever places that wondrous man had undergone his remarkable contests -- all these places, as if displaying a kind of mutual rivalry in miracles, were more abundantly exalted on every side with divine gifts.

[56] Not long afterward, when Leo, surnamed the Great, sat at the helm of the Empire -- at which time Martyrius was also the administrator of sacred affairs -- the funeral of the holy body was transported from the enclosure into the city of Antioch with a most splendid procession. His body is solemnly carried to Antioch. The immense number of torches, both of those accompanying and of those coming to meet the procession, rendered the sun, as it were, mournful and sad; and the multitude of people of every age streaming together from all sides made the mountain itself and the plains seem narrow. Ardaburius escorts it. Ardaburius, Commander of the Eastern forces, was present, assigning his armed guards to the sacred relics, and setting up their protection like a wall as a defense against the incursion of neighboring cities; for each city was striving to seize this sacred treasure for itself and to place it within its own walls.

[57] Meanwhile, when the carriage bearing the burden of the sacred body had reached the place called Merum, which is situated on the right side for those coming to Antioch, the carriage suddenly stood still and immovable, and was entirely prevented from continuing on the road that led into the city. This unexpected halting of the carriage struck everyone with no less wonder than terror. A demoniac is freed through the aid of St. Simeon. A certain man rushed out from a tomb -- for not a few such tombs were built near that place -- and was borne at a great run toward the sacred bier; and while he cried out and testified to the various tumults of his soul, he also pitifully lamented his own crimes, and begged to be freed from his bonds and his scourge. The scourge by which he was tormented was an evil demon, which had long since leapt upon him as he was wantonly violating the corpse of a woman, and immediately binding his hands with insoluble chains, foully distorting his eyes, and striking him with trembling, had held him captive from that time on beside the tomb of the violated woman up to this point, constantly oppressing him as he paid the penalty for so notable an outrage. But as soon as he ran to the sacred bier, he was immediately freed from those bonds; whereupon the carriage was instantly set in motion and was carried into the city with the most splendid procession. The city received the longed-for treasure in its own bosom and placed it in the illustrious Church of Cassian. A temple built for St. Simeon. Shortly afterward, when a divine vision supervened, another temple was built in a nearby place, in which the sacred relics were deposited. And the man who had obtained relief from his affliction from the Saint, having made no small progress in virtue from that time, became the custodian of this temple, and paid to the Saint the just reward of his life changed for the better; nor could any sight be more pleasing to him than the salvation of his suppliant.

a This is also reported in the Philotheus of Theodoretus, but it was added by someone else, since Theodoretus died before Simeon. And it is absent in Surius's edition from the translation of Albericus Longus.

b In monastic exercise, that is. See what was said in the Preface, §3.

c In Theodoretus it reads: Not only at the shrines of the holy relics, but also at the monument of his supreme virtue and long contest: that great and celebrated column, I mean, of this just and praiseworthy Simeon.

d Cedrenus writes that St. Simeon died in the fourth year of Leo, the year of Christ 460.

e This Martyrius obtained the See of Antioch in the year 459 and resigned it in the year 471 on account of the seditions stirred up against him through the efforts of the Count Zeno and Peter the Fuller.

f Κατὰ τὴν Μερὸν τὸ χωρίον. In the Latin Life it is Meroe. For besides the Meroe of Ethiopia, there is also, says Stephanus, a Meroe to the east of the Antioch near Daphne. So he says, who elsewhere states that Daphne is the most celebrated suburb of Antioch toward the east.

CHAPTER XV.

Relics sought by the Emperor Leo. A temple on the mountain where he stood.

[58] The Emperor Leo orders the body to be carried to Constantinople. When the fame of miracles from the sacred urn was filling the entire surrounding region, the administrator of the Roman Empire, of whom mention was made a little earlier, wrote letters to the Antiochenes commanding the remains of the sacred body to be transported to the royal city. They in turn begged the Emperor with suppliant prayers not to despoil the great and admirable city, which had so often experienced celestial wrath and had been nearly leveled to the ground and reduced to ashes, of so great a blessing; not to remove from them the one who was accustomed to avert the wrath of God and to halt the scourges inflicted from heaven, The Antiochenes plead. whom they had set up in place of all ramparts, walls, and arms. Finally they begged him not to take away the source of all their hope; for even if the divine vengeance should not again seize them, still their city, lacking fortification, lay open to the incursions of enemies. Moved by these words, the Emperor permitted the Antiochenes to keep the common treasure; and although it was stored away among them, nevertheless by its miracles it traversed far and wide all places and became each person's own treasure.

[59] On the summit of the mountain on which the divine Simeon completed his illustrious contests, A wondrous temple on the mountain where he stood on the column. a temple was built, which on either side was enclosed by four porticoes, supported by columns of cut stone from the top of the roof. An open-air court, splendid with abundant sunshine on all sides, lay within; in it could be seen that column of forty cubits upon which he had lived his angelic life. Moreover, at the top of the porticoes there were windows through which the lower areas received the light of day. In that part, therefore, where the column stood to the left of those entering, a star shone A portentous star in that temple. which outshone the celestial stars in splendor no less than in size; it now set, now rose again, and gleamed most brilliantly at every part of the window. To those who were present, it seemed to approach the ground and to circle about it, and it was of such ineffable splendor and beauty that nothing could be added to the greatness of the miracle, provoking all spectators to sing praises, truly divine, to the divine Simeon -- drawing from this a conjecture of the splendor which he himself, standing before the great Light, perpetually enjoys, and more purely illuminated by the Trinity, and receiving one ray from the one Divinity, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be all glory, honor, and power forever and ever. Amen.

a The same is narrated by Evagrius, Book 1, chapter 13, and the reason here alleged is more clearly set forth: Διὰ τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχειν τεῖχος τῇ πόλει (πέπτωκε γὰρ ἐν ὀργῇ) ἠγάγομεν τὸ πανάγιον σῶμα, ὅπως ἡμῖν γένηται τεῖχος καὶ ὀχύρωμα. Which Christophorsonus translates thus: Since the city lacks walls (for the Emperor's wrath destroyed them), we have brought the most holy body of Simeon here, that it may serve as our wall and fortress. But the phrase πέπτωκε γὰρ ἐν ὀργῇ, "for they fell in wrath," does not seem to me aptly translated, nor is mention made of this elsewhere. It should rather be referred to the earthquake, as is found in Nicephorus: Πέπτωκε γὰρ ἐν ὀργῇ σεισμοῦ μεγάλου γεγενημένου. The wall fell when a great earthquake occurred.

b That some of his relics were indeed brought to Constantinople is clear from the Life of Daniel Stylites.

c What follows we shall subjoin from Evagrius, somewhat more fully described.

ON THE RELICS AND TEMPLE OF ST. SIMEON.

From Evagrius, Book 1, Ecclesiastical History, chapters 13 and 14.

Simeon Stylites, near Antioch in Syria (S.)

From Evagrius.

[1] Evagrius Scholasticus, who was Quaestor under Tiberius II and Prefect of the Record Office under Maurice, in Book 1 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapters 13 and 14, in addition to other things about St. Simeon that have been indicated above in various notes, relates these truly wondrous things about his bodily relics and temple, which he himself beheld in person.

[2] Many parts of this body were preserved even to our own time; and indeed I myself beheld the head, which was shown by Gregory, a man of great renown who at that time held the episcopate of that church, at the request of Philippicus, that the relics of the Saints might be sent to him so that he might the more safely conduct his military campaigns in the East. Evagrius saw the head of St. Simeon 126 years after his death. And what seems most worthy of wonder, the hairs adhering to the head were not at all consumed, but just as if he were still alive and living among men, they remained intact. Likewise the skin of the forehead, although it had contracted into wrinkles and dried out, nevertheless remained uncorrupted. Many teeth also remained, which had not been pulled out by the hands of the faithful; and these, by their shape, indicated what that divine Simeon had been like and of what stature. The iron chain preserved with his body. There too was kept the iron chain which he wore around his neck; with which (for that dear iron did not desert Simeon even in death) the body, celebrated in the talk of all, which had endured such heavy labors, received divine honors. I would have recounted each of his deeds one by one, both for my own benefit and for the profit of my readers, had not Theodoretus, as I said above, discussed them more abundantly and at greater length.

[3] Next I shall commit to writing another thing which I saw with my own eyes. I was held by a very great desire to see the temple of this St. Simeon. It is distant from Theopolis, that is, Antioch, Antioch called Theopolis. at most three hundred stadia, situated on the very ridge of the mountain. The natives call it the Mandra; to which place the strict discipline of life that the most holy Simeon practiced there gave this name, as I believe. The ascent of the mountain extends for twenty stadia. Description of the mountain and temple of St. Simeon. The building of the temple was constructed in the form of a cross, beautifully illuminated by porticoes on four sides. Columns fashioned of polished stone were attached to the porticoes, which skillfully raise the roof to a great height. Toward the middle of the temple there is an atrium under the open sky, wrought with the utmost art, in which stands that column of forty cubits upon which this earthly and corporeal Angel lived his heavenly life. The porticoes, as we have said, have at the top openings which they call windows, both facing the atrium and the porticoes themselves. To the left of the column, in one of the openings, I myself, together with the whole multitude of farmers gathered there in one body as they walked around the column, A wondrous star appears on his feast day. saw a star of unusual size moving through the whole gap and pouring forth light; and this not once, twice, or three times, but many times; and the same star frequently vanished and suddenly appeared again. It is seen only on the feast day of this most holy man.

[4] There are some who relate (and the miracle is certainly to be believed, both on account of the trustworthiness of those who tell the same story His very person also. and on account of the other things which we ourselves have witnessed) that they have seen the true likeness of his person flitting here and there, with his beard hanging down and his head covered, as was his custom, with a tiara. Men who come to that place Men with their beasts go around the column. are freely and easily admitted; and they often go around the column with their pack animals. Most careful guard is maintained lest any woman Women do not enter the temple. (for what reason I am unable to say) should ever enter the temple; but if any approach, they stand outside the threshold, marveling at the miracle. For directly opposite the shining star, one of the gates is situated. So far Evagrius, and Nicephorus likewise in Book 14, chapter 51.

a Gregory, after St. Anastasius of Sinai was expelled (unjustly indeed, but nevertheless with the forced consent of the assembled bishops, and as if the legitimate form of law had been observed), was made Patriarch of Antioch in the year 572, a distinguished man, as Baronius shows from Evagrius in several places. He will be treated again on April 21 in the Life of St. Anastasius of Sinai, and on May 24 in the Life of Simeon Stylites the Younger.

b Philippicus was the commander of the Eastern forces under the Emperor Maurice, who had joined him in marriage to his own sister Gordia. After many distinguished deeds against the Persians and other enemies, when Phocas invaded the empire, he was initiated into the priesthood and pursued a quiet life, and likewise his wife Gordia. Much about him in Baronius, Volumes 7 and 8, from Evagrius, the Mixed History, and others.

c This also relates to what is reported in the Mixed History, Book 17, chapter 10, that Philippicus in the fourth year of Maurice, having taken up the image of Christ not made by hands, won a notable victory over the Persians.

d Theopolis, that is, the City of God. The greatest city of the East, says Stephanus Byzantius, which after the earthquake was so called by Justinian, though previously it was called Antioch. The same is reported by Evagrius, Book 4, chapter 6, and Baronius at the year 528, the eleventh of Justinian, number 21.

e From the Life of St. Daniel Stylites it is clear that he was accustomed to cover his head with a cowl. For the κουκόλιον τῆς κεφαλῆς κάλυμμα, the cowl as a head covering, a gift sent by him to the Emperor Leo, was given by the monk Sergius to Daniel, since the Emperor, occupied with various affairs of state, could not pay sufficient attention to such things. Children's heads were properly covered with cowls. Thus St. Dorotheus in Sermon 1: We also receive the cowl; and this is a symbol of humility; for little infants, who are innocent, wear cowls, but a grown man does not wear a cowl. We therefore wear them so that we may be children in wickedness, as the Apostle says, etc. Cassian also, in the Institutes, Book 1, chapter 4, speaking of Egyptian monks: They use very small cowls, reaching down to the borders of the neck and shoulders, with which they cover only their heads, continually by day and night; so that they may be reminded to preserve always the innocence and simplicity of little children, even by the imitation of this covering. That Evagrius calls the cowl a tiara shows that it was pointed and conical, like the hoods of many ascetics in the West. Nicephorus, Book 9, chapter 14, confirms both -- that the cowls of monks were pointed and that they were adopted by monks in imitation of the caps of children: The covering of the head, ending in a point, signifying that they should be simple and not avenge wrongs, and live purely and innocently, like children nourished on milk, who are accustomed to be covered with such linen tiaras, which protect and warm the ruling part of the head. The word cuculla is not so exclusively monastic as some think, but is ancient and Latin; although cucullus is more commonly used by pagan writers. St. Jerome in the Life of St. Hilarion: Leaving him all his riches, namely the Gospel, and a sackcloth tunic, a cowl, and a small cloak. And shortly after, St. Hilarion commands himself to be buried as he was dressed, in a hair-cloth tunic, a cowl, and a rustic cloak. St. Paulinus, Poem 13, to Cytherius: And doubled the gift of the tunic with which he had adorned his companion by the gift of a cowl.

f There is no doubt that this was done because the holy man, while he lived, admitted no woman within the enclosure of his mandra, not even his own mother, as was said above.