⛪ Saint of the Day : January 5
⛪ Other Name : Simeon Stylites the Elder
⛪ Memorial :
• 27 July • 5 January on some calendars • 1 September on some calendars
ONE winter's day, about the year 401, the snow lay thick around Sisan,
a little town in Cilicia. A shepherd boy, who could not lead his sheep to
the fields on account of the cold, went to the church instead, and
listened to the eight Beatitudes, which were read that morning. He
asked how these blessings were to be obtained, and when he was told
of the monastic life a thirst for perfection arose within him. He became
the wonder of the world, the great St. Simeon Stylites. He was warned
that perfection would cost him dear, and so it did. A mere child, he
began the monastic life, and therein passed a dozen years in
superhuman austerity. He bound a rope round his waist till the flesh
was putrefied. He ate but once in seven days, and, when God led him to
a solitary life, kept fasts of forty days. Thirty-seven years he spent on
the top of pillars, exposed to heat and cold, day and night adoring the
majesty of God. Perfection was all in all to St. Simeon; the means
nothing, except in so far as God chose them for him. The solitaries of
Egypt were suspicious of a life so new and so strange, and they sent
one of their number to bid St. Simeon come down from his pillar and
return to the common life. In a moment the Saint made ready to
descend; but the Egyptian religious was satisfied with this proof of
humility. "Stay," he said, "and take courage; your way of life is from
God."
Cheerfulness, humility, and obedience set their seal upon the
austerities of St. Simeon. The words which God put into his mouth
brought crowds of heathens to baptism and of sinners to penance. At
last, in the year 460, those who watched below noticed that he had
been motionless three whole days. They ascended, and found the old
man's body still bent in the attitude of prayer, but his soul was with
God. Extraordinary as the life of St. Simeon may appear, it teaches us
two plain and practical lessons: First, we must constantly renew
within ourselves an intense desire for perfection. Secondly, we must
use with fidelity and courage the means of perfection God points out.
⛪ Reflection.—St. Augustine says: "This is the business of our life: by
effort and by toil, by prayer and supplication, to advance in the grace
of God, till we come to that height of perfection in which with clean
hearts we may behold God."
Source : Lives Of The Saints By Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. Edition
Saint Simon’s Prayer for his Mother :
Lord God of virtues, Guide of the wayward, Who sits above the Cherubim and searches the foundations of the abyss, Who knew Adam before he was; Who has promised the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven to those who love Thee; Who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush; Who blessed Abraham, our Father; Who brings to Paradise the souls of the just and sinks the souls of the ungodly in perdition; Who humbled the lions before Daniel and mitigated for the three Children the strong fire of the Chaldees; Who nourished Elijah by the ravens which brought him food and restored to life Lazarus on the fourth day, receive my mother’s soul in peace, and put her in the place of the holy fathers, for Thine is the power for ever and ever. Amen. – text from Prayers of the Saints