medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I can't remember where I read this explanation relating to St Simeon
Stylites, the original stylite saint. He was a hermit, whose holy
life attracted more and more followers, much to his chagrin. Thus,
despairing to escape the world horizontally, he attempted to do so
vertically.
FWIW,
Jim Bugslag
> Do we "know" why this type of behavior appealed to
> anyone - specifically, why it was considered "holy" or
> spiritually fruitful? I understand the value of
> preaching - but why live on top of a column?
> MG
>
> >In 460 he erected a column in Anaplus (north of
> > Constantinople) and spent the
> > last 33 years of his life on top of it. He was
> > famous as a preacher and
> > spiritual advisor---even the empress and several
> > patriarchs sought him out
> > for advice.
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