5th of January - St Simeon Stylites Day
5th of January is the 5th day of the year
St Simeon Stylites Day:
There are saints whose lives involve doing good for others, demonstrating purity in the impure world, or keeping to their faith faced with horrific treatment and death: men and women that even those of us not of a religious bent can appreciate for their stance. Then there are those like Simeon Stylites, who chose to withdraw from the world, in his case eventually living atop a pillar and surviving on the most meagre of rations – flatbread and goat’s milk. Simeon lived in 5th century Turkey, born the son of a shepherd he became a monk but was thrown out of his order for his feats of dramatic self-denial and chastisement (eventually surviving a whole lent without eating or drinking at all) to show his devotion to Christ. At one time he lived in a tiny cave, but was bothered by crowds of visitors, so he took to life on a pillar. Away from the visitors, but in their sight, he became a draw for multitudes (his pillar being raised ever higher until said to be 15m tall, making him almost like some ancient David Blaine – though Simeon endured longer, 37 years). Some reading his story will be inspired, others doubt his sanity. His feast day (what an inappropriate phrase as regards Simeon) is January 5th in western Christianity.
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