PILLAR SAINT, or SrmtrE. One of a re markable class of ascetics. chiefly of Syria. who.
with a view to separating themselves more com pletely from earth and fellow-men. took up their abode on the tops of pillars. and remained thus without descending to earth, exposed to all the variations of climate or sheltered only by a hut built on top of the pillar. The earliest of these and the most celebrated. was Saint Simeon or sivaon Stylites. a Syrian monk, who was born near the close of the fourth century. and is said at first to have lived for ten years in extreme seclusion in hi- monastery in the neighborhood oI Antioch. without ever moving from his narrow cell. Increasing in enthusiasm, about 423 he withdrew from the monastery. and built a pillar, on the top of Nvhiell. only a yard in diameter, he took up his position. From this pillar he re moved to several others in succession, each higher than its predecessor, till at last he attained to 40 cubit-, or about 60 feet in height. In this
life he spent 37 years. Many remarkable stories are told of his austerities, and he acquired the reputation of a miracle-worker. The fame of his sanctity brought crowds of pilgrims from the most distant countries to see him; and he is said to have converted many to the Church. A disciple of Simeon, named Daniel, succeeded to hi- reputation for sanctity. and to his mode of life. which he maintained for 33 years, in the -till more trying climate of the shores of the Bosporus, about four miles from Constantinople. In Syria there were many pillar saints as late as the twelfth century: after the sixteenth cen tury they disappeared altogether. In the West there is only a solitary example. A monk named Wulflaieus, near Try vex. attempted the pillar life in the sixth century, hut the neighboring hi-hops compelled him to desist, and destroyed bi- pillar.