As mentioned early in this series of blog posts, the stories of these solitaries are meant to inspire readers, and reveal the great things God can do through these Saints. Since they are a select few given this charism, their virtuous acts and many spiritual feats are meant to make readers aware of God's love for their time as well as for our modern times. The solitaries exemplify the great value of open spaces and more time for prayer in solitude.
St. Simeon Stylites (ca. 390-459 A.D.)
(highlighted story): Very few hagiographers (those who write on the lives of the saints) mention St. Simeon Stylites in their writings. Usually, this saint is mentioned in bigger and more detailed writings on the lives of the saints, like A. Butler's series of books on the saints. St. Simeon Stylites is often not seen in small summaries or dictionaries on the lives of the saints.
Let us see what the story of St. Simeon Stylites is all about.
Simeon was the son of a Cilician shepherd, born on the Syrian border of Cilicia. He became a shepherd like his father. At the age of 13 years old, he had a vision in the future of himself as a hermit on top of a pillar.
Simeon spent two years in a nearby monastery and then became a monk at a stricter monastery at Heliodorus. Because of his severe mortifications, he was dismissed from this monastery. He then became a hermit at the foot of Mt. Teleanissae, near Antioch, and then years after, moved to the top of the mountain itself. Word of St. Simeon's holiness began to attract huge crowds. To be free from these distractions, in 423 A.D., he built a ten-foot-high pillar and lived on top of it. He spent the rest of his life living on even higher pillars (stylites is from the Greek word stylos, meaning pillar).
St. Simeon Stylites became greatly venerated as a holy man and had extraordinary influence. He gave counsel to Emperors, prelates, and commoners. He died on September 2, the first of the "pillar ascetics".
St. Martinian the Hermit (4th century)
Martinian was born at Caesarea, Palestine, and became a hermit when he was eighteen years old. He lived for a quarter of a century on a mountain called the Place of the Ark near Caesarea. He experienced two great temptations during his life, which led to the conversions of two women. First, he resisted the flattery given him by a wealthy woman named Zoe, by throwing his feet in fire. St. Martinian converted Zoe and she became a nun at St. Paulinus' convent in Bethlehem. The second temptation came after he rescued a girl drowning from a shipwreck. So that he would not be tempted by her, he left his provisions with her on the island and then swam away from her to the mainland. That girl became a hermitess on St. Martinian's island, and St. Martinian then moved on to Athens where he died on February 13.
St. Hilarion (ca. 291-371 A.D.)
Born at Tabatha, south of Gaza, Palestine, of pagan parents, Hilarion was educated in Alexandria, where he became a Christian in his mid-teens. For a time, he stayed with St. Anthony in the Egyptian desert, and then returned to Gaza. Upon learning that his parents' had died, he divided his inheritance among his brothers and the poor and retired to Majuma, Palestine, where he lived a life of extreme austerity in imitation of St. Anthony of Egypt. Although he suffered from spiritual aridity and various temptations, he persevered in prayer. He then became known for his miracles and people began flocking to see him in order to obtain spiritual guidance. A group of disciples also gathered around him against his will, and so he had to establish the first monastery in Majuma. Eventually though, he decided to leave in search of a place where he could enjoy complete solitude.
Hilarion went back to St. Anthony in the desert but found that his fame had spread there too. So he went to Sicily where he was still found and discovered by one of his disciples, Hesychius. In quest of solitude, he left with Hesychius to Dalmatia. Again word of his miracles attracted so much attention that the two left and settled near Paphos in Cyprus. In Cyprus, he was still disturbed by visitors, including Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, who wrote about him to St. Jerome. Hilarion then moved farther inland where he remained until his death at the age of 80.
St. Hilarion's further fame derives from the biography written by St. Jerome between 382-396 A.D. The work appeared in many versions and translations throughout the East. St. Hilarion has now become the patron saint of many villages in Cyprus and is the subject of many icons and mosaics. His feast is traditionally celebrated on October 21. The Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches also celebrate his feast.
Summary and conclusion
Saints are the images of Christ for their time and our time also. They imitate Christ by living out a particular virtue Christ exemplified during His public ministry. For recluses, hermits, and anchorites, these saints imitate Christ as He is portrayed in the gospel of Luke and in many other gospel accounts:
"But so much the more the report went abroad concerning Him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed."
(Luke 5:15-16)
Sources of this blog posts
- Dictionary of the Saints, by John Delaney
- A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.
- Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
- Saints Who Made History
- In Search of True Wisdom, by Sergius Bolshakoff
- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Lives of the Saints, by Richard P. McBrien
- The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, by editor
Bernard McGinn
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