Download - Monasticism: Simeon the Pillar-Dweller
Monasticism: Simeon the Pillar-Dweller
1. Monastic anecdotes.2. Spiritual warfare: five stages
of sin.3. Goals of monastic life.4. Simeon the Stylite.5. Functions of holy man.
Simeon the Pillar-Dweller (389-459).
Spiritual warfare: five stages of sin
1. Provocation2. Coupling3. Assent4. Captivity5. Habit
Goals of monastic life
1. Purity of heart2. Ceaseless prayer 3. Life according to the
Beatitudes4. Self-mastery.5. Imitation of Christ6. Final goal: eternal life
Ladder of Divine Assent: John Climachus
Remains of the pillar of St Simeon the Younger
Qala’at Semaan about 60 miles East from Antioch
St Simeon’s whereabouts
Simeon surrounded by visitors
Simeon and his disciple Daniel
The function of the holy man in Late Antiquity
• Miracle-worker • Patron and protector• Mediator between heaven and earth• Intercessor who stands outside social relations
Saints in the imagination of their contemporaries