Symeon Stylites the Elder

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The column of St. Symeon Stylites in Qalʿat Simʿan, where he also died.
Icon of hll. Symeon Stylites the Elder (left) and Symeon Stylites the Younger

Symeon Stylites the Elder , also called Simeon, the Stylite ( Syrian-Aramaic : ܫܡܥܘܢ ܕܐܣܛܘܢܐ šimʻon d-esṯoná), (* 389 in Sisan, today probably Samandağ in the border area between Syria and Cilicia ; † September 2, 459 in Qal'at Sim 'an ), Greek Συμεών ὁ Στυλίτης ( ὁ πρεσβύτερος “the elder” or ὁ ἐν τῇ μάνδρα “the one in the monastery”), went down in church history as the first Christian pillar saint . He lived as an anchorite for several decades on a pillar in order to find constant fellowship with God through strict asceticism .

Live and act

swell

Simeon himself did not write any scriptures; he was probably illiterate. That is why we are dependent on external sources for his life and work. Three ancient hagiographic biographies have come down to us. As is typical for the genre or the “subject area” of hagiography , the structure and content are shaped by stereotypical stylistic devices, with the historical being richly mixed with fictitious things. Theodoret of Kyrrhos wrote the 26th chapter of his Historia Religiosa (HR), which deals with Simeon, in 444, while Simeon was still alive . The other two biographies are known to have been written after Simeon's death. The Greek vita of an otherwise unknown Antonius (Ant.) Is of unknown origin and time of origin. The third hagiography is written in the Syrian language (Syr) and represents the most extensive description of Simeon's life. In addition, two homilies on Simeon have come down to us. The first was written by Severus of Antioch in 513; the other was written by Jacob von Sarug before 521.

Simeon's life descriptions differ in the sources.

Simeon was initially a shepherd (HR, Ant., Syr). After his conversion experience in a church, he lived with ascetics (HR) for two years and then went to the monastery of Eusebonas and Abibions (today Borj Seba) near Tell 'Ada. He lived there for ten years, then left the monastery because he had received negative attention due to excessively extreme ascetic practices. He went north to the village of Telneshin / Telanissos and the Maris monastery, today Deir Seman , near Aleppo in the north of today's Syria and 60 km east of Antioch . There he spent three years in a hut on top of a nearby mountain (HR, Syr). Thereupon he decided to live in the same place in the open air from now on (HR, Syr, Ant.). It was there that his first column was erected, which he probably received as a donation. It was initially only 2–5 meters high, but was soon increased until it was supposedly 40 cubits (about 18 meters) high in the end. At the top there was an approximately 2 m² platform. The sources agree that Simeon never left his pillar and lived on it until his death. After Simeon's death (459) a large pilgrim church and a baptistery were built there in 476-490, called Qal'at Sim'an (the fortress of Simeon).

Simeon's ascetic practices

Even before Simeon climbed his first pillar, he performed numerous ascetic practices according to the testimony in order to transform his earthly body.

So he fasted after his conversion experience and stood or kneeled for days in prayer. He was also buried in the earth up to his chest for two years. He also wrapped a coarse rope made of palm leaves around his body so tightly that it cut, and only ate food once a week. Later he began an asceticism that followed the principle of remaining in one place by having a chain attached to a stone around his foot. Since then, he has practiced fasting while standing as much as possible. At night he prayed in the form of bows.

Simeon was considered a saint who had found God through consistent practice. The ability and knowledge that he had as a result of this exercise was shown e.g. B. in his ability to heal as well as teaching down from the pillar twice a day, answering questions, giving blessings, and the like.

Emperor Theodosius II even climbed the pillar to seek advice from Symeon. In this way, Symeon the Stylite had a significant impact on politics and society. For the persecuted Christians in the Persian Empire , he was a symbol of salvation, because he stood up for the poor and the oppressed. One of his demands was an interest rate limit of six percent. During his lifetime, craftsmen in far-away Rome placed images of Symeon as a symbol in the entrance of their workshops.

The "martyr living between heaven and earth", the aérios martyr , died in 459 in Qal'at Sim'an . At first his death was hidden from the people. The body of Symeon was then transported with all pomp to Antioch , where the funeral ceremony was held for 30 days. Some of the precious relics came to Constantinople ten years later , while another part probably came before construction began on the Qalb Loze basilica . After his death, the cult of the stylite spread through imitators, and numerous places in the northern Syrian limestone massif became places of pilgrimage. Its festival was celebrated on January 5th in the west and on September 1st in the east. His example was followed up to the 10th century.

criticism

Initial criticism of the extreme way of life is said to have quickly fallen silent and it was believed that the local asceticism embodied by Symeon recognized the Syrian ideal of the hermit in the highest exaggeration. Later historians and philosophers saw, however, above all in the great social and political importance that monks could attain simply because of their ascetic public suffering, a sign of the decadence of the Roman Empire, which had been accelerated by Christianity. In his complete work on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, Edward Gibbon , one of the most important British historians , wrote that he “ could correctly assess the memorable transformation that took place in the Roman Empire within five hundred years” , who is able to " measure the distance between the character of Cato and Simeon."

Reception history

The Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel dealt with the life, religiosity and significance of Symeon in the 1965 feature film Simon in the Desert ( Simón del desierto ). The film makes use of strong surreal images and anachronisms .

Heiko Daniels' radio play Stylites - 37 years / 18 meters. Eine Hagiofonie (Director: Alexander Schuhmacher , Production: HR 2016) tells of the conflict between the legends about Symeon.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Nöldeke, Simeon der Säulenheilige, in: ders., Orientalische Skzen, Berlin 1892, 224–239, 233.
  2. ^ Edited in: The life of the holy Symeon Stylites (Hans Lietzmann), Leipzig 1908, 20–78.
  3. ^ Edited in: Acta martyrum et Sanctorum (Paul Bedjan), Vol. 4, Hildesheim, 1968, 507–644.
  4. ↑ See in particular Almut-Barbara Renger / Alexandra Stellmacher: The ascetic as a body of knowledge. On the embodied knowledge of Simeon Stylites in selected texts from late antiquity. In: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 62 (4), 2010, 313–338.
  5. ^ Almut-Barbara Renger / Alexandra Stellmacher: The ascetic as a body of knowledge. On the embodied knowledge of Simeon Stylites in selected texts from late antiquity. In: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 62 (4), 2010, 313–338
  6. ^ Almut-Barbara Renger / Alexandra Stellmacher: The ascetic as a body of knowledge. On the embodied knowledge of Simeon Stylites in selected texts from late antiquity. In: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 62 (4), 2010, 313–338
  7. ↑ Nicolaus Heutger:  Symeon Stylites the Elder. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 11, Bautz, Herzberg 1996, ISBN 3-88309-064-6 , Sp. 353-356.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  8. ^ Edward Gibbon , Decay and Fall of the Roman Empire : Vol. V Chapter XXXIII – XXXVIII, Munich, 2nd edition 2004, ISBN 3-423-59062-9 , pages 210–213, 213

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Stylites, Symeon the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stylites, Simeon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first pillar saint in church history
DATE OF BIRTH 389
PLACE OF BIRTH Sis (sisam)
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 459
Place of death Qal'at Sim'an