Eastern Orthodox Saints Simeon Stylites and Nikita Stylites

In the history of Christianity, there are many saints whose incredible fortitude and complete immersion into the faith deserve your attention. Eastern Orthodox saints Simeon Stylites and Nikita Stylites are definitely among them. Having rejected the usual life, they devoted themselves to the Christian faith and humility. So let’s learn more about their lives and the miracles they performed.

Eastern Orthodox saints Simeon Stylites and Nikita Stylites 

Simeon Stylites and his asceticism

Simeon Stylites (pictured above) was the founder of a unique form of asceticism called stylism. The saint was born in the city of Sis (now Kozan, Turkey) and showed an interest in Christianity as early as age 13. Three years later, Simeon joined a monastery, where he became so immersed in faith and religion that he chose a quite unusual form of solitude – stylism. He settled on a high pillar (tower) to abstract himself from a large number of people who came to him for advice; all alone, he completely devoted himself to prayer.

The boys brought the saint bread and goat’s milk. At first, Simeon lived on a pillar about 3 meters high, but later, he moved to a tower with a height of 15 meters. Many monks could not understand the reason why the saint chose such a strict way of life and often tried to persuade Simeon to return to a regular living. However, the saint remained steadfast. He spent about 37 years standing on a pillar, praying to God and keeping his fast.

It is also worth mentioning that like some other Eastern Orthodox saints, Simeon Stylites received from God the gift of healing and foreseeing the future.

Nikita Stylites, one of Saint Simeon’s followers

Nikita Stylites was one of the followers of Saint Simeon. He gained fame for his asceticism in the Nikitsky monastery in the town of Pereslavl-Zalessky. After he visited a church and heard the preacher’s words about the purification of the soul, Nikita decided to leave his vicious life and wholly devote himself to the service to God. The saint went to the Nikitsky monastery and settled on a solitary stone pillar, where he abided in fasting and prayer until his death. For his ascetic life, Nikita Stylites received from God the gift of wonderworking, so now many believers pray with religious icons of the saint to heal from severe ailments.

Eastern Orthodox saints Simeon Stylites and Nikita Stylites are highly revered saints whose stories should be heard and learned from. Stay with us to know more about other important religious figures too!