St. Simeon was born in Asia Minor of a poor family of shepherds. He became a shepherd like his father. One day, when he was still a young boy, he could not take his sheep out because it was snowing. So he went to church and there heard a reading of the Beatitudes-“Blessed are the poor in spirit…; Blessed are they who mourn…; Blessed are the clean of heart….” Not understanding these words of Jesus, he asked a holy old man for an explanation and then begged the Lord Himself to teach him how to become perfect. God in His goodness taught Simeon that he must first become very humble and then acquire the other virtues. At once Simeon asked to join a monastery.
Later he went to serve God in a lonely mountain spot, but he was so holy that people kept coming way up there to find him.
At last he had a very tall column built, and on the top of that pillar, he lived for forty years. He is called St. Simeon Stylite, from the word “stylos,” which means pillar. There was so little space on that pillar that he could never lie down. What a penance that was!
St. Simeon grew very close to God. He prayed constantly and taught the people who gathered beneath his pillar. Yet, no matter how many special favors God gave him, he never grew proud. He always stayed humble and held a very poor opinion of himself. That is why he became such a great Saint.
Today let us deny ourselves something like to do very much, so that we, too, may offer some penance to Our Lord to make us for our sins.
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