Today December 11

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Daniel the Stylite (died 493). He is the second of the famous pillar-sitting saints, the first being St. Simeon the Stylite, whose mantle he inherited at Simeon's death in 459. I was under the impression that the pillar dwellers neither came down nor had visitors come up, but they DID occasionally have folks come up. For example, Simeon had Daniel come up, where he gave him his blessing and his prophecy that he would suffer greatly for our Lord. And when (eventually) Daniel took his place at the top of a (different) pillar, he had St. Gennadius, the bishop, come up to lay hands on him to ordain him a priest. But in general, those ascetics stayed up there. It was cold, it was rugged, food was scanty to nonexistent -- but still they stayed and prayed, til some of them lost the use of their legs! (like St. Daniel did)

Modern folk like to laugh at them, but, gee, they have the right to express themselves in this dramatic way, don't they? Wouldn't the world, even the hagiographical world, be much poorer if everyone remained indoors on solid ground and always acted properly, for goodness' sake? I like to think of grizzled, tough and praying Daniel like an Indian holy man alone on top of the mountain. Folks would make the pilgrimage to ask the questions and relay the intentions important to them. Well, so did Daniel's visitors. From the great (Emperors Leo I and his successor Zeno were great admirers and humble petitioners) to the lowly, Daniel welcomed them all. You might think such severe conditions would breed a rather severe character, but you would be wrong. Daniel preached "the love of God and the care of the poor and almsgiving and brotherly love." Nice. Many flocked to see him. Some even came with a wicked intent, like those who sent a prostitute to dissuade him, or, failing that, to ridicule him. She wasn't able to seduce him, but lied and said that she did, until she finally broke down and named the names of the men who put her up to it.

And his pillar wasn't like a flagpole. It was actually 2 pillars fastened together with iron bars and masonry, with a little hut atop and a balcony all around. But it was still tough living. And Daniel didn't ascend to it until after 9 years of preparation.

He lived up there for many years while the world went on below. He had the spirit of the Desert Fathers with their tenacity and patience. St. Daniel, pray for us.