Coffee & Saints

Born: 390, Sisan, Cilicia [near modern Aleppo, Syria]
Died: 459, Telanissus, Syria

What I appreciate about St. Simeon the Stylite:
His story is so bizarre that it is not one easily forgotten! That may sound strange, but I am being serious. This is not a story that can get confused with other people, for sure.

Coffee Order:
I picture Saint Simeon the Stylite wanting a plain black coffee.

I began to love the stories of the Saints when I was young and found a children’s book on our shelf at home about Saint Bernadette – the young girl who encountered Mary in Lourdes. I started looking up more and more Saints, loving learning about people who did amazing things all in the name of the Lord – some even to the point of giving up their lives!

There are Saints from all over the globe – from different countries, professions, backgrounds. And yet they all have one thing in common: a deep unwavering love in the Lord. I think today’s Saint might just be one of the most unique that I have encountered so far.

For my coffee outing with Saint Simeon, I think he would have greatly appreciated a small, no-frills coffeeshop, the kind of place where when you park you think, “Are they even open?”. He was a hermit after all, so he would not have wanted to be around a ton of people, I am sure. I can very easily picture him not choosing a fancy coffee, instead keeping it simple with a plain black cup of java to satiate his thirst. A quiet atmosphere would also help him to open up and tell me about his life, in my mind.

Saint Simeon’s life started off pretty normal; he was born in modern-day Syria to a shepherd in the year 390. Growing up on a farm meant that he was used to hard work, and would need to help his father keep things running smoothly. After he was finished with his chores he would walk into town and attend Mass. He was known to ask a lot of questions about the faith – a healthy curiosity – as well as about the monastic life.

His healthy interest in the faith got him noticed, and the elder of his church approached Simeon and asked for his prayers. I wonder if this was a turning point for Simeon as he stood in the church that day. He had been coming with questions, searching for answers of his own, and then someone so devoted came to him, humbled himself, and asked Simeon to pray for him. I think this must have ignited a flame in Simeon, one that would never go out.

He desired to follow God, and before he was even eighteen years old he left his family to pursue God in the desert where he became a hermit. He did not tell his parents anything about this, causing them to search for him fruitlessly – finally giving up after two years. I wish that I could ask him why he did it this way. As a parent myself, the thought of one of my children leaving without talking to me about it, is truly horrifying. His poor mother and father must have been so extremely filled with grief. Why did it need to be this way? Well, we may never know. To me, this is another reminder that Saints are in fact human. They were never perfect. This part of his story really helps me to remember that.

Saint Simeon joined the desert monastery but was asked to leave when a jealous monk saw that he was giving his rations to the poor instead of taking care of himself. The monks said that either he was to leave or they would. Simeon humbly chose the path to leave, apologizing for not following the rules. The other monks became so impressed by his humility that they turned to begging him to stay! He did stay for a while, but he was looking for how to leave the monastic life.

He left again. Just like with his own family, he did not tell the monks where he was going. This meant that they sent groups out searching for him. Why did he do this a second time? Why would he just leave and not tell anyone where he was going? These are questions that I would ask of him over coffee in the empty shop.

Simeon found a carved out cave where he chose to live – only eating boiled lentils on Sunday and standing the entire time. His practices caught the attention of people who would come by to see the hermit who lived in constant prayer and self-denial.

Now, let us remember that this man wanted to be a hermit; however, due to his bizarre way of life, people were intrigued. Instead of leaving him alone, they came from all over to see him. I can only imagine how annoying that would be. This to me feels like when a celebrity is out shopping and the paparazzi runs at them, begging for an interview. The celebrity is thinking, “I’m literally just trying to buy some milk”.

So, this is where his story gets really bizarre. Saint Simeon, fed up with people bothering him and not letting him have his quiet prayer time (as a parent I can certainly relate to that feeling myself!), decides to move. Now, he could have chosen a new cave, maybe even a new country where no one knows him. However; his idea is to climb on top of a pillar and live there. No, you read that right. He lived on a pillar (the first one was about five feet nine inches but he must have felt that was too short because he lived for fifteen years on a forty-four foot pillar after that).

This time, people started to see him as an amazing man of the Lord and he had people who lived nearby wanting to help him. They built a wall around the base of the pillar so that it kept people from wanting to climb up and bother the Saint. The pillar was not wide, so he needed to sit or kneel the entire time.

While he was on the pillar, he did interact with people and there are many miracles attributed to this unique Saint. He is said to have healed people of mind and spirit – even driving out demons through the grace of God.

After twenty-seven years of not knowing where her son was, Simeon’s mother heard about his way of life. She traveled to the pillar, begging to see her son one last time. Simeone refused to let her see him. In her desperation, she attempted to climb the wall and fell, injuring herself in the process. This made Simeon approach her, wrapping his arms around her one last time. When she died, she was buried next to his pillar. Again, I want to ask him about this part of his life, why did he first refuse to see her? Was he embarrassed? Was he afraid that he would be overcome with grief? I wish I had some answers.

In the end, Simeon died on that pillar after forty-seven years of living on it. He was found kneeling in prayer. This is a man who truly gave God everything – fear, pain, prayer. He gave up so much, only devoting himself to God and not to earthly desires. While his story is radical and not something that most of us are called to ourselves, we can still learn a lot from this Saint. He shows us that even in the midst of pain and temptation, we can focus our eyes on the Lord. We are called not to live in sadness and desolation, but instead to rejoice in the King of Kings!

Prayer:
Saint Simeon, you believed so strongly in the strength of the Lord that you gave up earthly comfort and only focused on Him. Your desire to be with him lead you to make huge strides in self-denial, showing us that we are not called to live in sadness but to allow God to be our hope. Please pray for those who are suffering, may they lift these sorrows up to the Lord for him to hold. Amen.

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Saint! The artwork above was created using AI and my own imagination (with help from my wonderful husband Joe!) – this is how I picture what it would be like to sit with Saint Simeon the Stylite in a coffeeshop today. I would love for you to share your own thoughts in the comments. How do you picture Saint Simeon? What do you think he would have ordered at a coffee shop? Let me know below!

Cheers! ☕
Maggie