He was born in Antioch of Syria in the mid-4th century to poor parents. In his youth, he tended his father's sheep. Hearing the singing of the Beatitudes in the church, he desired a righteous life. He began to pray fervently to God, asking for guidance on the path to true righteousness. He had a dream about digging the ground for a foundation, where he was instructed to dig deeper. Deciding to become a monk, he left his parental home and took monastic vows in a nearby monastery, then secluded himself in the Syrian desert, where he founded a new form of asceticism known as 'stylitism.' Having built a pillar, he settled on it, depriving himself of the possibility to rest. Day and night, he prayed and contemplated God, enduring hardships: rain, heat, and cold, feeding on soaked wheat and water brought by kind people.
His ascetic feat became known in many countries, and visitors from Arabia, Persia, Armenia, Georgia, Italy, Spain, and Britain flocked to him. Many pagans, seeing his strength of spirit and listening to his teachings, embraced Christianity. Saint Simeon was granted the gift of healing both spiritual and physical ailments and could foresee the future. Emperor Theodosius II the Younger respected him and followed his advice. After his death, the widow Queen Eudocia was led astray into the Monophysite heresy, but Saint Simeon convinced her to return to the Orthodox faith. The new emperor Marcian secretly visited him and sought his counsel; upon his advice, the Fourth Ecumenical Council was convened in Chalcedon in 451, condemning the Monophysite false teaching.
He passed away during prayer in 459, and his relics rest in Antioch. The Orthodox Church calls him 'a heavenly man, an earthly angel, and a light of the universe.'
