STYLITE (from Greek στύλος “column”). — An anchorite who lived on top of a column. Almost entirely unknown in the West, stylites were fairly numerous in the East, especially in Syria and Mesopotamia; examples are not lacking in Egypt, Anatolia, Palestine, and Greece. The bizarre and heroic inventor of this form of asceticism was St. Simeon (q.v.), surnamed “the Stylite,” in the 5th century, and among his principal imitators were St. Daniel, St. Luke, and St. Alypius. The stylites flourished again around the 10th century, then gradually disappeared.
The origin of this penitential system is not to be attributed to pagan influence; historically it is established that St. Simeon devised the method under the impulse of personal circumstances. Moreover, in Syria, in contrast to the manner of the Egyptian cenobites, the anchorites adopted very strange forms of penance. The stylites were neither madmen nor proud, although their method was censured by the Egyptians as ostentatious. They were exceedingly severe with themselves but moderate in the advice they gave to their disciples. They therefore do not represent a deviation of monasticism but rather a characteristic branch of Eastern anchoritism.
Often the stylites’ column was an ancient ruin; sometimes it was erected expressly, as in the case of St. Simeon. His column, whose base is still preserved, was 16–18 m high. Some stylites had several columns at their disposal. The typical column consisted of steps to reach the base, the base itself, the shaft, the capital, a balustrade or parapet, and even a small cell like a nest; but some, for greater penance, refused such shelter. To ascend to the top, a ladder or a rope was used. Monasteries often formed around the columns; there was frequent attendance by pagan and Christian pilgrims, among them some emperors drawn by the holiness of the stylites, whose penance was extraordinary. Indeed, many never descended from the column, on which they died. The stylites ordinarily stood, practicing the “stasis,” so that foot ulcers were frequent; sometimes they succumbed to exposure. To this severe penance they added most austere fasts and reduced sleep to a minimum, leaning on the balustrade or sitting on a stool. Simeon, for example, kept vigil in prayer all night until the ninth hour, then spoke with the devotees who had gathered at the column, and toward sunset resumed his prayers. The liturgical life of the stylites was reduced to a minimum. Sometimes they received Communion, lifted up by a rope or brought by the deacon via the ladder. There were even a few priestly ordinations of stylites, sometimes performed by the bishop below extending his hands.
Some resemblance to the stylites was shown by anchorites who lived perched in trees, hence called “dendrites” (q.v.); they were always fewer in number than the stylites and never formed a true category as they did.