From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   THE ANGELS REJOICE   
      
   When I say,"Hail Mary"   
     the heavens bow down,   
     the angels rejoice,   
     the earth jubilates,   
     hell trembles,   
     and the devils take flight!   
      
     St. Francis of Assisi   
      
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   November 26th - St. Stylianus of Adrianopolis, Hermit,Visionary   
   (also known as Alypius)   
   Memorial 26 November   
   28 November (Eastern calendar)   
      
   We know very little of Saint Stylianus, so called because he was a   
   stylite, or pillar saint, which was not an easy task though the custom   
   spread quite widely in the East during the 6th through 8th centuries.   
      
   His unreliable legend says that his birth in Adrianopolis was   
   announced to his mother by the miraculous vision of a lamb with two   
   flaming candles on its horns, and another vision signified the   
   glorious future of the little child. Bishop Theodore is said to have   
   taken charge of Stylianus at the death of his father, when the saint   
   was three.   
      
   As soon as he came of age, his bishop made him a deacon and entrusted   
   him with the care of the parish. But at 30 he felt called to a life of   
   perfection and became a hermit, first in an isolated cell, fasting and   
   mortifying himself out of his love for God. It is said that he was   
   then led by visions to the top of a column, where he stayed for the   
   rest of his life, which lasted almost 100 years. There he was   
   persecuted by demons and accomplished many miracles both before and   
   after his death.   
      
   It is said that for 53 years he remained standing, day after day,   
   until at last his legs gave out. For 14 years thereafter, he remained   
   on his side without once leaving his pillar. At age 93 he was   
   delivered from the cold and isolation, from the rain and the insects,   
   from hunger, thirst, and extreme discomfort, and, by the grace of God,   
   ascended into the regions of light and peace.   
      
   The tradition of the stylites was begun by Saint Simeon the Ancient   
   (died 459), a rigorous ascetic in the tradition of the Syrian monks,   
   who was plagued by crowds of devoted or curious people. They pressed   
   around him so closely that in order to escape them without running   
   away, he climbed up on top of a column. In addition to solving his   
   immediate problem, he found two other advantages: it was conducive to   
   the stability that was so dear to the hearts of monks in retreat; and   
   it added to his ascetic sufferings. In order to enjoy these   
   advantages, and also to follow the example of Saint Simeon, who was   
   greatly venerated, many other anchorites also became stylites, and   
   thus lived solitary lives without really being solitary.   
      
   While stylites rejected the "world" in the New Testament sense of the   
   word, unlike the desert monks, the stylites performed a prophetic   
   ministry and were visited by many people. They preached, gave counsel,   
   reconciled enemies, reproved sinners and led them to repentance, cast   
   out devils, and often manifested a gift of prophecy.   
      
   The faithful came unceasingly to the foot of the column. When Simeon   
   saw among them a native of distant Gaul, he entrusted him with an   
   affectionate message for his sister, Saint Geneviève (died 500), the   
   patroness of Paris.   
      
   The Pré Spirituel records the strange duel between two stylites--one a   
   Catholic, the other a Monophysite. After long arguments the Catholic   
   stylite, who lived about 30 miles from Aegea, Cilicia, asked the   
   heretic to send him a sample of his eucharist. He then placed the   
   sample in a pot of boiling water, and also added a sample of his own   
   Eucharist. The results of the test were conclusive: Only the Catholic   
   Eucharist was unaffected by the water and heat (It's only a legend,   
   guys!). Another Monophysite stylite, who lived in the region of   
   Hierapolis, admitted his defeat after a debate with Saint Ephraim.   
      
   In most cases there was a ladder reaching up to the stylites perch so   
   that people could talk to them confidentially. If there was no ladder,   
   then the visitor called up to the stylite, who told him to come to the   
   foot of the column, and from there they talked to each other without   
   being overheard.   
      
   Sometimes the stylite's followers were reluctant to leave his   
   immediate vicinity, and in the case of Saint Stylianus two   
   communities, one of men and the other of women, grew up nearby. Some   
   of them, including his sister Mary, lived at the very foot of the   
   column and his mother set up a tent nearby and did all that she could   
   to relieve the sufferings of the ascetic so far as his piety and   
   resolution would allow her. Services were held seven times daily, and   
   everyone, including Saint Stylianus and his visitors took part.   
      
   It is possible that the ancient symbolism of the column as uniting   
   heaven and earth helped to stimulate the practice of stylites, even if   
   they themselves were not aware of the symbolism. It is equally   
   probable that the unusual nature of this way of life played a part in   
   its popularity. But it would be wrong to suppose that the stylites   
   were following a pagan rite or that stylites intended to draw   
   attention to themselves (though this was a side-effect).   
      
   Modern Christians should be able to understand the need for the   
   stylites to escape the pressing crowds while still remaining to preach   
   God's love; however, the true value of this kind of asceticism may be   
   harder to understand. Yet, they followed the tendencies of Syrian   
   asceticism in general.   
      
   The Syrian monks mortified their bodies by going without rest and   
   sleep, without simple hygiene, and by taking only enough food to avoid   
   suicide. Is this insanity? Not if it is understood. The purpose of   
   such ascetic practices is to use all their powers to prevent the   
   demands of the body from interfering with their spiritual aspirations.   
   Clearly the idea that the body is essentially evil underlay such   
   terrible asceticism; nor is this surprising in view of the influence   
   Manichaeism had on the attitudes and faith of the Syrian Christians.   
      
   The rule is this: The more the body suffers, the more the spirit   
   flowers. We can set aside the picturesque and the eccentric aspect.   
   The prophets, too, had strange ways for the ways of the Lord are not   
   our ways. We can also set aside the psycho-physiological aspects--the   
   manifold extensions of the strength of the spirit and the extreme   
   longevity of the stylites--and concentrate on essentials. The theory   
   of the stylites, which they practiced with magnificent heroism, is   
   faithful to the mystical theology of the Eastern Church, in accordance   
   with which supernatural peace is to be obtained by blessed tranquility   
   (hesychia) preceded by perfect temperance (encrateia) and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)