For nearly forty years, a man stood on a pillar in the Syrian desert, and the world came to him. The Life of Saint Symeon the Stylite is one of the most extraordinary true stories of the ancient world: a shepherd boy whose longing for God led him to a life of astonishing self-denial, and finally to a narrow platform atop a stone column, where he prayed, preached, healed, and counseled the thousands who traveled from across the empire to see him. Written by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, who knew Symeon and visited him, this classic of early Christian spirituality is here retold in clear, warm, present-day English. It is a portrait of holiness that challenges our assumptions, a window into the world of the desert fathers, and a surprisingly tender story of human frailty and divine grace. Part of The World Scriptures Library.