September 1: Feast of Saint Symeon the Stylitetranslated

September 1 is the beginning of the Ecclesiastical year and the Church honors the memory of Jesus, who was the successor of the seer Moses, Saint Symeon the Stylist, the martyr Calliste and the holy forty female martyrs, who came from Adrianople in Thrace and were martyred under the emperor Licinius, and their teacher, Ammon of a deacon. We also celebrate the beginning of Indictus. "Indictos" comes from the Latin word indictio and means definition. This is a Roman imperial proclamation, according to which the subjects of the empire had to pay a tax for the maintenance of the army on the first of September. Because August completes the harvest of several types of fruit for the year, September is considered the beginning of the new year.

Saint Symeon the Stylite Saint Simeon the Stylite came from a village called Sisan, located between Syria and Cilicia. He lived in the 5th AD. century, under Emperor Leo the Great and Patriarch of Antioch of Martyrius. He loved prayer and exercise from his young age and with the help of his spiritual teachers he reached the highest levels of spiritual life.…