Venerable Daniel the Stylite

Venerable Daniel the Stylite was born around 409 in the village of Maratha near Samosata in Mesopotamia. From childhood he was drawn to monastic life and entered a monastery secretly at age twelve. Inspired by the ascetic feat of St. Simeon the Stylite, he was blessed by Simeon to withdraw near Constantinople in Thrace, first settling at an abandoned pagan shrine, then, with two disciples, building a pillar on which he spent over 33 years in fasting and prayer. Crowds of the suffering flocked to him and received healing and spiritual counsel; Emperors Leo I and Zeno sought his advice on matters of state. Daniel possessed the gift of foresight and predicted a great fire in Constantinople. He reposed around 493, at roughly eighty years of age, still atop his pillar.