Orthodox · 5th century
Venerable Daniel the “Stylite” [Pillar-Dweller] of Constantinople
Commemorated: December 24 (December 11, Old Style)
Life
Daniel was born about 409 at Maratha near Samosata in Mesopotamia and became a monk as a boy. On his travels he visited Simeon the Stylite on his pillar near Antioch. About 460 he settled at Anaplus on the Bosporus, north of Constantinople, and climbed a pillar; he spent 33 years on pillars there, and Emperor Leo I had a double column built for him.
Emperors and patriarchs came to consult him. In 476 he came down for the only time, to confront the usurper Basiliscus, who was backing the opponents of the Council of Chalcedon. He died about 490–493, aged over eighty. His Life was written by one of his disciples.
Places
- Place of birth: Samosata
- Place of death: Constantinople
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Lives of the Saints by St Dimitry of Rostov (1902–1916); Butler’s Lives of the Saints; the Roman Martyrology (1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.