Tuesday, December 2
Relay Hermits
A conversation between the journalist William Dalrymple and the Syrian Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo:
The Metropolitan pointed to a geometric shape at the center of his blueprints. 'The church is to be based on St. Symeon's church at Qala'at Semaan: it will be an open octagon and in the middle will be our stylite's pillar.'
'As a symbol?'
'No, no. It will be the real thing. It will have a stylite on top of it.'
'Are you being serious?'
'Perfectly serious.'
'But where are you going to find a stylite?'
'We have one already. Fr. Ephrem Kerim has volunteered to be our first pillar-dweller. He is in Ireland, presently, at Maynooth, finishing his thesis. When he has his doctorate he wishes to mount a pillar.'
'I don't believe it.'
'But it is true.'
'I thought stylites died out hundreds of years ago.'
'No,' said the Metropolitan, shaking his head. 'According to my researches, there were still stylites in Georgia in the eighteenth century. It's a bit of a gap, but hardly unbridgeable.'
'And so your friend, Fr. Ephrem, is really prepared to spend the rest of his life perched up on...'
'He is determined to become as like St. Symeon as he can," said [the Metropolitan]. 'But, if he does find it too difficult, I know several keen young novices who will be happy to take it in turns to be stylites with him.'
'A kind of relay stylitism?'
'If you like.'
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
