In Vasmer Max's dictionary
genus. p. -a, ukr., blr. stovp, stovp, other Russian. stalp, st.-slav. stlаp πύργος, κιών, στήλη (Ostrom., Euch. Sin., Supr.), Bulgarian. stalp "pillar", Serbohorvian. stup, gen. p. stupa, Slovenian stolp, Czech. sloup, slvts. stlp, Polish sɫup, v.-luzh. stor, n.-luzh. sɫup, lab. staup “altar” (Trubetskoy, ZfslPh 1, 153). Praslav. *stъlpъ along with *stъlbъ (see pillar), related to lit. stul̃pas “pillar”, lt. stùlps “pillar; shin, calf", stulpe "middle bone of the leg"; see Trautman, BSW 290 et seq.; M.–E. 3, 1102; Specht 260; KZ 68, 123. Other isl. stolpi “pillar, column” is not borrowed. from Balt. or slav., contrary to Zubaty (Wurzeln 21 et seq.); Wed Stender-Petersen, below. In the same way, *stъlpъ cannot be considered based on the mere presence of -р- borrowings. from German, contrary to Mehringer (Wus I, 200), Stender-Petersen (280 et seq.); see Brückner, AfslPh 42, 139 et seq.; Kiparsky 86 et seq.; Thorpe 489; Holthausen, Awn. Wb. 283.
The meaning of the word pillar
Examples of the use of the word pillar in literature.
But at the same time, Christ and the apostles, on the other hand, can be considered as private individuals, pillars of religious perfection and complete despisers of the world.
And here are even logs of an octagon on all sides and at all heights, only the base of the octagonal tent is broken off from the pillar by a small canopy.
The Russian Slavs - Krivichi, Northerners, Vyatichi, Radimichi - performed funeral feasts over the dead: they showed their strength in various military games, burned the corpse on a large bonfire and, enclosing the ashes in an urn, placed it on a pillar in the vicinity of the roads.
Jonathan remembered Quimby's Gigley Pillar and how the haberdasher had asked for an extra bolt of fabric.
Anticipating the approach of winter, the beautiful birds moved south, into the hot reaches of Africa, perhaps beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
They fearlessly sail into the ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, into foggy Britain, into India, to the distant island of Taprobana, full of palm trees and monkeys, or to Serika - the land of silkworms, where temple roofs are hung with glass bells and people who worship merciful gods bring They donate not animals, but flowers and squares of gold and silver paper.
We will build a large ship, Scribonius, and sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules to visit the Isles of the Blessed.
Theoretically, one could declare him an impostor, but to be disgraced by such a rotten woman, and in addition to quarrel with Dolfinchik, Lun, Shirka and other pillars of the criminal world who recognized him, old people and youth, not to mention Kromeshnik himself and his people - there were no takers.
Lessing's struggle with such enemies as the head of German classicism, Gottsched, the translator of Horace, Pastor Lange, who was considered one of the pillars of learned burgher poetry, the antiquarian Klotz, and the reactionary theologian Goeze, stirred up the ideological life of Germany and contributed to the awakening of advanced democratic minds.
Turning to the study of heredity, Morgan, Johansen and other pillars of Mendelism-Morganism declared from the outset that they intended to study the phenomena of heredity independently of Darwin's theory of development.
Here reigns a religiosity distrustful of life, which plays into the hands of the pillars of society, who greet the living life that has broken through the Domostroevsky dams with an angry grumbling.
Jean Gerson, one of the pillars of all church politics, turned out to be the person in whom the adherents of Herart Hroot, who felt an impending threat, found their defender.
Moscow - a certain Polina Andreevna Lisitsyna, who arrived in Zavolzhsk not so long ago, but has already managed to make friends with all the pillars of Trans-Volga society.
While Pantagruel was composing the above verses, Panurge first planted on a high pillar the horns, skin and front right leg of a roe, then the ears of three hares, the back of a rabbit, the jaws of a seasoned hare, the wings of a pair of bustards, the legs of four doves, a bottle of vinegar, the horn where they put salt, a wooden spit, a frying needle, an old leaky cauldron, a gravy boat, a clay salt shaker and a Bovez glass.
He stood up, took one small packet of concentrate cubes from his backpack and solemnly placed it at the foot of the pillar.
Source: Maxim Moshkov library
Orthodox Life
On December 24, the Orthodox Church remembers the Venerables Daniel the Stylite and Luke the Stylite. What is the true meaning of the feat of pillarism, which even during the life of the saints aroused surprise among some, and censure among others?
Every person, in order to feel more or less protected and settled in this life, needs his own shelter, or, as they say, a roof over his head. True, everyone has their own ideas about what this very roof should be like, but in any case, the desire to have your own comfortable home has always been considered a completely natural human need. Therefore, anyone who dared to abandon normal living conditions and chose for himself a very harsh and rather strange, from the point of view of society, way of existence, caused surprise among those around him at best, and at worst, they hastened to classify such a selfless daredevil as a madman. Today it is difficult for us to imagine that someone would suddenly begin to arrange a place to live, say, on... a pillar, a tree or in a well (there were such ascetics), voluntarily exposing themselves to all sorts of inconveniences, hardships and trials, courageously enduring cold, heat, rain, wind.
Any phenomenon that seems to us to be a deviation from the norm, which we are unable to comprehend, is usually called anomalous or phenomenal. There are many such phenomenal manifestations in Christianity. One of them is asceticism in its various forms. Some forms of asceticism, in former times, and even more so in the present, are sometimes perceived even by Christians as certain extremes. What can we say about non-believers! However, all this is quite natural. There are people who spend their entire lives at the foot of the mountains, but it never occurs to them to storm the top. And there are those who are imbued with the desire to reach the highest mountain point and, like mountain climbers, day after day, overcoming obstacles, they stubbornly go towards achieving their goal. The thirst for the proximity of heaven makes them do incredible things. Asceticism is a constant and persistent movement towards heaven, towards God. And from this point of view, every Christian should be an ascetic to one degree or another. However, true ascetic asceticism cannot be the lot of many, because it requires enormous faith and love for God, self-denial, incredible spiritual, mental and physical efforts, and a certain inner attitude.
Among the various types of Christian asceticism, the most unusual is pillarism, which is very often put on a par with foolishness, because it also resembles “foolishness for Christ’s sake,” about which the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 4:10). Styliteism is a rather rare and mysterious phenomenon in the history of the Christian Church, and the attitude of researchers (especially representatives of the Western school) towards it is very ambiguous. Among the ascetics glorified by the Church who labored on the pillars, only about two dozen names are known. Although some authors who have studied this phenomenon state that in the 6th century the number of stylites in the Byzantine Empire was so great that state legislation gave them the status of a special class. Who belonged to this class? Initially, stylites included all hermits who settled on high, tight stone cliffs that had a natural origin and were shaped like pillars. In order to be in a state of vigilance and constant wakefulness during the feat of unceasing prayer, some of the ascetics, neglecting the danger of falling down, specially chose very narrow cliffs. When the hermit was unable to find a suitable cliff, he built himself a pillar in its likeness.
Styliteism is an exclusively Eastern phenomenon; it has not taken root in the West at all. There they did not approve of him and treated him with suspicion. In any case, of the Western stylites, only one such hermit is known, who labored in the Ardennes Mountains - this is Wulfilai of Trier. This type of asceticism is quite ancient; it arose, as historiographers and chroniclers believe, immediately after the end of the era of persecution of Christianity and martyrdom as its unique continuation. Knowing what physical and mental suffering these desperate lovers of God subjected themselves to, spending their lives on the pillars and performing amazing feats, they can truly be put on a par with the martyrs.
The pillar was perceived by the hermit as a prototype of the cross on which he crucified his flesh, striking its bodily sinful nature. At the same time, the pillar served for each ascetic as a kind of ladder, elevating him to perfection and bringing him closer to God. In addition, standing on a pillar was one of the ways to draw the attention of a society mired in sins and evading the fulfillment of God’s commandments to its moral fall and spiritual degradation. From this place of exaltation, the ascetic, like the Old Testament prophets, was engaged in such an unusual missionary service, first of all, through the way of his life, and then through the word - exhorting those around him, calling them to repentance and faith. The results of such preaching activities were sometimes so effective that entire communities gathered around the stylites and monasteries were created. It is believed that this type of asceticism arose in opposition to the pagan cult of mountains and hills. From the lives of the holy pillars it is known that some of them deliberately settled (like Daniel the Stylite) in an empty pagan temple, others (like the Monk Alypius) - in the place where idol pillars had previously stood. This also had its own special meaning - the destruction of idolatry and its replacement with Christian worship of God.
Some of the stylites from a very early age felt drawn to the ascetic life. Each of them, before taking on such a difficult feat, first underwent obedience and a certain ascetic training, as a rule, either in a monastery under the guidance of a spiritual mentor, or in a retreat, constantly practicing fasting, silence, prayer and contemplation, subjecting themselves to strict deprivation and teaching to resist the desires of the flesh. And only after this, compelled by the special action of God’s Providence and strengthened by grace, did he take the path of such service. The pillars on which the ascetics spent all their time varied in type and height (from 3 to 15 meters and above). Some of them were a pillar-shaped narrow tower with a lattice that resembled a balcony with a canopy on top. But there were such courageous stylites who refused the canopy, enduring the hardships of cold and heat, having only the sky above their heads as their only cover.
The Monk Alypius the Stylite was such a voluntary sufferer for 53 years. The most amazing thing is that with such a harsh and difficult lifestyle, almost all the stylites were long-lived. This fact testifies to the action of the strengthening grace of God in these righteous people. The feats of pillarism continued in the East until the 12th century, and in Rus' until the second half of the 15th century. The last of the famous Russian stylites, Savva Vishersky, died in 1460.
On December 24, the Orthodox Church honors two of the famous pillars - Saints Daniel and Luke. Saint Daniel (410 - 490) was a disciple of the Monk Simeon the Stylite, whom ancient church historians consider one of the founders of this type of ascetic work. He was born in Mesopotamia. In the life of the Monk Daniel the Stylite it is said that his birth occurred in an amazing way. His mother, Martha, was barren for a long time and suffered reproaches from her husband and relatives. One day, a desperate woman prayed with tears all night to God, promising that if a child was born, she would give it as a gift to Him. Soon she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The saint received his name only at the age of five from one abbot, by inspiration from above. At the age of 12, he secretly left home with the intention of entering a monastery and taking monastic vows. However, the abbot, looking at such a young age of Daniel, initially refused to tonsure him. The boy’s parents arrived and managed to persuade the abbot to take monastic vows. Not long after, the monk Daniel, together with the abbot, went on a trip to holy places. During this trip, the future hermit met with the Monk Simeon the Stylite, from whom he received instructions, blessings and predictions about his future feat of stylite life. First, the ascetic secluded himself for 9 years in an empty pagan temple, where he began to fight a horde of demons. Fasting and prayer were his main weapons. And only after passing this severe test, he, by the revelation of God, ascended the pillar. The first pillar for the monk was built by his friend Mark. Very soon people from surrounding villages learned about the ascetic. Immediately there were dissatisfied people, envious people, and slanderers who reviled him and accused this holy sufferer of pride and lust. They tried to destroy the pillar and drive out the hermit. But the humility, meekness, kindness and philanthropy of this righteous man conquered even his enemies, one of whom built him another, higher pillar.
During his lifetime, the saint performed many different miracles. The prayers of the Monk Daniel had such power that God healed those possessed by demons through him. Through the prayers of the saint, an heir was born to the Greek king Leo the Great. The king, rejoicing over the birth of his son and in gratitude for his prayers, erected a third pillar for him. The holy ascetic had the gift of clairvoyance and foresight. He predicted a great fire in Constantinople. The monk lived for a very long time on a pillar without a roof over his head and allowed it to be built, yielding to the king’s requests, only when one day, after a long snowfall and frost, the disciples found the stylite covered in ice. God also revealed to him the hour of his death. Gathering his disciples, he gave them a spiritual testament and asked them to bury with the relics of the three holy youths of Babylon - Ananias, Azariah and Misail, so that the Christians who came to his grave would honor not him, but the relics of the three youths. Thus, this righteous man retained his humility and humiliation before God even after death.
There is not much information about St. Luke, the New Stylite. What is known is that he was a warrior under the Greek king Romanus (919–944) and under Constantine the Porphyrogenitus (912–959). In 917, the Byzantine Empire was attacked by the Bulgarians. During the battle, many soldiers died, but Luke, by the Providence of God, remained alive. After this, he accepted monasticism and was ordained a presbyter. Jealous of high spiritual perfection, he climbed the pillar and began to succeed in more severe feats. Covering his body with iron chains, the monk observed a very strict fast, eating only once a week the prosphora and a few vegetables brought to him. Three years later, the holy hermit went to Mount Olympus, then to Constantinople, where, in order to maintain his vow of silence, he lived with a stone in his mouth. Finally, he settled in the city of Chalcedon and spent 45 years there on the pillar, becoming famous for his righteous life and performed miracles.
The ascetic life of all the pillars is a clear example of the Apostle Paul’s saying that: “...even if our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). The holy stylites showed the world the most amazing examples of the triumph of the spirit over the flesh. Their physical and spiritual nature, purified by feat, ascended to such heavenly heights that even while living on earth they achieved that godlikeness to which every person is called by the Creator.
Valentina Novikova
