Saint
Simeon Stylites
Saint Simeon Stylites, the Elder
New Calendar September 1 Old Calendar September 14
Why they are a saint
Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Syrian Christian ascetic who achieved notability by living 36 years on top of a pillar near Aleppo. Several other stylites later followed his model. Simeon is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Life
Saint Simeon the Stylite was born in the Cappadocian village of Sisan to Christian parents, Sisotian and Martha. As a shepherd boy he was struck by the Beatitudes, and at eighteen he became a monk. His austerities alarmed the igumen, and he lived for a time in an empty well and later in a stony cave near Galanissa.
Seeking solitude from the crowds who came for healing and counsel, he chose a new form of asceticism, living on top of a pillar in prayer and fasting; Patriarch Domninos of Antioch celebrated the Liturgy there and gave him Communion. After his death, his disciple Anthony found him stooped in prayer on the pillar. He was buried near his pillar, and Anthony founded a monastery at the place.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source says he is prayed to for the return to the Church of those who have forsaken or been separated from her.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Simeon Stylites as a patron when they bear the name Simeon at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on September 1.
Prayer
O holy Simeon Stylites, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.