10th century
Saint Luke the New Stylite
A former soldier turned priest who spent forty-five years atop a pillar at Chalcedon in the tenth century.
Biography
Luke lived in the mid-tenth century and came from Asia Minor. He first served as a soldier, keeping his purity and setting a good example for his fellow soldiers, before being ordained a priest and devoting himself to teaching his parish.
He later withdrew to ascetic life on Mount Olympus, then Constantinople, and finally Chalcedon, where he set up a pillar and preached from it, working many miracles. He remained on that pillar for forty-five whole years, until he fell asleep in the Lord with great spiritual radiance.