During a voyage he made with his abbot to Antioch, he passed by the city of Telanissos (today Deir Semaan) and received the benediction and encouragement of Simeon the Stylite.

The owner of the land where he placed his pillars had not been consulted, hence he appealed to the Byzantine emperor Leo I and patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople.

Due to continuous standing, his feet were reportedly covered with sores, cuts, and ulcers, and the winds of Thrace sometimes stripped him of his scanty clothing.

Accept, then, my object: strengthen me that I finish this painful course: give me grace to end it in holiness.

[4]The following is the advice he gave to his disciples just before his death:Hold fast humility, practice obedience, exercise hospitality, keep the fasts, observe the vigils, love poverty, and above all maintain charity, which is the first and great commandment; keep closely bound to all that regards piety, avoid the tares of the heretics.