Our Reverend Father Simeon the Wonderworker

A young man named John arrived with his parents from Edessa [Several cities are known by the name of Edessa. In this case, it is probably understood that Edessa (now Urfa) was in the northern part of Mesopotamia.] to Antioch [Clearly Antioch of Syria.]

John was of marriageable age, so when his parents saw a very beautiful young woman named Martha there, they asked her father and mother if they would allow her to marry their son.

But the virgin did not want to be married, because she chose to defile herself to Christ, her God and Lord, to keep her virginity pure.

But Martha, because her parents urged her to marry, left them and hurried to the church near Antioch, where she fell down and prayed to the Lord with tears.

And there was a vision in this church that told Martha to obey her parents and get married.

In fulfilling God's will, the young woman accompanied John, not only assisting him in all the affairs of life but also guiding and instructing him in every good work. Martha adorned her life with fasting, abstinence, and prayer, seeking to please God.

The honest Martha often came to the church of the Predator and prayed here with great zeal to John the Predator, asking him to intercede with her from God with his prayers for the gift of giving birth to a child of male gender; at the same time, Martha promised to consecrate him, as once Anna Samuel (1 Kings 1:11), to the service of God.

A year after that, while Martha was asleep in prayer here at night, St. John the Evangelist appeared to her and said:

"Hope, wife, your prayer has been answered, and you will have what you asked for. Take this as a token of your Lord's favor".

Then the Lord appeared to her a second time and said, "Go to your husband, for you are going to have a son, and you are to give him the name Simeon".

And he shall eat of the breast of thy right hand, but the left hand shall not touch thee; for he is the son of the right hand; he shall eat no flesh, nor wine, nor any food of the hand of man; he shall eat bread, and honey, and salt, and water.

And thou shalt take great care to train him, to be a holy vessel unto the Lord our God, and in the second year after his birth thou shalt bring him to my church, and here thou shalt baptize him.

Martha, filled with fear and joy at the sight, gave great thanks to God and the holy ancestor of the Lord John. Then she returned to her husband's house and conceived from him.

Martha nursed her infant with her right breast, and sometimes, testing the words of St. John, the forerunner of Jesus, which she had seen in a vision, she gave her infant her left breast; but the infant, weeping, turned his face away from the left breast, and in no way would take the milk from it.

It was also remarkable that on any day when Martha ate meat or drank wine, the infant did not taste the milk at all from his mother's breast and remained hungry even until the next day.

Realizing the reason for the infant's dislike of food, Martha began to abstain from eating meat and wine and thus nourished the one who was to become the great fasting man, while she herself was constantly fasting and praying.

When the child was two years old, his parents took him to the church of Predetece and baptized him there. At the time of baptism, the child immediately spoke, saying clearly the following words: "I have no father, and I have no mother, and I have no mother". These words he repeated for seven days.

And when the child was weaned, they gave him bread, and honey, and water; for he would not eat meat, neither did he taste anything cooked.

When the baby was six years old, there was an earthquake in Antioch (during the reign of Justinian the Great) [Justinian I - Great reigned from 527 to 665].

During this earthquake, the stone house in which Simeon's parents lived collapsed, and his father was killed by the falling house, but his mother was spared because, according to God's will, she left the house during the earthquake and was in the temple; the baby Simeon was also not in the temple at that time.

But in the church of the holy first-born Stephen, where God has kept him whole and undefiled.

When Simeon left the church, he did not know which way to go home, for the ruins of the houses were everywhere.

And when he had not found his house, he wandered for a long time about the ruins of Antioch, until a godly woman, who knew his parents, took him upon her shoulders, and brought him up to a hill, which was not far from the city where she dwelt.

Blessed was Martha, the mother of Simeon, when she heard that her house had fallen, and thought that she and her husband were dead, and that her son had been strangled by the stone walls, and she wept greatly.

When she arrived, she found Simeon in the house of the woman mentioned, and the latter was surprised to tell Simeon's mother that the boy had not eaten anything for seven days, except a little bread and water.

Taking him, the mother went with him to the church of the Predator and thanked God and his approbation to John the Predator for keeping the boy alive; then she returned to herself.

One day, as Martha pondered within herself the visions she had had of the boy, and the many wonderful things that had already been accomplished in connection with the boy, she wondered what would come out of her son; asleep, she had this vision: she thought she had received wings and soared high, holding her hands

And she brought the young man, and offered him up to Jehovah, and said,

I have been blessed with many wives, and I have given the fruit of my womb to the Lord. And Martha dwelt with her son at a place in Antioch called Cherubim.

This name was given to the place by the following reason: Titus, son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome [Vespacian ruled the Roman Empire from 70 to 79 AD.

And he took the two cherubim of gold that were in the temple of Jerusalem, which were upon the ark of the covenant, and brought them to Antioch; and the place where the cherubim stood was called Cherubim.

While the blessed Martha was here with her child, Simeon had this vision: he saw the Lord Jesus Christ sitting on a high throne, and many righteous people from all sides were gathered to Him.

And the Garden of Bliss will be seen, and Hell will be on the west side.

Then the Spirit said to him, "My son, do not be afraid to listen; do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Then you will be a partaker of the inheritance God has prepared for those who love him".

The boy was filled with the wisdom of God and was given many mysteries and visions. As he was walking along, he saw a man dressed in white. He was told, "Follow me".

The man saw him and led him to the land of Tiberias, near Seleucia. The man led him to a place called Philae, where he lived among the wild animals like a sheep herder. He lived with the wild animals only, and no one saw him.

Night and day he was illuminated by an indescribable light, and Simeon received food from the hand of the bright man who brought him here.

Some time later, at the suggestion of the same man, Simeon climbed to the top of the mountain and found here a small monastery, the abbot of which was Blessed John, standing on the pillar.

This abbot had frequent visions predicting the coming of the blessed boy Simeon: for example, he saw a boy in white dress, sometimes heading to the monastery in a chariot, sometimes flying through the air and hovering over the monastery, sometimes standing on a bright pillar and with a pillar approaching

I'm going to the convent.

And he saw the angel of the LORD appear unto the child, and said unto him, Behold, this is he through whom thou shalt have salvation.

When, by God's will, blessed Simeon came to his monastery, the nuns were very surprised that such a small child, not even six years old, could walk alone through such a desert and find a monastery.

And when John saw him come down from the pillar, he knew that it was the same young man whom he had seen in the vision, and he took him, and wept, and laid him in his arms, and gave thanks to God.

And the child was of a very fair countenance, and his hair was white, and his eyes were pure and bright, and he showed all his goodness of soul; and the boy was meek, and quiet, and quick to answer, and prudent in speech, and full of heavenly gifts.

His fasting was this: sometimes after three days, sometimes after seven days, sometimes after ten days, he ate peas soaked in water and drank very little water.

When the king saw the young man's supernatural fasting, he was envious and wanted to kill him.

But when he began to execute his evil plan, his hand immediately became dry; he became sick all over his body, so that he was near death. As a result, he confessed his sin to his priest and blessed Simeon and repented in him.

The girl not only forgave her sin but also prayed to God to heal her. Immediately, she touched his hand and it was cured and all his flesh was made clean.

From that time on, the priests and the brothers honored this blessed boy even more, because they saw in him the one whom God had chosen for his service from his mother's womb.

After some time the blessed Simeon began to earnestly ask the brother to build him a pillar near the pillar of the abbey of John; according to his wish the pillar was erected by John.

And he stood on the pillar, imitating Father John.

At the beginning of his pilgrimage, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him as a Child of indescribable beauty. When he saw this Child, Saint Simeon was filled with love for Him with all his heart.

"Lord, how did they crucify you? " he asked. Jesus stretched out his hands and said", I am willing to die for them.

From that time on, St. Simeon forgot his body completely and became like a fleshless creature, leading an angelic life and surpassing even the elder John in his feats.

Every night John sang thirty psalms, and Simeon fifty, and sometimes eighty, and often the whole psalter in one night, without any sleep; and by day the saint praised the Lord continually.

But the old man, pitying Simeon's youth and fearing that he might become weary of such great labors, admonished him, saying, "Chado!

Leave your work, which exceeds human power, so that you do not even let us sleep; it is enough for you that you have been crucified for Christ from your birth; you need to have some, even a little, care for your body; you need to give yourself at least a brief sleep and take

I have given you everything. Just as I gave you the green plants, I have also given you everything that moves and lives.

And Simeon answered and said unto him,

"Food does not defile a man, but it causes sinful thoughts, darkening the mind, taking root in the passions, turning the spiritual man into the flesh, directing his thoughts to the worldly desires. But we who are foreigners must meditate on the law of the Lord day and night, so that we do not fall into the delusion of sleepiness and

(Ps. 118:28) The psalmist's words to God's people can help us to endure.

Especially to the praise of God, we must open our mouths with vigilance, so that we may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For myself, and not for others, I declare the law, for I must crush my young body with such great exploits.

One day, when Simeon was enlightened by the Holy Spirit, all the kingdoms of the devil and all the devil's dreams were revealed to him, for he saw the prince of darkness himself sitting on a great throne, with a shining crown on his head, and legions of demons before him.

The gold, silver, precious stones and pearls they possessed were hidden in a pool. The sound of trumpets, harps and other musical instruments were heard everywhere.

And sin was manifested in the form of a beautiful woman, after whom followed the seductive servants who tempted men to sin: the spirit of vanity, the spirit of uncleanness, the spirit of sloth, and the spirit of greed; the serpent that never was satisfied with his mouth, ready to devour the whole world.

These tempting spirits tried to entice Simeon to sin, and they urged him to sin with various cunning words, but he, surrounded by his usual weapon - the sign of the honest cross - and calling on the name of Christ, always drove away from himself all those demonic dreams, like the sun drives away

The darkness.

And when Simeon had looked into the church, he saw the throne of God, and the glory of God shone from it, and Simeon also. And one of the patriarchs was sent from the church to St. Simeon, having in his hand the perfume of myrrh, and laying it upon the head of Simeon, he said:

By the power of his anointing thou didst cast out devils, and by the power of the most high thou girdedst thyself, and didst break in pieces thousands, and overthrew tens of thousands; and thou didst wait for thy Maker, for the enemy shall not prevail against him, neither shall the son of wickedness afflict him.

And it came to pass in that hour, that Simeon had power over unclean spirits, and healed them of all manner of diseases and sicknesses.

"Father", he said, "the Lord has recently revealed to me the power of Satan and all his evil deeds.

"Even if the demonic force tries to do us a lot of harm, it will not succeed. "The old man saw that the boy had nothing to do with the temptations of the demon and was afraid that he might become arrogant.

"In any case, my child, we must be wary of the many tricks of the demons, and not rely on our own virtue alone; for our enemy is clothed in iron boots, always trying to entice the monks into temptation; and always as soon as he

He sees an opportunity, builds a heavy wall against the monks.

We must always pray to God and ask for help from Immanuel [Immanuel - the name of the Messiah or Jesus Christ in Isaiah's famous prophecy about the birth of the Son by the Virgin (Isaiah 7:14) This name means from the Hebrew: <unk>God with us<unk>] so that He will always be with us and defeat all the power of the enemy.

While the saints were thus conversing, Satan, hearing their conversation, became enraged and began to grind his teeth at the young adventurer; then he began to frighten him with various dream images, turning himself into ferocious snakes, then into beasts, attacking him every day and every night and as if

They're going to eat him.

Blessed Simeon, having God the Most High as his helper, said: "I will not be afraid of anything dreadful by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the pestilence that devastates at noonday". - Ps. 90:5-6.

On the night of December, precisely in the second watch of the night, the devil, gathering all his legions, suddenly went to St. Simeon and, tearing down the roof over the pillar, threw the blessed Simeon down from the pillar.

But the boy was protected by the hand of God, so the saint stood by the pillar as if unharmed, with a cheerful spirit, for he was not afraid of the enemy's attack.

But the Reverend John, thinking that Simeon had already been killed by thunder and lightning, began to weep and asked the monks to go and see if the boy was alive and on the stake.

but they would not say a word to him for fear of the demon - possessed. Some of them, however, said to one another,

"Where is this child's feasting? Where are his powers? Where are his miracles? Let him save himself now. " When Simon heard that John was weeping for the old man, he cried out to him,

"Father, do not make me suffer, for I have suffered no harm, being guarded by the grace of Christ, and the devil is ashamed.

When they came in the morning, they thought he was dead, but when they saw him alive and well; his face was like the face of an angel of the Lord.

Ephraim, the archbishop of Antioch, heard of blessed Simeon.

When Ephraim heard of the great exploits he had performed in his life, he went to him and saw the young man, so young in body, but already perfect in virtuous life, who had crucified himself for Christ, he glorified God and returned to his city with tears, telling everywhere for the benefit of the citizens the harsh way.

the life of a servant of Christ.

From that time on, many came to blessed Simeon, both monks and laymen, some to see him, others to enjoy his inspired conversation, and finally others to be healed of their physical ailments, seeing in Simeon an unpaid physician and

The healer.

One day the blessed Simeon asked those who came to him for a strong and hard rope, and secretly from everyone he wrapped his body with it, so that the rope penetrated to his bones; his body was covered with sores from which blood flowed; a hairpiece, soaked in blood, stuck to the holy body; his flesh had already begun to rot.

But St. Simeon endured his feat bravely, until finally the stench of his rotting flesh began to come out.

The men who had gone up to him on the pillar did not know at first where the stench was coming from, but when they realized the great power of the saint, they told John all about it.

John, frightened by this great feat, ordered the rope to be removed from Simeon's body and prevented him from subjecting his body to such fierce torture.

And when he had called the brethren together, the elder John caused him to speak, and he himself hearkened kindly. And the young man was a wise and a good teacher of the elders, for his mouth was full of the grace of the Holy Ghost.

The elderly John called Simeon the new David because of his gift of teaching; he also told him of a vision he had of him in a dream, namely, that he saw as it were a divine power holding in its right hand a honeycomb flowing over the head of the lad.

Another elder asked his brother, pointing to the pillar of Simeon, "Are the doves in this pillar?" The brothers said to him, "No". Then the elder said, "I saw a white form of a dove flying to the boy through the door, and then after an hour it left him and went up to heaven".

While the elder was conversing with his brother, blessed Simeon had a vision: he seemed to be amazed at the height and flew over the whole universe as if he had wings; then he imagined that he was lifted by seven stairs to a high mountain, where, like the holy Apostle Paul, he saw what

What "no eye has seen", what "no ear has heard". - 1 Cor. 2:9.

And when he was come down from the throne, he said, What have I seen? And he said, The seven heavens which thou hast seen.

And the saint saw paradise, and beautiful gardens, and bright and spacious chambers, and a fountain of peace running therein, and the saint saw no one therein but Adam and the wise robber.

And he said, Blessed be God, who hath been gracious unto thee, lad! And the young man prospered more and more in the works of the fast: if any man came to him naked, he would take off his garments, and give them to him that came, and he would be naked, both in the summer and in the winter.

And he would not put on a garment for him, lest he should die of cold and cold, but he beat his breast, and wept, saying, Woe unto me!

Here are the forty holy martyrs who for the sake of Christ endured the cold and cold in the lake, and I am afraid to freeze a little.

How then shall I be delivered from the everlasting gnashing of teeth? and where shall I share the portion of the saints? And he wept many days with these words, and with such.

"What do you want to do with yourself, Simeon? You've only got a knife to kill yourself with".

And after a while Simeon devised a torture for his flesh, and he sat upon his feet, and stood not up for a whole year; and his thighs and his thighs began to rot, and the stench of the rot spread round about him.

And John called him, and asked him to heal the leprosy. And he smiled, and said, As my Lord liveth, let not the hand of man touch me.

The Lord helped him, and immediately the boy stood up and was not hurt in the least. Then he fell on his knees and praised God.

On the morning of the feast of Pentecost, Simeon asked St. John, "Father, who is worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, just as the apostles received him in tongues of fire?"

The psalmist said: "The desire of those fearing him he will perform, and their cry for help he will hear, and he will save them".

And when he had said these things, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and prayed with his heart,

O Lord, who sendest thy Holy Spirit upon thy holy disciples and apostles, send the gift of thy grace upon me also: "Give me understanding, that I may learn thy precepts" (Ps. 118:73), for thou canst "out of the mouth of babes I will praise thee" (Ps. 8:3).

Put your Holy Spirit upon me, that I may declare unto men the words of eternal life.

While the saint was praying in this way, the Holy Spirit descended on him from heaven in the form of a burning candle and filled his heart with wisdom and understanding, so that the saint began to speak many words and teach them from the divine Scriptures; and no one could resist the wisdom of the spirit that was in him.

And not only by word of mouth, but also in the letters of the saint, he told many soul-saving conversations about transgression, repentance, the incarnation of Christ, the coming judgment; besides, he explained many uncomfortable passages of the Holy Scriptures.

Now I realized that he would do many miracles, almost as glorious as the Acts of the Apostles.

The people were amazed at his teaching and at the miraculous signs he was doing, and they were all filled with awe.

Some of the elders saw in a dream three chambers, three thrones on them, and three crowns lying on the thrones.

And Simeon, who was as bright as the sun in the glory of his angels, rose up from the earth to the heavens, and he sought to climb a column, and it was built for him, and its height was forty steps.

When Simeon was about to climb the pillar, the archbishop of Antioch and the bishop of Seleucia, who had heard of the young man's exploits, came to him.

When they arrived at the monastery with their clergy, they took the blessed boy with reverence, led him with lighted candles first to the church, to the holy altar, where they consecrated him as a deacon, and then with the singing of psalms raised him to the pillar.

The elderly John was deeply troubled by his spirit because he could not see the boy's face. Simeon went up to the high pillar and showed everyone his angelic life, which was like cherubs, and he continued to praise God.

But so that no one would become conceited and arrogant before God, he was given a thorn in the flesh by the devil to tempt him.

A helper against an opponent who rebels against him.

Then Simeon saw a righteous man, bright-faced, with gray hair, coming down from heaven, dressed in the priestly robe and holding a chalice with the sacraments of the Body and Blood of Christ in his hand, and the whole air was filled with an ineffable fragrance.

Blessed Simeon, he gave him the holy and life-giving Mysteries and said:

And he said unto him, Be strong, and let thy heart be strong; for from henceforth thou shalt not be troubled by dreams, but be of good cheer, and put thy trust in God. And Simeon was filled with joy, and praised God.

The blessed young man guarded himself from various unpleasant thoughts as well as from conversations with people: every day he locked himself up until nine o'clock, and he did not want to talk to anyone except God alone.

And it came to pass, when the time came for the death of the father of John the Baptist, that Simeon, beholding the death of the father, sent unto John, saying, Be not grieved, my father, if thou hearest of the day of thy death; for death is the common lot of all men.

I know that now Christ has called you to rest so that you, after your labors, can rest with the rest of the saints.

Give me, my good father, the blessing of Abraham, and remember me when you come to worship the throne of the Most Holy and One True Trinity, and pray for us, that we too, having conquered the world, may inherit the kingdom of heaven and see one another there.

When John heard these words, he did not doubt them, and his heart was not afraid, for he had been about to die, although he had not suffered any illness at that time, but his body was in good health.

"May God the Father, who has redeemed you, and the only begotten Son of God the Father, whom you love, and the living Spirit of God, whom you desire with all your heart, bless you.

Let them that bless thee be blessed, and let him that curseth thee be cursed. Jehovah give thee honour and glory, because thou hast honoured me, thy spiritual father, as thy natural father.

And all the brethren were astonished, and said unto him, What sayest thou of this child?

"I wish you all to be like Simeon in his fervent prayer to God, and to be pleased with the prayerful help of this young man, for he is a vessel chosen by God Himself, great and honorable.

Then Abba John taught his brethren the saving words and prayed for them; then he lay down on his bed as if to rest for a while, and soon he fell asleep in a sweet sleep forever, without any illness in his body, and thus departed to the other blessed fathers.

After the death of the blessed elder John, Saint Simeon began to undertake even greater works.

He prayed from early in the morning until nine o'clock, then after nine o'clock he practiced reading books and rewriting them until the sun went down, then at sunset he prayed again, and he stayed awake all night in constant prayer until dawn.

When it was daytime, Simeon let a sleeping spell take him for a short time, then he took a little nap, and soon got up and began his usual prayer routine.

He held the incense in his right hand and spread it around him without burning coals, and at times he heard the voice of a crowd in the air singing along with him: "Hallelujah!

For thirty days and thirty nights he prayed to God to take away his sleep, and God said to him, "It is enough for you to rest, even a little while, in your body".

But the devil, not being able to endure the glorious feat of blessed Simeon, again armed himself against him with all his army, trying to frighten him with various dream images; sometimes he transformed himself into serpents, sometimes into various beasts, aiming with his mouth at the saint; sometimes he transformed himself into some kind of

An unusual bird, with a face like a young man, that was leaning toward the saint; sometimes it appeared to him in the form of many warriors marching on the rampart with great cries, intent on driving the saint from the pillar and knocking the pillar to the ground.

One day the devil struck the pillar with a large stone, and the pillar bent as if it were about to fall, but the invisible power of God held it up and made it stand.

This is the last time I fight you, and if you defeat me, I will leave you for good.

In a holy and divine vision he saw heaven open and our Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by an indescribable radiance like a flame of fire, with the holy archangels, Michael and Gabriel, standing before the Lord, one on his right and the other on his left.

And a purple cloud was under the feet of the Lord. And when Simeon saw it, he worshipped his Lord, and stretched out his hands unto him, and asked him to hasten on his mercy to bring him good fruit. And the Lord blessed Simeon three times with his fingers.

And he looked down, and behold, there were many devils upon the earth, and their appearance was as the appearance of wild beasts, and as the appearance of wild goats; and the Lord gave him power over all these devils, that he might drive them out. And the rod of the dove was given him for a sign of this power from the Lord.

and he cast out demons and healed many sick people, even raising the dead.

And there was a certain man whose son was dead, and the man came down to the saint, and wept before the saint, and besought the Lord to make supplication for his dead son, and the saint prayed to the man, and said, Go in the name of the Lord, for thy son liveth.

The man believed the words of the holy man and went home. He found his son alive and went with him to the temple, praising God and showing great favor to him.

And Simeon saw the Lord our God standing before him in the ranks of the angels, the chief of the angels having in their hands a crown of precious stones, and upon the crown a cross shining as lightning.

When Simeon saw this, he said to the angels, "Don't take my hair from me. I have put it on for the name of Christ".

"Therefore you will receive the crown of Christ, and you will be clothed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and you will share with the saints in the kingdom of eternity".

"Lord, Creator of all things, "if it please you to give me the glory of your saints in your kingdom,

And Simeon heard that the Lord had regarded his prayer, and behold, angels appeared unto the blessed one, and put a pure robe upon his head, and a crown upon his head, and cried with a loud voice,

"Blessed is the Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, and blessed is his servant Simeon, who, after the appearance of the holy Simeon, had not eaten any earthly food until the end of his life, but ate the heavenly bread brought to him by the angel.

Much has been said of the great miracles of St. Simeon, and of the glory of his exploits; but here are but a few of the many exploits of the blessed Simeon.

One day, Saint Simeon was revealed all the calamities that were soon to befall the city of Antioch and all its surroundings: Simeon saw an angel flying in the air over the city of Antioch with a sword in his hand.

And the holy man began to pray to Jehovah with all his heart, to make supplication before God for the city of Antioch, as Moses had done, and to ask the Lord to turn away his anger from his people.

Behold, the cry of this city is come up before me; and my anger is kindled against this city, and I will devour it with fire, and with the sword, and with death; for they have provoked me to anger, and I will give it into the hand of a people that have no understanding.

St. Simeon spoke of this vision to all the inhabitants of the city who came to him and exhorted them to repent of their sins.

After a short time, the Lord indeed raised up over Antiochus Khosrau, the king of Persia (grandfather of the young Khosrau, who took captive the life-giving tree of the cross of the Lord in Jerusalem) [Khosrau (or more accurately Khosrov) from Persian means king in general.

This title was usually added to the proper name of the king or the king. In this case, it is understood that Khosrau I Anushirvan, who ruled from 531 to 579, his grandson Khosrau II Parvez (ruled from 590 to 579) was the first king of the Khosrau dynasty.

The cross was returned in 628 by the successor of Khosrow II, Svros, after concluding peace with the Greek emperor Heraclius.]

And Hazor came with a great army of the Persians and Chaldeans, and fought with the inhabitants of Antioch.

And blessed was Simeon, who was upon the pillar, and was under God's protection from the barbarians that came into the land; and he prayed earnestly unto the Lord, to turn away his anger from the city, and not to deliver it into the hand of the enemies; but he could not pray to God, and satisfy the righteous wrath of God.

St. Simeon had a new vision, and as he was in the midst of it, he saw before him a shining cross, and at the cross two angels with sharp bows and arrows in their hands.

This cross hath been sent to thee by the Lord for thy protection, as a sign of peace, for thou shalt not be touched by the wrath of God upon this land.

And Simeon saw that the city was taken, and that the enemy went through the midst of it, and that there was a great cry and a great mourning, and that some of the people were slain with the sword, and that some were taken captive, and that some leapt from the walls of the city, and fled. And he saw two asses of his, among these last.

The monks, fearing a barbarian invasion, abandoned the monastery and the mountain and fled to the city; but as these monks were fleeing the city, they were overtaken by the barbarians, one of whom was slain with the sword and the other taken captive.

And it came to pass in a short time, after the vision, that the city of Antioch was taken by the enemy, and given into the power of the sword and fire, and many citizens were taken captive; but by the prayer of Simeon some citizens escaped from the hands of the barbarians.

And when they entered the city, many of the people of the city fled from the gates that were not yet occupied, and many of the people of the city fled from the walls, and some of them sought refuge in the mountains and the deserts by the mercy of their Lord, except the two eunuchs mentioned before.

The barbarians also came to the mountain on which the monastery and the column of Simeon were located, but returned with nothing; for the mountain was covered by them, as Mount Sinai was once, with darkness and cloud (Exodus 19:16), so that the barbarians saw neither the monastery nor the column.

Many of the enemies were frightened and driven to flight by some invisible force; they fled in such great fear as if they were being pursued by a host of armed soldiers; for the prayer of St. Simeon was a terrible and invincible weapon against the adversaries.

None of the monks who had fought in the monastery were harmed by the barbarians, except for the two monks mentioned above, who fled from the monastery to the city out of fear of the enemy.

And when the barbarians had departed from that country, many wounded came to the saint, and Simeon healed them all.

Moreover, the holy one delivered from bondage and captivity many citizens already taken captive; for all those who merely mentioned the name of Simeonov, being in bondage, were now freed from them; the bondage fell from their feet and hands, and they walked among the barbarians, being unnoticed by them, and then came to their country without being noticed.

Any interference from the enemy.

The above-mentioned nun (whose companion had fallen by the sword of the enemy) was saved from captivity in this way.

"Only when we remembered the blessed Simeon, and with tears of compassion cried to him for help, did the bands that were upon us immediately loosen and fall off by themselves; then we passed among the barbarians, for none of them asked us anything or hindered us.

Near the city of Antioch there was a man who was blind. He used to sit by the hill and beg from those who passed by.

And when the barbarians had come hastily to the city, one of them smote the old man with his sword in the neck, and cut not off his head, but wounded him mortally; and the old man lay in the pool of blood, and was barely alive.

And when Simeon the holy one saw all this, he sent and took the old man, and put the old man upon his horn, and brought him to the pillar of Simeon, and he took the earth in his hand, and anointed it with holy water, and anointed it upon the wound, saying,

And immediately the head of the old man was restored, and grew again, and was made whole. And when the old man was healed of his wound, Simeon said, Behold, his eyes were opened.

When all saw what had happened, they all praised God.

As all this interfered with his silent life, he decided to leave the pillar on which he had stood for eight years in order to retreat to some other, quieter place.

And there was a mountain not far off, very high, and there was no water in it; and no man could go up to it, because of the waterlessness thereof; and there were only wild beasts, and serpents, and every kind of venomous reptile therein. And Simeon thought to dwell therein.

While he was thinking about this, the Lord appeared to him in a cloud from heaven with many angels.

"Simeon, be sure to go up to this beautiful mountain [the beautiful mountain was in the triangle formed by the cities: Antioch on the river Orontes, Seleucia-Seria and Rossum] for from now on this mountain will be called by this name; on it I will show all my grace to you in wonder.

And behold, a high hill and a rock were shown to the holy man upon the mountain, where Jehovah's feet stood; and the glory of Jehovah shone as the sun at the foot thereof; and Jehovah said to Simeon, Stand upon the rock, and go.

And when the vision was ended, Simeon called his brethren unto him, and told them of the commandment of the Lord, that he should go up to that mountain; and he set an old man and an experienced man over them, and he went down from his pillar, and went with his brethren, weeping for his departure.

And when he was come near to the mount of the sanctuary, he stood and prayed a long time before God; and when he had prayed, the voice of the multitude of the angels was heard saying, Amen.

Then blessed Simeon ordered his disciples to place a stone cross on the spot as a permanent reminder of the angelic voice heard there.

And he looked down upon the hill that was on the beautiful mountain, and beheld the glory of God shining upon it; and he went up to it with joy, and stood upon the rock where he had seen the Lord. And blessed Simeon was nineteen years old at that time.

But St. Simeon could not rest from his visitors, so the next morning the people came to Simeon's monastery and wept bitterly.

And when the people heard that he had departed from thence to another mountain, they ran to him, bringing many sick and crippled with them. And when he saw them, he was grieved, because they had not allowed him to be here with God alone.

However, out of compassion for the newcomers, he bowed down in mercy and, laying his hands on the sick ones by calling on the name of Christ, healed them and sent them away perfectly healthy.

And it came to pass, when a lion, dwelling in the hill, came upon a man that came to the priest, that the lion was ready to tear the man to pieces; and the man did not hope to escape from the beast, but cried, For the sake of Simeon, the beloved of God, do me no harm.

And immediately the lion, when he heard the name of Simeon, humbled himself, and did no harm to the man; but the man came to the saint, and told him what had happened. The rest of the guests, fearing the beast, asked the saint to drive him from the mountain, so that all might come to the saint without fear.

The monk called for Anastasius, one of his disciples, from whom Jesus had once cast seven demons, and said to him: "Go to the lion's den and tell him: 'I am the Son of God.'"

"Simeon, the servant of Christ, says to you in the name of God, 'Flee from this mountain; let there be no lodging for you here, lest you frighten the brethren who come here.' Anastasius went to the lion's den and found a beast in it, and spoke to him the words of the saint, speaking to him as to a wise creature.

And he departed thence in haste, and went into the wilderness, and hurt no man in the way; and there were pestilences in the land, and many died.

And the holy one, perceiving in his spirit that it was because of the wrath of God for the sins of the people, began to make supplication to the Lord with tears, asking that his righteous wrath might be turned from his people. And he heard the holy voice from the Lord, saying,

Why hast thou smitten the heart of this people, and loved them more than me? for their transgression is great, and their iniquity is great; and I have given thee the power to heal, and to heal their diseases, saith Jehovah.

The people who lived near the place were just getting sick, but now they were calling for the help of God's favourite Saint Simeon and saw him (in dream visions) visiting their homes, covering their cross and giving healing to all.

And when the vision of their sleep was ended, they awoke, and were sound in spirit, and called the name of Simeon, and lit their lamps, and filled their houses with oil, and burned incense, and said, O Christ, our God, by the prayer of thy servant Simeon, who standeth on Mount Sinai, have mercy upon us.

And we have received mercy from our Lord.

Those who had no more oil poured oil into the incense and set it on fire, and the incense did not go out until the third and fourth days, as if the incense were always poured fresh oil. Thus, miraculously, their incense did not run out of oil, because of the invocation of Simeon's name.

One day the Lord revealed to St. Simeon the impending death of Ephraim, the most holy archbishop of Antioch. St. Simeon called his brother to him and told them about it; then he asked the brothers to pray more fervently to the Lord, for, he said, the great pillar of the church was about to fall.

But the brethren said, We have heard that the archbishop is in good health. And the next day, after the morning song, which was Friday, St. Simeon summoned the brethren again to himself, and said to them with hearty consolation:

"The holy man Ephraim of God was sleeping last night, for I saw his soul being taken up to heaven by the holy angels.

- Woe to Antioch, because it no longer has Ephraim! Woe to the city, because from it Ephraim is now taken! [Ephraim patriarched from 627 to 545 A.D.] After the death of blessed Ephraim, the archbishop's throne was taken by Domnus [Domnus II patriarched from 546 to 560 A.D.] who came to Antioch from Constantinople.

And it came to pass, when Simeon heard of it, that he prophesied that the house of God would punish him for his unmerciful conduct; and in a very short time he fell into a grievous sickness, and his hands and his feet were bent, so that he could neither walk nor move his hands, but lay like a piece of wood.

And it came to pass, when Simeon had been told that there should be an earthquake in Antioch, greater than the first, that he wept, and prayed to God that his anger might be turned away.

And there was an earthquake, and the wall of the city fell down, and the buildings of the city were thrown down to the ground; and all the people of the city were greatly afraid.

And many of the people were slain by the walls of the city; and the rest of the people made haste to the mountain of beauty, to the man of God, and besought him with tears to entreat the Lord to cease the plague.

When the saint prayed with great earnestness, the earthquake ceased; then the saint saw the sky open from the east; from there came forth an ineffable light, signifying God's favor to repentant people.

Then, by God's command, St. Simeon built a monastery on the Wonder Mountain, and built a temple with the hands of the people he had healed (for there were many who had received healing from their diseases by the prayer of St. Simeon).

The amount of water for the monastery; by his prayer the wheat in the granary of the monastery also increased, so that it did not decrease in quantity until three years, despite the fact that from the granaries it was taken in large quantities to feed many visitors.

And afterwards, St. Simeon built a new pillar, upon which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared with His holy angels, and consecrated the pillar.

When blessed Simeon was thirty-three years old, by the command of God (revealed to the saint in a revelation), Simeon decided to accept consecration as a priest, although he had not previously wanted to accept this high rank.

According to God's plan, Dionysius, the bishop of Seleucia, came to blessed Simeon and ordained him as a priest. After being consecrated a priest, blessed Simeon with great reverence made the divine bloodless Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, serving God in integrity like an angel.

He often had many miraculous visions and revelations from God, and he foretold future events, seeing things as if they were real, and the holy one saw into the secrets of men's hearts.

And he performed many signs and wonders on the land and on the sea in visions, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the lepers, cleansing the lame, casting out demons, binding the mouths of wild beasts, healing every kind of disease and sickness, raising the dead.

(John 14:12) Jesus said: "He that sent me is the one that sent me, and the works that I am doing he will also do".

Indeed, God has shown Himself to His servant, Simeon.

When he was seventy-five years old, Saint Simeon, foreseeing his imminent departure to the Lord, called his brother to him, taught her enough time, then, giving everyone a last kiss at one o'clock in the evening, surrendered his soul into the hands of God on the twenty-fourth day of the month of May.

The moments in the life of St. Simeon the Pillar are divided by years as follows: St. Simeon was born in 621; in 627, 6 years after his birth, he ascended the pillar; 8 years later, in 535, he moved to another pillar; in the 22nd year of his life, he moved to the Divine Mountain, the footprint.

He was ordained a priest in 543; in 560, in his 39th year, he was ordained a presbyter. He died in 596, 7 years old.

This last Simeon was also active in Syriac Antioch, but he lived much earlier (died 459).] , at the hour in which he usually received food from the angel.

With the holy angels he now enjoys in the eternal kingdom the contemplation of the face of God, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, to whom be glory now and forever.

A man of the wilderness, an angel in the flesh, a miracle-worker, appeared to you, the god-bearer of our father Simeon. By fasting, watchfulness, prayer, receive the gifts of heaven, heal the sick, and by faith the souls of those who come to you.

High desire, partial postponement, and like the sky a pillar made: with it surrounded this miracles the dawn of the saint, and to Christ God of all praying unceasingly for all of us.