Saint Simeon Salus

History tells us nothing of his childhood or youth, other than that he was born in the city of Edessa, in the province of Syria, to very wealthy and Catholic parents, and that he became very learned in the Greek language and quite skilled in several sciences, until his perfect conversion. As in the time of the Emperor Justinian the Elder, the faithful were drawn with singular devotion to visit the holy places of Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, two young men, one named Simeon and the other John, set out togethe r to Jean Companion of Simeon in pilgrimage and solitude. make this pilgrimage in the company of their parents. When they had satisfied their piety, they took their way through the valley of Jericho to return to their country; and, because in that place one could discover a great number of monasteries built along the Jordan River, they stopped to consider this pleasant spectacle attentively. They were in admiration; John spoke and said to Simeon: "Do you know well who the people are who inhabit all these cells? They are earthly angels whose only occupation is to think of the things of heaven." — "Can one see them?" replied Simeon. — "Yes, undoubtedly," answered John, "provided that we wish to make ourselves like them." Their desire was inflamed more and more; they dismounted from their horses, as if to rest, and, having given them to their servants, they ordered them to go on ahead. A short time later, they noticed a small path that led to the Jordan; John said to Simeon: "Here is the path that leads to life, whereas the one where we are leads to death." They both knelt down and prayed to God with all their heart that He might make known to them His holy will regarding the path they should take. Then they drew lots: the path to the Jordan fell to them, which rejoiced them extremely; forgetting their parents and the great wealth they had in the world, they turned toward the monasteries. The first they encountered was the one that bore the name of Abbot Gerasimus, whose door they found open and a venerable old man, named Nicon Nicon Monk who received Simeon and John at the monastery and guided them in their vocation. , who was waiting for them, because he had had a revelation of thei r arrival. Th abbé Gérasime Abbot of a famous monastery near the Jordan River. us they were both received as persons sent by God.

The next day, this holy elder gave them a beautiful discourse on the subject of their vocation; he encouraged them to undertake with fervor the penitent life of solitaries and to persevere constantly in their pious designs, without ever relaxing in the practice of virtue. His words, finding their hearts well-disposed, inspired in them such a great desire for perfection that they begged him with great insistence to give them the monastic tonsure and to clothe them in the religious habit. This holy ardor increased even more marvelously when, the superior having brought into their presence a young man who had been given the habit the previous week, they perceived on his head a crown all radiant with light: they threw themselves at the feet of the holy abbot and pressed him even more strongly to make them like the novice they had just seen: he was therefore obliged to grant them the grace they asked of him with such ardor and of which they rendered themselves so worthy. Indeed, as soon as they were clothed, they saw reciprocally on each other's head a similar crown, and their faces appeared even at night, in the midst of darkness, all radiant with a celestial clarity: but, two days later, no longer perceiving a crown on the head of the novice, they were very astonished by this change, and, fearing that the same misfortune might happen to them, they deliberated among themselves on what they should do. Simeon, therefore taking the floor, said to his companion, by a divine inspiration: "If you will believe me, my brother, we shall lead a life even more hidden than that of these solitaries, for I feel so inflamed with the desire to remain unknown to the world, that I am resolved to see no one anymore, to speak no more to men, and, finally, to listen only to the voice of my God." John was extremely touched by this discourse, and, feeling himself inwardly solicited to follow him, he acquiesced to his proposal: so that after having received the blessing of the holy elder Nicon, to whom God had made known by revelation that their design came from heaven, they withdrew from this monastery, and taking their way toward the Dead Sea, they found on the shore the cell of a holy elder who had died a few days before; they believed that this was the place that God destined for them; that is why they lodged there as in an earthly paradise, to lead there a truly angelic life.

The demon did not fail to tempt them there in all sorts of ways; to make them regret the world, he placed before their eyes the dearest objects of their affection. Sometimes he appeared to them in hideous forms to force them to abandon their solitude; at other times he incited them to gluttony; in a word, he tried every means, either to make them return to their country or to make them cowardly and lazy in their exercises, this means being the most effective for making great souls succumb. But the young solitaries rendered his efforts useless, as much by their prayers as by their fidelity and the continual exhortations they gave one another to encourage perseverance. God, moreover, fortified them so much through celestial visions that filled their hearts with an unspeakable joy, that after having been tormented by the thought of their parents for the space of two years, they were finally entirely delivered from this pain, and subsequently enjoyed a very great tranquility of mind.

They were in this beautiful interior disposition when they learned almost at the same time, by revelation, of the passing of the two people they loved so dearly; the blessed Simeon knew, in an ecstasy, that his mother was in agony and near death; he immediately came to announce this news to his companion, in order to pray together to obtain for her a good death. After which, Simeon, unable to refuse his heart the feelings of tenderness that nature inspired in him for such a good mother, addressed these words to God, interrupted by sighs and sobs: "Lord, who received the sacrifice of Abraham, the holocaust of Jephthah, and the gifts of Abel, and who honored Anna with the gift of prophecy because of her son Samuel, please receive the soul of my mother for the love of your poor servant, who prays to you most humbly. Remember, my God, the pains she took for me, and the tears she shed since I left her to consecrate myself entirely to your service. You know the care she took in my upbringing, in the hope that I would console her in her old age, and yet my flight deprived her of the fruit of her labors. She could not be a moment without seeing me: all her joy was to keep me beside her, and she hardly enjoyed these sweetnesses at all. It is for your glory, O my Lord, that I have reduced her to this state. She has done nothing but groan and weep since my separation; the nights, which give some rest to the most afflicted, have been for her years of anguish and pain; the thought that she had lost me so wounded her heart that she was always plunged in bitterness. Grant her then the grace, O my God, to die presently in peace, by forgiving all the faults she has committed against your divine Majesty. And, after having left her so long in tears and groans, please reward her afflictions with the celestial consolations enjoyed by the Saints in your presence." His prayer was answered, as was revealed to the blessed John, to whom God, some time later, made known in a vision that his wife had died, and that she was enjoying the same glory as the mother of Simeon.

These blessed solitaries, having nothing left in the world that could oblige them to return to it, spent twenty-nine years together in this solitude, in all sorts of exercises of penance: suffering hunger and thirst, the heat of the sun and the rigors of winter, and enduring very horrible temptations that the demons never ceased to deliver to them to lead them to relaxation. But, at the end of that time, God, wishing to confound the vain wisdom of the people of the world by the apparent folly of Simeon, gave him a strong thought to appear in public, in order to work there, in a new way, for the salvation of his neighbor and the conquest of souls. He was all the more confirmed in his design when the holy hermit Nicon appeared to him and assured him that in the future he would no longer be susceptible to any movement of the flesh. He immediately revealed his thought to his dear companion, who, prudently fearing that such a specious pretext might be a trap of Satan to rob him of the crown of perseverance, vividly pointed out to him all the perils to which he was about to expose himself, and did everything possible to make him change his resolution. Nevertheless, after having known by his answers that it was in no way a temptation of the demon, but a divine inspiration, he approved his enterprise, and finally acquiesced, although with much regret, to a separation that was all the more sensitive to him as he had believed that only death was capable of causing it, on the condition, however, that they would see each other once more before dying.

Simeon therefore left his solitude, and, leaving the blessed John in tears, he went first to Jerusalem to visit the holy places once again; he spent three days in this devotion; he asked God, with incredible fervor, to hide during his life the wonders He would perform through him, so that he might always remain unknown to men. He obtained this uncommon grace. From Jerusalem he went to Emesa, in Syria, to work for t he co Emèse City in Syria where Simeon fulfilled his public mission as a 'fool'. nversion of souls by feigning madness, according to the extraordinary plan he had formed in his mind through a truly heroic humility; and he performed actions there so extravagant and so contrary to the rules of human prudence that, had God not authorized them by miracles, one would have reason to condemn such irregular conduct. Until his death, his life was but a series of actions ridiculous in the eyes of men, although they were worthy of the approval of God and the Angels. Indeed, they were but pious inventions of his humility and his charity; of his humility, to hide the miracles he was continually performing; for, when he had performed them, he feared that the glory might be attributed to him: it was then that he would perform extravagant actions; of his charity, to win souls to Jesus Christ; whether by touching words that he would throw out in company by way of mockery: the most libertine could not help but reflect upon them, and they served to inspire them with good sentiments; or by making, at seemingly inappropriate times, exhortations to virtue or declamations against vice, which struck home later on; or by telling everyone truths that would not have been well received had he not feigned madness to say them more freely. By this means, he converted almost the entire city of Emesa. In general, these were the artifices he employed to avoid the praises and honors of men and to win souls to God; but it must be admitted that, whatever skill he had in playing this character, the brilliance of his miracles would undoubtedly have discovered his profound wisdom and eminent holiness, had God, by a particular providence, not hidden them Himself from the eyes of worldlings; for, after all, what esteem should one not have had for a man who delivered those possessed, who carried burning coals in his hands without being harmed, and in his robe without it being burned in the least; who predicted things to come, who discovered the most hidden secrets of the heart, who multiplied food, who converted Jews and heretics, who healed the sick, who drew debauched women from crime, engaging some in legitimate marriage and causing others to vow chastity? What esteem, we ask, should one not have had for a man whose life was filled with so many wonders? Since he always remained hidden, must we not say, with the author of this life, that if God, in His ordinary conduct, takes pleasure in making the merit of the Saints shine forth, He has, on the contrary, taken particular care to prevent men from recognizing the holiness of Simeon, in the midst of so many virtues that were so evident? This, assuredly, is admirable and shows the great condescension that God has for His servants when they have zeal to enter into the humiliations of Jesus Christ. Indeed, He performed new miracles to keep our Saint in obscurity, when the brilliance of those he performed gave men cause to glimpse some rays of wisdom through his extravagant actions. A great lord, who lived near the city of Emesa, had recognized the holiness of Simeon, because he had revealed to him the secrets of his heart; as he opened his mouth to publish this wonder, his tongue remained immobile, so that it was impossible for him to speak of it. This apparent madness did not make him relax in the least from the religious austerity or the other exercises of true wisdom that he practiced in solitude. His fasting was so rigorous that he would spend weeks and sometimes even entire forty-day periods without eating. To hide this prodigious abstinence from men, when he did take some food, he did so in public. He had for a bed only a little brushwood, and even more often he spent the whole night in prayer and watered the earth with his tears. In a word, he made himself as exact in all his practices of devotion as the solitaries most withdrawn from the world and the most regular in their conduct. Thus, God filled him with all kinds of blessings, as much by the ineffable sweetness with which He filled his soul as by the wonders with which He accompanied his words and actions. We have spoken of them only in general; but it is appropriate to report some examples in particular, so that one may well judge the eminence of his grace.

While Simeon was staying in Emesa, he usually lodged with a deacon of that church, named John, who had taken him into his house out of compassion for his poverty and his madness. It happened that this virtuous host was accused of being the author of the murder of a man who had been assassinated and whose murderers had thrown the corpse into his house through the window. Upon this accusation, which such evidence made admissible, the magistrate, without further information, condemned him to death as guilty of homicide. As he was being led to his execution, seeing that he lacked human means to prove his innocence, he had recourse to God as the powerful deliverer of the oppressed, saying to Him in the depths of his heart: "O God of truth, assist me in the state in which I am." Meanwhile, Simeon, who had learned of the danger his benefactor was in, was praying, prostrate on the ground, to ask God for his deliverance. Admirable thing! As they were about to tie him to the gallows, two horsemen were seen appearing, shouting not to put this innocent man to death, because the true authors of the crime for which he was unjustly accused had been discovered: which caused him to be set at liberty. As soon as he saw himself delivered, he came to find Simeon at the place where he knew he usually hid to perform his prayer, not doubting that it was to his charity that he owed his life. Indeed, he found him there with his knees on the ground, tears in his eyes, and hands raised to heaven, and saw at the same time globes of fire descending upon his head and burning flames surrounding him on all sides. He did not dare to approach him or interrupt him in this state; but our Saint, having perceived him, said to him: "My friend, thank God for your deliverance; know that this disgrace only happened to you because you refused alms to two poor people who asked you for them, even though you had the means to give them: for you must always remember, my brother, that the goods you have are not yours, but that you have received them to assist your neighbor. Are you not yet penetrated by the words of Jesus Christ, who promised a hundredfold in this world and eternal life in the other to those who would give alms for his love? If you had this belief, why did you not show charity to these poor people? And since you did not do it, is it not a sign that you lack faith?" One sees by these beautiful words that besides a very high wisdom with which Simeon was enlightened, he also had the gift of prophecy, by which God had made him know the hardness of his host toward the poor, and the true subject of his condemnation. It was by these admirable lights that he conducted himself in all his actions, which the world took for follies, as formerly those of the Prophets in the old law; and if we wanted to consider them in detail, we would see that each one contained its mystery. Foreseeing by this same spirit the great earthquake that occurred under the Emperor Maurice, by which the city of Antioch was almost entirely overturned, he entered a public bu ilding that was empereur Maurice Byzantine emperor reigning at the end of Simeon's life. supported by several col umns, an Antioche Ancient city where Saint Publia and her community resided. d with a whip in his hand. He began to strike some of them, saying these words to them: "Your Lord commands you to remain firm," and he said to one in particular: "As for you, you will not fall, but you will not remain either." Indeed, when the earthquake arrived, none of those to which the Saint had ordered to remain were shaken, and this last one was found only a little tilted and cracked from top to bottom: and then it was known that what he had done had not been without mystery.

Another time, having had a revelation that the city of Emesa would soon be afflicted by a great plague that would cause many people to perish, he went through all the schools, and there, choosing some children among the others, as the grace of God inspired him, he greeted them and said to them: "Go happily, my dear child." Then turning toward the master: "For God's sake," he said to him, "my friend, take good care not to beat these children whom I love, because they have a long way to go." These masters took these actions of Simeon for extravagances; but the event clearly showed that they were as many prophecies of what was to happen, because all these children, whom he had thus greeted, died of the plague.

When he knew by a celestial light that the precious time of his death would soon arrive, he went to find the blessed John in his former solitude, according to the promise he had made to him when parting from him. History tells us nothing of the conversation they had together: it only says that our Saint, to whom God had also revealed that the death of this dear companion was near, said these words to him: "Come, my brother, let us go, the time has come"; and he saw on the head of this holy hermit the same crown of which we have spoken, with this inscription: "The crown that is deserved by one who perseveres in the sufferings of solitude." Returning from this journey, he heard a voice saying to him: "Come to me, Simeon, Simeon, come to receive, not just one crown, but as many crowns as you have won souls to my service." Two days before his death, he revealed the secret of his whole life to the deacon John, his host, from whom he had not been able to hide it entirely, because of the long stay he had made at his home; then, having given him a pressing exhortation on mercy toward the poor and on the perfect love of enemies, he withdrew into his cell, where he asked him not to enter until after two days, to see in what state he would be. He knew well that he would be found dead; but as by an ingenious humility he had taken great care during his life to hide his virtues and the great graces he received from God, he also wished to die in the same manner. So that no more honor would be paid to his body after his passing than he had received during his life, he hid himself under the brushwood that served as his bed, and in this state he peacefully rendered his soul to Jesus Christ on the 4th of July, toward the end of the reign of Maurice.

Two days later, as he was no longer seen appearing as usual, they came to his cell to see if he was not ill; but as they found him dead in the state we have just described, they conceived even less esteem for him than before, thinking that he had died in some mental derangement; that is why, not believing that they should render him the honors that the Church is accustomed to pay to the deceased, they carried his body without washing it or reciting psalms, and without candles or incense, to the cemetery of pilgrims; but God knows how to raise up the merit of his servants who have humbled themselves for his love; he sent a multitude of angels to supply for his burial in the absence of men; so that a multitude of voices was heard in the air celebrating his funeral with much more solemnity than all the men of the earth could ever have done. The news of this wonder having spread in Emesa, those who until then had believed him insane, returning as it were from a deep sleep that had prevented them from recognizing his holiness, began to recount to one another the miracles they had seen him perform, and the virtuous actions of which they had been witnesses; they confessed that all this fiction of madness had been done only by a movement of the Holy Spirit, and admired the incomprehensible conduct that God holds over his elect. It is noted among other things that, since he had returned from solitude, his hair and beard had never grown, and that his monastic tonsure had always remained in the same state, without it being necessary to shave it.

He is represented: 1° followed by troops of children who were amused every day, in the streets of Alexandria, by his strange ways; 2° seated and playing the bagpipes: this is another way of recalling the singularities of which this man of God gave a spectacle, out of contempt for the world.

The life of Saint Simeon was written by Deacon John. Later, Le ontius, bishop on the island of Cyp Léonce, évêque dans l'île de Chypre Bishop and author of an elegant version of the life of Simeon. rus, composed it more elegantly, as it is reported by Metaphrastes and by Surius. The Roman Martyrology makes a very honorable memory of him on this day, and Cardin al Baronius also cardinal Baronius Cardinal and Church historian who mentions the saint. did not fail to make an illustrious mention of him in his learned Remarks.