Память преподобного Симеона Мироточивого, царя Сербского 1374

The Monk Simeon was the ruler of Serbia, but he renounced the earthly kingdom and devoted his entire life to winning for himself the incorruptible Kingdom in heaven. He established many monasteries in his country and, on the banks of the Studenica River, built a magnificent church in the name of the Most Pure Mother of God, ordering it to be lined inside from base to ceiling with marble and decorated with gold. Always supplying the poor with everything they needed, Saint Simeon finally distributed all his incalculable wealth to the poor: after this, voluntarily transferring to the management of his son Stephen all the lands that were under his rule, he immediately left the world and followed his son, the Monk Savva, who shortly before this had accepted monasticism in one of the monasteries of Mount Athos. Arriving at the holy mountain, the monk, with the assistance of his son, restored here a deserted monastery with a church, called Hilandar, and began to asceticize in it. Having learned the fear of God and unswervingly fulfilling the rules of monastic life regarding prayer and fasting, Saint Simeon achieved dispassion, humbled his sinful mind and, with the assistance of the grace of God, became a great ascetic. In abstinence and fasting, he reached such a height that he became like the Angels. Therefore, even during his lifetime, many monks flocked to his monastery from different countries to glorify God, and for many of them he was a mentor and leader on the path to salvation. Having lived his life there piously, the Monk Simeon, in deep old age, with joy and bright hope of eternal bliss, went to the Lord, whom he loved so much during his life 1375. After the repose of the saint, the Lord honored him with the gift of miracles for his great virtues. His body began to exude myrrh, and through him, by the power of God, many miracles began to happen. After this, the saint’s son, the Monk Sava, carried his father’s body to Serbia and honorably laid it in the church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, on the Studenica River, which Saint Simeon himself built with such love at his own expense. And to this day, pious Christians from the shrine, where the relics of St. Simeon rest, take myrrh, anoint themselves with it for various illnesses and receive healing. Saint Simeon, before his monasticism, was a great Serbian zupan (prince) and was called Stefan Nemanja. He united most of the Serbian lands and gave them political independence. During his reign, he worked hard to protect his people from the influence of Latinism, Arianism and other heresies. Stefan Nemanja's wife, the pious Anna, followed her husband's example, accepted monasticism and settled in one of the nunneries. The Monk Simeon died at the age of 86, on February 13, 1200. You might be interested in: