Преподобного отца нашего Симеона Дивногорца

One young man, named John, arrived with his parents from Edessa 3422 to Antioch 3423. John was of marriageable age, and therefore his parents, seeing a very beautiful maiden here named Martha, asked her father and mother if they would agree to give her in marriage to their son. These latter told Martha about this. But the girl did not want to enter into marital cohabitation, since she decided to disgrace herself to Christ, her God and Lord, in order to keep her virginity pure. But since her parents forced her to marry, Martha left them and went with haste to the Church of the Baptist, located near the city of Antioch. Arriving here, she fell on her face and with tears began to pray to the Lord, asking Him to arrange everything in a way that would be more useful and salutary for her. And there was a vision in this church for Martha, commanding her to submit to her parents and get married. Fulfilling the will of God, the girl married John, and was not only his assistant in all everyday affairs, but also a leader, instructing him in every good deed; Martha decorated her life with fasting, abstinence and prayer, striving to please God. Honest Martha often came to the Church of the Baptist and prayed here with great zeal to John the Baptist, asking him to intercede for her from God with his prayers the gift of giving birth to a male child; at the same time, Martha promised to dedicate him, like Anna Samuel once did (1 Samuel 1:11), to the service of God. A year after this, while Martha, praying here at night, dozed off, Saint John the Baptist appeared to her and said: - Hope so, wife. Your prayer has been accepted, and you will receive what you ask for. As a sign of God’s favor, accept this fragrance (at the same time he gave her a censer with incense); Shower your home with this censer. Waking up from sleep, Martha found in her hand a censer from which an indescribable fragrance emanated. Then the Forerunner of the Lord appeared to her again and said: “Go to your husband, for you will conceive a son and name him Simeon.” He will taste milk only from your right breast, but will not touch your left at all. He will be the son of the right hand; he will not eat meat, wine, or any other food prepared with skill by human hands; His food will be only bread, honey, salt and water. You should train him with great care as a holy vessel, destined for the service of the Lord our God. Two years after his birth, you will bring him to my church and here you will baptize him; when the baby is worthy of the grace of baptism, then everyone will see what will come out of him. Martha, filled with both fear and joy from such a vision, brought great thanks to God and the holy Forerunner of the Lord John. Then, returning to her husband’s house, she conceived from him, and when the time was fulfilled, she gave birth to a son without illness and named him Simeon. Martha fed the baby with her right breast. Sometimes, experiencing the words of the holy Baptist John, spoken to her in a vision, she gave the baby her left breast; but the baby, crying, turned his face away from the left breast, and in no case wanted to take milk from it. It was also amazing that on whatever day Martha ate meat or drank wine, on that day the baby did not taste milk at all from his mother’s breast and remained hungry even until the next day. Having understood the reason for the baby’s refusal to eat food, Martha began to abstain from eating meat and wine and thus nourished the one who had to be a great faster, herself being in constant fasting and prayer. After the baby turned two years old, his parents brought him to the Church of the Baptist and baptized him here. After baptism, the baby immediately spoke, clearly saying the following words: - I have a father, and I have no father; I have a mother, and I have no mother! He repeated these words for seven days. The parents were very surprised at this and foresaw that their baby would be an imitator not of earthly affairs, but of heavenly ones. When the baby was fed with mother's milk, they began to feed him bread, honey and water, since he did not want to eat meat under any circumstances, just as he did not eat anything boiled. When the baby was six years old, an earthquake occurred in Antioch (during the reign of Justinian the Great) 3424. During this earthquake, the stone house in which Simeon's parents lived fell, and his father died, being killed by the fallen house, but his mother remained alive, since, at the discretion of God, during this earthquake she left the house and was in the church; In the same way, the baby Simeon was then not in his home, but in the church of the Holy First Martyr Stephen, where he was preserved by God safe and sound. Coming out of the church, Simeon did not know which way to go to his home, since debris from destroyed houses lay everywhere. Not finding his home, he wandered for a long time, walking through the ruins of Antioch; Finally, one pious woman, who knew his parents, took him on her shoulders and brought him to a mountain located not far from the city where she herself lived. Blessed Martha, Simeon's mother, having learned that her house had collapsed and thinking that her husband and her son had died, having been crushed by stone walls, gave herself up to great weeping. Seven days after this, Saint John the Baptist appeared to her and said that her youth was alive, and also indicated the place where he was. Martha immediately went to that mountain. Arriving there, she found Simeon with the mentioned woman, and this latter told Simeon’s mother with surprise that during all those seven days the boy had not eaten anything except a small amount of bread and water. Taking him, the mother went with him to the Church of the Baptist and here brought thanks to God and His saint John the Baptist for keeping the boy alive; then she returned to her place. One day, when Martha was thinking to herself about the visions that she had about the boy, and about the many amazing things that had already happened regarding the boy, she was perplexed about what would come of her son; Having fallen asleep, she had the following vision: it seemed to her that she received wings and rose to a height, holding the boy in her arms; offering it as a gift to the Lord, she said: “I would like to see, my child, your ascent like this.” May my Creator let me go in peace, who has been honored to be blessed with many wives, for I give to the Most High the fruit of my womb After this, Martha settled with her son in a certain place located in Antioch and called “Cherubim”. This name was given to that place for the following reason: Titus, son of Vespasian, Roman Emperor 3425, having conquered Jerusalem, took from the Jerusalem temple two golden Cherubim that stood above the ark of the covenant, and brought them to Antioch. The very place where these Cherubim were placed was called “Cherubim”. While blessed Martha was staying here with her youth, Simeon had the following vision: he saw the Lord Jesus Christ sitting on a high throne, and many righteous people flocked to Him from all sides; the book of life was opened before the throne, according to which judgment was carried out; in the east was a paradise of sweetness, and in the west was fiery hell. Then the Holy Spirit said to Simeon: “Listen, boy, and understand everything you see here; try to please God, and then you will be granted the same honor and glory with other saints and receive indescribable benefits prepared for all who love the Lord. After this vision, the youth was filled with Divine wisdom and received revelation and vision of many unknown and wonderful secrets. After some time, Simeon saw a certain man, marvelous in face, dressed in white robes, who said to him: Simeon followed him. The husband who appeared to him led him to the country of Tiverin, located next to Seleucia. The husband brought the boy to a place called Pyla. Here the youth remained in the desert mountain, living with animals as with lambs. He had only animals as his companions, so none of the people saw him. Night and day an indescribable light shone around him. Simeon took food from the hands of that bright man who brought him here. That husband often appeared to him, taught him in everything and served him food in due time. Some time later, on the instructions 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 a pillar. This abbot had frequent visions that predicted that the blessed youth Simeon would come to him: for example, he saw a youth in white clothes, sometimes heading to the monastery on a chariot, sometimes flying through the air and hovering over the monastery, sometimes standing on a light pillar and approaching the monastery with the pillar. This blessed John saw an Angel, pointing him to that youth and saying: - This is the one through whom you will receive salvation. Abbot John spoke about all these visions to the monks who were with him. When, at God’s discretion, blessed Simeon came to his monastery, the monks were very surprised that such a small child, not yet six years old, could walk alone through such a desert and find a monastery. Abbot John, seeing Simeon from his pillar, realized that this was exactly the youth he had repeatedly beheld in his visions. Rejoicing greatly at everything that had happened, John called Simeon to him, took him in his arms and kissed him, thanking God with tears. The youth had a very handsome face, blond hair, his gaze was pure and bright, showing his spiritual kindness to everyone; the youth was meek, silent, quick to respond, intelligent in speech, full of heavenly gifts. Simeon stayed in that monastery separately from everyone else, keeping his lips silent. His fasting was as follows: sometimes after three days, sometimes after seven, and sometimes after ten, he ate peas soaked in water and drank very little water. Seeing all this, Abbot John was greatly amazed. In that monastery there lived a simpleton who tended flocks. Seeing the supernatural fasting of that youth, he was kindled with devilish envy of him and planned to kill him. But when he began to carry out his evil intent, his hand immediately withered; he became sick all over his body, so that he was no longer far from death; As a result, he confessed his sin to the abbot and blessed Simeon and repented of it. The boy, being kind, not only forgave him his sin, but also prayed to God for his healing, and immediately, as soon as he touched his withered hand, it healed and the man’s whole body became healthy. From that time on, the abbot and the brethren began to reverence this blessed youth even more, since they saw in him the one whom God had chosen to serve Himself from his mother’s womb. After some time, blessed Simeon began earnestly asking the brethren to build him a pillar near the pillar of Abba John; According to his desire, the pillar was built next to John's pillar. The youth ascended to him, being only seven years old, having been clothed in the monastic image of Blessed John. And he stood on the pillar, imitating Abba John. At the beginning of his pillar feat, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in the form of a Youth, shining with indescribable beauty. Seeing this Youth, Saint Simeon was inflamed with love for Him with all his heart. Having recognized that it was God and his Lord, he boldly asked Him: - Lord, how did the Jews crucify You? The Lord, spreading His arms in the shape of a cross, said to him: - This is how the Jews crucified me; however, I myself deigned to give myself to be crucified. Take heart and be strong, crucifying yourself to Me all the days of your life. From that time on, Saint Simeon seemed to completely forget his body and became like disembodied creatures, leading an angelic life and surpassing even Elder John in his exploits. John sang thirty psalms every night, and Simeon fifty, and sometimes eighty, and often sang the entire Psalter in one night, without indulging in sleep at all; and during the day the saint continually praised the Lord. The elder, sparing Simeon’s youth and fearing that he might become exhausted from such great labors, admonished him, saying this: - Child! Leave your labors, which surpass human strength, so that you do not even let us sleep; It is too enough for you that you were crucified with Christ from your birth; It is necessary for you to have some, at least small, care about your body; you need to indulge in at least a short sleep and eat food in moderation, so that you can fully endure the feat of fasting; after all, food and drink do not defile a person, as the Lord Himself says in His Holy Scripture: “everything that moves, that lives, will be your food; I give you everything like the green grass” (Gen.9:3). Blessed Simeon answered the elder: – Although food does not defile a person, it gives rise to sinful thoughts, darkens the mind, takes root of passion, transforms a spiritual person into a carnal person, directs his thoughts to earthly lusts; It is fitting for us, monks, to study the law of the Lord day and night, so as not to fall under the deception of sleep, and not to fall into despondency, as the prophet says: “My soul melts away from sorrow” (Ps. 119:28). Especially to glorify God, we must open our lips with vigilance, and then we will attract the grace of the Holy Spirit to ourselves. However, what do you, honest father, care about my words? I am setting out the law for myself, but not for others, because I need to overwhelm my young body with such great feats. The old man was very surprised at such a prudent answer from the young lad. One day, when Simeon was illuminated with light from the Holy Spirit, the entire kingdom of the devil and all demonic dreams were revealed to him, for he saw the prince of darkness himself, sitting on a large throne, having a crown shining on his head, and regiments of demons stood before him; in front of the face of the prince of darkness, all the worldly seductions prepared for him were visible: gold, silver, precious stones, margaritas; all this was, as it were, in a kind of swamp; The sounds of trumpets, pipes and other musical instruments were heard everywhere. And sin was seen in the form of a beautiful woman, followed by tempting servants, tempting people to sin: the spirit of vanity, the spirit of uncleanness, the spirit of laziness and the spirit of love of money was visible; a serpent was visible, never satisfied with his mouth, ready to devour the whole world. These tempting spirits tried to persuade Simeon to sin; they called him to sin with various crafty words, but he, protecting himself with his usual weapons - the sign of the Holy Cross - and calling on the name of Christ, always drove away all those demonic dreams from himself, just as the sun drives away darkness. Looking at the church, Simeon saw the throne of God, from which came the glory of God, which shone on Simeon as well; at the same time, one of the patriarchs was sent from the church to Saint Simeon, who had a fragrant ointment in his hand; pouring it on Simeonov’s head, he said: – By the power of this anointing you will drive away demons! Having girded yourself with Divine power from above, may you cut them down by the thousands and may you defeat them by the tens of thousands. Be bold, trusting in your Creator, for “The enemy will not prevail against him, and the son of iniquity will not oppress him” (Ps. 89:23). From that time on, blessed Simeon assumed power over unclean spirits and drove them out of people, whom he healed from all sorts of other diseases. One day, God’s servant Simeon the Stylite addressed the following words to the blessed elder: - Father! Not long ago, just a few days ago, the Lord revealed to me the power of Satan and all his destructive riches; I saw all his flattery and cunning, with which he fights against virtuous people. John answered Simeon: - May God protect you, child, from all his wiles. “Even if the wicked demonic force plans to cause us a lot of evil, it will not succeed at all in this.” The elder, seeing that the boy was imputing the temptations of demons as nothing, and fearing that he might fall into arrogance, said to him: - In any case, child, we should be wary of the many different machinations of the demons, and it is not enough to rely only on our virtue; for our enemy has put on iron boots 3426, always trying to draw monks into temptation; and always, as soon as he sees an opportunity, he raises a heavy battle against the monks. We must always pray to God and call on Emmanuel 3427 for help, so that He will always be with us and defeat all the power of the enemy. While the saints were talking like this, Satan, who heard their conversation, was filled with rage and began to gnash his teeth at the young ascetic; then he began to frighten him with various dreamy images, turning now into fierce snakes, now into beasts, rushing at him every day and every night and as if intending to devour him. Blessed Simeon, having the Most High God as his assistant, protecting himself with the sign of the cross, said: – I will not fear “the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in the darkness, the plague that devastates at midday” (Ps. 91:5-6). In the month of December at night, precisely during the second night watch, the devil, having gathered all his hordes, suddenly went to Saint Simeon and, tearing off the roof built over the pillar, overthrew blessed Simeon from the pillar down. But the lad was protected by the hand of God; Therefore, the saint stood at the pillar as if unharmed, in good spirits, for he was not at all afraid of the enemy’s attack. Then the devil raised a stormy and sharp wind from the sea; a storm arose, thunderclaps were heard, lightning was visible, striking Simeon's pillar all night. The Monk John, thinking that Simeon had already been killed by thunder and lightning, began to cry and asked the monks to go and see if the boy was alive and if he was on the pillar. The monks did not answer John, for out of fear of that demonic obsession they did not leave their cells; Among the monks there were also those who harbored hatred against the youth Simeon, succumbing to demonic temptation. The monks said to each other: - Where is the fasting of that youth, which surpasses human strength? Where are his exploits? Where are the miracles? Let him help himself now! Blessed Simeon, hearing that Elder John was crying for him, loudly called out to him, saying: - Do not grieve for me, father, for I have not suffered in the least in anything, being protected by the grace of Christ; the devil is put to shame. When morning came, the monks went to Simeon’s pillar, thinking that they would find the youth already dead, but when they saw him alive and joyful, his face shining like an Angel of God, they were ashamed. With a reproach from Elder John, they went, disgraced, to their cells. Ephraim, Archbishop of Antioch, heard about blessed Simeon. Having learned in what great deeds he spent his life, Ephraim came to him and, seeing the youth, so young in body, but already quite perfect in a virtuous life, crucified himself with Christ, he glorified God and returned to his city with tears, telling everywhere for the benefit of the citizens the strict fasting life of the servant of Christ. From that time on, many, both monks and laymen, began to come to blessed Simeon - some in order to see him, others in order to enjoy his divinely inspired conversation, and, finally, others in order to be healed of their bodily ailments, seeing in Simeon a free doctor and healer. One day, blessed Simeon asked those who came to him for a strong and tough rope and, secretly from everyone, wrapped it around his body, so that the rope penetrated to his bones; his body was covered with ulcers from which blood poured out; the hair shirt, being moistened with blood, stuck to the saint’s body; His flesh had already begun to rot, but Saint Simeon bravely endured his feat; finally, a stench began to emanate from his rotten flesh. The monks who ascended his pillar did not at first know where this stench was coming from; Then, realizing the great feat of the saint, they announced everything to Abba John. John, horrified by such a great feat, ordered little by little to remove the rope from Simeon’s body and forbade him to subject his body to such fierce torment. Blessed Simeon also had the grace of teaching, flowing like a river from his mouth. Convening the brethren, Elder John ordered Simeon to preach a lesson and he himself listened to him with love. And thus the young lad was a wise and useful teacher for the old, for his lips were filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Elder John called Simeon the new David for his gift of teaching; He also told him about the vision that he had regarding him in a dream, namely, he said that he saw, as it were, some Divine power that had a honeycomb in its right hand, flowing over the head of the youth. Another elder once asked the brethren, pointing to the pillar of Simeon: -Are there pigeons in this pillar? “I saw a dove, bright in appearance, fly into the boy through the door, then an hour later fly out from him and rise to the heavens. While that elder was talking with the brethren, blessed Simeon had a vision: it seemed to him that he was caught up on high and flew around the entire universe, as if he had wings; then it seemed to him that he was raised by seven stairs to a high mountain, where, like the Holy Apostle Paul, he saw what “the eye did not see”, heard what “the ear did not hear” (1 Cor. 2:9). Saint Simeon, descending from there, asked the one who was leading him: “These are the seven heavens to which you were raptured.” Then the saint saw paradise, and beautiful gardens, and bright and large chambers, and the source of peace flowing there. Here the monk saw no one except Adam and the prudent robber. When Simeon came to his senses, he told Elder John about everything he had seen. The same one, having listened, said: - Child! Blessed be God who has given you such grace. Meanwhile, the youth succeeded more and more in his fasting labors. If someone who did not have clothes came to him, he took off his clothes and gave them to the person who came, while he himself remained naked; He did this not only in summer, but also in winter. Elder John more than once clothed him in clothes, although he did not want to, fearing that the youth would die from the cold and frost. But the boy, striking himself on the chest, cried, saying: - Woe to me, damned one! For the sake of the name of Christ, the holy forty martyrs endured the cold and cold in the lake 3428, but I am afraid of freezing a little. How, then, will I save myself from the eternal gnashing of teeth? How can I have the same fate as the saints? And Simeon wept with these and similar words for a long time. The elder, upset, said: - What else do you want to do with yourself, Simeon? All you need is a knife to kill yourself with! After some time, Simeon came up with such a torment for his flesh: he sat down on his feet and did not get up for a whole year; As a result, the saint’s thighs and legs began to rot, so that a stench spread all around from the rotting. Abba John, calling the doctor, asked him to heal Simeon’s ulcers, but Simeon, smiling, said: - My Lord lives! Let no human hand or help touch me. The Lord, by His grace, gave him health, and the boy stood up, being healthy in both legs and thighs, so that he had absolutely no traces of ulcers from his wounds on them. Kneeling down, the saint offered thanks to God for a long time for his healing. When the feast of Holy Pentecost arrived, on the morning of the feast day, blessed Simeon asked St. John: – Father, who is worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit, just as the holy Apostles received Him in tongues of fire? (Acts 2:1-4). – Do not seek what is above you, and do not investigate what is unknown to you; meditate then on what you have been commanded. – The Holy Scripture says: “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him, He hears their cry and saves them” (Ps. 144:19). Having said this, the youth raised his eyes to heaven and from the depths of his heart prayed to God in these words: - Lord, who sent Your Holy Spirit on Your holy disciples and Apostles, send the gift of Your grace to me too; “Give me understanding, and I will learn Your commandments” (Ps. 119:73), for You can “Out of the mouth of babes” (Ps. 8:3) praise You. Send down Your Holy Spirit to me, so that I may proclaim to people the words of eternal life. While the saint was praying like this, the Holy Spirit descended on him from heaven in the form of a burning candle and filled his heart with wisdom and intelligence, so that the saint began to speak a lot, teaching everyone from the Divine Scripture; no one could resist the wisdom of the Spirit who dwelt in him. And not only with his lips, but also in writing, the saint told many soul-saving conversations about monasticism, repentance, about the Incarnation of Christ, about the future Judgment; In addition, he interpreted many difficult passages of Holy Scripture. Elder John was greatly amazed at the gift of the young lad and said: – On this youth what David wrote was fulfilled: “the word of the Lord tested him” (Ps. 104:19). Now I realized that he would do many wondrous deeds, almost as glorious as the deeds of the Apostles. And all the other monks were greatly amazed at the youth, and even began to fear him, amazed not only by his teaching, but also by the miracles he performed. Some of those monks saw in a dream vision three palaces, three thrones in them and three crowns lying on the thrones. When the monks asked who such glory was prepared for, they heard a voice saying: The Monk Simeon, shining with his angelic life like the sun, soared more and more from everything earthly to heavenly. He wanted to asceticize on an even higher pillar, which is why a pillar was built for him, which was forty steps high. When Simeon prepared to ascend this pillar, having learned about this, the Archbishop of Antioch came to him, as did the Bishop of Seleucia, who had previously heard about the exploits of the young youth. Arriving at the monastery with their clergy, they, reverently taking the blessed youth, led him with lighted candles first to the church - to the holy altar, where they ordained him to the rank of deacon, and then, singing psalms, they elevated him to that pillar. And Saint Simeon remained on this pillar for eight years. Elder John grieved greatly in his heart for the boy, for he did not see his face. Simeon, asceticizing on a high pillar, showed everyone his angelic life, likening the Cherubim, and constantly glorified God. But so that no person would boast or exalt himself before God, God allowed Satan to raise up a heavy carnal war against Simeon: Satan wanted to defile him with sleepy dreams, but the boy courageously resisted the temptation; Simeon did not give sleep to his eyes and fervently prayed to the Lord, asking Him to be a helper against the enemy rising against him. Then Simeon saw a certain honest man, fair-faced, gray-haired, descending from heaven, dressed in priestly vestments and holding in his hands a cup with the Divine mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ; at the same time, the whole air was filled with an indescribable fragrance; when that bright man approached blessed Simeon, he communed him with the holy and life-giving Mysteries and said: - Take courage, and may your heart be strong! From now on, sleepy dreams will not bother you, just watch your thoughts carefully and trust in God. Saint Simeon, filled with great joy and unspeakable sweetness of heart on the occasion of the vision, praised God. The blessed youth protected himself both from various unpleasing thoughts and from conversations with people: every day he shut himself up until nine o’clock, and did not want to talk with anyone except God alone. Meanwhile, the time had come for the blessed death of Abba John the Stylite. Foreseeing this death, blessed Simeon sent to John: - Do not be sad, honest father, if you hear about the day of your death, for death is the common fate of all people. I know that now Christ God calls you to repose, so that after your labors you may rest together with the other saints. Give me, honest father, the blessing of Abraham and remember me when you come to bow to the throne of glory of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity; pray for us, so that we, having conquered the world, would receive the Kingdom of Heaven and see each other in it. John, having heard these words, did not doubt their truth; He was not afraid in his heart either, because he was always ready for death, although at that time he did not suffer from any illness, being completely healthy in his body. John answered Simeon through a messenger: – May God the Father, whom you sought, bless you, my child, and the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, whom you loved, and the Life-giving Spirit of God, whom you desired with all your heart. May the One Divinity of the Most Holy Trinity be your strength and protection, and may It instruct you and comfort you. May all those who bless you be blessed, and those who curse you will be cursed. May the Lord give you honor and glory because you have honored me, your spiritual father, as a carnal father. May your blessed mother, who has served me a lot, receive grace and mercy from the Lord. The brethren standing near the elder, hearing such words, were filled with fear and asked blessed John: - What do you, honest father, bequeath regarding the youth Simeon? – I really wish that you all would be imitators of Simeon in his fiery-hearted prayer to God; May you also be worthy of the prayerful help of this youth, for he is a vessel chosen by God Himself, great and honest. Then Abba John taught the brethren with soul-saving conversations and prayed for them; then he lay down on the bed, as if to rest for a while, and soon fell into a sweet sleep forever, without any pain in his body, and so he went to the other blessed fathers. After the death of the blessed elder John, Saint Simeon began to strive with even greater labor. His order of life was as follows: from early morning until nine o'clock he prayed, after nine o'clock he practiced reading books and copying them until sunset, after sunset he began to pray again and remained awake all night in constant prayer until daylight. When day came, Simeon allowed sleep, like a certain slave, to begin with him for a short time. After dozing a little, he soon got up and began his usual prayer routine. During his prayer, he held incense in his right hand, which, without burning coals, spread a fragrance around him. Sometimes he heard the voice of a large crowd of people in the air, singing along with him and exclaiming: It was the voice of the holy Angels. Often the saint spent days and nights completely without sleep. One day he did not indulge in sleep at all for thirty days and thirty nights, praying to God to drive away sleep from his eyes. And it was said to him from God: “It is fitting for you, even if only for a short time, to rest your body in sleep.” The devil, unable to bear such a glorious feat of blessed Simeon, again armed himself against him with all his hordes, attempting to frighten him with various dreamy images; sometimes he was transformed into snakes, sometimes into various animals, rushing with their mouths towards the saint; sometimes he turned into some kind of unusual bird, which had a face like that of a youth and rushed towards the monk; sometimes he appeared to him in the form of many soldiers going to battle with great shouts, intending to drive the saint from the pillar and throw the pillar itself to the ground. One day the devil hit the pillar with a large stone; the pillar tilted, as if preparing to fall, but the invisible power of God supported it and straightened it. Another time, the demon appeared in the form of a girl, black in face, shameless in disposition, trying to hug the saint’s neck with her hands and saying: “This is the last time I’m fighting with you, and if you defeat me, I’ll leave you before the time comes.” The saint drove away all these and similar demonic dreams and ghosts with prayer and the sign of the Holy Cross. The saint had a wondrous vision of God: he saw the sky open and our Lord Jesus Christ, surrounded by an indescribable radiance, as if by some kind of fiery flame; Standing before the Lord were the holy Archangels, Michael and Gabriel, one on the right side and the other on the left. There was a scarlet cloud under the feet of the Lord. Seeing all this, Saint Simeon bowed to his Lord and stretched out his hands to Him, asking Him to assist him, by His mercy, in bearing good fruits. Christ the Lord blessed Simeon three times with His fingers. Then, looking down, Simeon saw a lot of demons on the ground, having different images: some of them had the image of wild boars, others of goats. And the Lord gave Simeon authority over all those demons, so that he could drive them out. As a sign of this power, the Lord gave Simeon a date rod. Immediately all the demons fled from the face of Simeonov and disappeared to an unknown location. Blessed Simeon also drove away all evil spirits from people who were brought to him and who were possessed by demons; The saint healed many other diseases and even raised the dead. So one day a man came to the saint whose son had died. Having fallen in tears to the saint, the man asked the saint of God to save him from such a great misfortune and to pray to God for his deceased son. The saint, offering a prayer to God, said to that man: - Go in the name of the Lord! Your son is alive! The man believed the words of the saint. Arriving at his house, he actually found his son risen from the dead. Taking it, the man went with him to the saint with inexpressible joy and brought thanks to God and His saint, Saint Simeon. Then Simeon again saw the Lord and our God, to whom stood the ranks of Angels; at the same time, the first of the Angels held in their hands a royal crown, decorated with precious stones; at the top of the crown there was a cross that shone like lightning. With this crown the Angels wanted to crown Simeon as king. Seeing all this, Simeon said to the Angels: “Do not take away from me the hair shirt in which I have put on for the sake of the name of Christ.” - For this you will accept the crown of the Kingdom of Christ prepared for you, and you will be clothed like a scarlet robe in the grace of the Holy Spirit, and you will reign together with the other saints in the endless Kingdom. Blessed Simeon, looking at the Lord, said: - Lord and Creator of everything! If You deign to make me worthy of the glory of Your saints in Your Kingdom, then, I pray to Your goodness, make sure that I do not eat perishable human food! And Simeon heard that the Lord was pleased with his request. Then the Angels approached the blessed one, laid the bright royal robe on his fasting hair shirt, crowned his head and sang loudly, saying: – Very glorious is Christ, God, King of heaven and earth; may His servant Simeon also be praised! After this vision, Saint Simeon no longer ate earthly food until the very end of his life, but ate only heavenly food brought to him by an Angel. A lot is told about how great miracles Saint Simeon performed and how glorious his exploits were; Here we offer a few of the many exploits of blessed Simeon. One day, all the troubles that were soon to befall the city of Antioch and all its environs were revealed to Saint Simeon: Simeon saw an Angel hovering in the air above the city of Antioch with a sword in his hand. Then the saint began to fervently pray to the Lord with all his heart, interceding for the city of Antioch before God as the new Moses and asking the Lord to turn away His anger from the people. And the Lord said to him: - The cry of the sins of this city has reached Me; therefore I am angry with this city and will destroy it, sending fire, sword and death against it. Because this city has angered Me with its sins, I will give it captivity to a foolish people. Saint Simeon spoke about this vision to all the city residents who came to him and exhorted them to repent of their sins. After a short time, the Lord actually raised Khosroes, the king of Persia (the grandfather of young Khosroes, who took captive the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord in Jerusalem) to Antioch 3429. Khozroes came with a large Persian and Chaldean army and began a cruel war with the citizens of the city of Antioch. Blessed Simeon, staying on the pillar and being sheltered by God from the barbarians who came to that country, prayed with zeal to the Lord, asking Him to turn His anger away from the city and not give it into the hands of enemies, however, could not beg God and quench the righteous wrath of God. Saint Simeon had a new vision: being delighted, he saw before him a radiant cross, and at the cross two Angels, holding in their hands tense bows with prepared arrows. And the Angels said to him: – The Lord sent you this cross for your protection as a sign of peace, for you will not be touched by the wrath of God directed at this country; These arrows are prepared to drive away enemies if they want to approach this place where you are laboring. We are here to protect you. Then Simeon saw in a vision that the city had been taken; enemies passed through it; everywhere a great cry and cry was heard; at the same time, some of the citizens were beheaded with the sword, others were taken captive, others jumped from the city walls and fled; among these latter he saw two monks of his monastery, who, frightened by the barbarian invasion, left the monastery and the mountain and fled to the city; but while these monks fled from the city, they were overtaken by the barbarians, and one of them was killed with a sword, and the other was taken captive. Everything that the saint saw soon really came true just a few days after the vision. The city of Antioch was taken by the enemy, put to sword and fire, and many citizens were taken captive. But through the prayer of Saint Simeon, some citizens escaped the hands of the barbarians. So when the barbarians entered the city, many citizens managed to run out of it through other gates that were not yet occupied by the enemy; many citizens also fled, jumping over the city walls. The fugitives took refuge in the mountains and deserts, protected by the mercy of God, with the exception of the two monks mentioned earlier. The barbarians also came to the mountain on which the monastery and the pillar of Simeon were located, but they returned with nothing; for the mountain was covered from them, as Mount Sinai had once been, with darkness and cloud (Ex. 19:16), so that the barbarians saw neither the monastery nor the pillar. Many of the enemies were frightened and put to flight by some invisible force; they fled in such great fear, as if hordes of armed warriors were chasing them; for the prayer of Saint Simeon was a terrible and invincible weapon against opponents. Not a single monk, out of all those who labored in the monastery, suffered from those barbarians, with the exception of the two monks mentioned above, who fled from the monastery to the city out of fear of the enemy. When the barbarians left that country, many wounded people came to the saint; Blessed Simeon gave healing to all of them. In addition, the saint delivered from bonds and captivity many citizens who had already been taken into captivity; for all those who only remembered the name of Simeon, while in chains, were immediately freed from them; the bonds fell from their feet and hands and they walked among the barbarians, not being noticed by them, and then came to their country without any hindrance from the enemy. The monk mentioned above (whose companion fell from the enemy’s sword) was saved from captivity in this very way. Having escaped from the enemies together with one Antioch warrior, the monk told the following about himself: – As soon as we remembered blessed Simeon and with tears of tenderness called on him to help us, immediately the bonds that were upon us were resolved and fell away by themselves; then we walked among those barbarians, for none of them asked us anything or prevented us. Near the city of Antioch, an old man, a blind man, was sitting by a mountain; he lived on alms, which he asked from everyone who passed along that road. When the barbarians hastily ran up to the city, one of them struck the old man on the neck with a sword, but did not cut off his head, but only inflicted a mortal wound; the old man lay in a pool of blood flowing out of him, barely alive. Saint Simeon, seeing all this with his perspicacious eye, sent some brethren to take and bring that elder to him. The monks laid the elder on a mat and brought him to Simeon’s pillar. The saint, taking the earth in his hands and sprinkling it with blessed water, applied it to the wound, saying: - In the name of Emmanuel, head, join your place and strengthen yourself in it. And immediately the old man’s head fell into place, fused with the veins and became completely healthy. When the elder was healed from such a terrible wound, Saint Simeon said: - So his eyes were opened! Everyone who saw the miracle glorified God. After some time, blessed Simeon became upset from the constant anxiety caused to him by the countless multitudes of people who came from different countries and brought many sick and infirm. Since all this interfered with his silent life, he decided to leave this pillar, on which he had been laboring for eight years, in order to retire to some other, more silent place. A short distance from there there was a mountain, high and very deserted, for there was absolutely no water in it. None of the people climbed it because of its lack of water; only wild animals, snakes and other poisonous reptiles lived on it. It was to this mountain that blessed Simeon planned to move. When he thought about this, the Lord appeared to him, accompanied by many Angels, descending from heaven in a bright cloud onto that mountain. The Lord said to him: - Try, Simeon, to climb this Marvelous mountain 3430, for from now on this mountain will be called by this name; on it I will show you My grace to the surprise of everyone. And immediately the saint was shown on the mountain one high hill and a stone on which the feet of the Lord stood; and the footstool shone like the sun from the glory of the Lord; The Lord commanded Simeon to stand on this stone and struggle. At the end of this vision, Simeon called the brethren to him and told them about the Lord’s permission to move him to that mountain. Having installed one old and experienced man as hegumen for the monks, Simeon descended from his pillar and headed to Divnaya Mountain, accompanied by the brethren, who were crying over his removal. When the saint approached the hill indicated to him by God, he stopped and prayed to God for a long time. At the end of the prayer, the voice of many Angels was heard exclaiming: “Amen!” Then blessed Simeon ordered his disciples to erect a stone cross in that place as a constant reminder of the voice of the Angel heard in that place. Looking at the hill located on the Wondrous Mountain, the saint saw the glory of God shining around him; then, joyfully ascending to it, he stood on the very stone on which he had seen the Lord. At this time, blessed Simeon was nineteen years old from birth. However, Saint Simeon did not find peace here either from the visitors who came to him. So the very morning of the next day, the people who came to Simeon’s monastery, not finding the saint of God here, began to cry greatly. Having learned that the saint had moved from here to another mountain, all the people went there in haste, carrying with them many sick and infirm. Seeing those who came, the saint was saddened, for even here he was not allowed to be with only God alone. However, sympathizing with the newcomers, he bowed to mercy and, laying his hands on the sick with invocations of the name of Christ, healed them and sent them home completely healthy. It happened one day that a lion that lived in that mountain rushed at one man who was going to the monk; the lion was already completely prepared to tear that man to pieces; the man, not hoping to escape from the beast, cried out: - Don’t do me harm, for the sake of Simeon, the saint of God! And immediately the lion, hearing the name of Simeon, humbled himself and did not cause any harm to that man. This man, coming to the saint, told him about what had happened. The other strangers, fearing the beast, asked the monk to drive him out of that mountain, so that everyone could come to the monk without fear. The monk, calling to himself his disciple Anastasius, from whom he had expelled, as Christ once did, seven demons 3431, said to him: - Go to the lion’s cave and tell him: “Simeon, the servant of Christ, says to you in the name of God: get away from this mountain; Let there be no lair for you here, so that you do not frighten the brothers who come here. Anastasius went to the lion's cave and, finding a beast in it, told him the words of the monk, talking with him as with a rational being. Leo, fulfilling the words of the monk, hastily went from there to other deserted places, without harming anyone along the way. At that time, various diseases increased greatly in that country, and many people died. The saint, realizing in his spirit that this happened because of God’s wrath for human sins, began to earnestly pray to the Lord with tears, asking him to have mercy on His people and turn away His righteous anger from them. And I heard a holy voice from the Lord, saying: - Why do you have a heartache for these people? Do you really love them more than I? Since their sins and iniquities have multiplied, they deserve punishment. However, in order not to sadden you, I give you the power to heal their various ailments and diseases. This was what the Lord said to His servant Simeon. People who lived near that place, as soon as they fell ill, immediately called upon the saint of God, Saint Simeon, to their aid and saw him (in dream visions) visiting their houses, overshadowing them with the cross and giving healing to everyone. When their sleepy visions ended, they woke up and felt healthy. They called on the name of Simeon in this way: they lit lamps filled with oil in their houses and burned incense, saying: - Christ our God, through the prayers of Your servant Simeon, laboring on the Wondrous Mountain, have mercy on us! And they received mercy from the Lord. Those of them who did not have more oil poured oil into the censer and lit it; at the same time, the censer did not go out until the third and fourth days, as if new oil was constantly being added to the censer; Thus, miraculously, the oil in their censers did not become scarce, due to the invocation of the name of Simeon. One day it was revealed to Saint Simeon by the Lord about the approaching death of His Holiness Archbishop Ephraim of Antioch. Calling the brethren to him, Saint Simeon announced this to them; then Simeon asked the brethren to pray more fervently to the Lord, for,” he said, “the great pillar of the church is ready to fall.” But the brothers answered: “We heard that the archbishop is in good health.” The next day after the morning singing (that day was Friday), Saint Simeon again called the brethren to him and said to them with tenderness of heart: - Saint Ephraim of God reposed this night, for I saw his soul being carried into heaven by the holy Angels. Passing near me, Ephraim kissed me and said: “I ask you to remember me in your prayers to the Lord.” Then the Monk Simeon began to speak with tears like this: - Woe to Antioch, because now it has no Ephraim! Woe to the city, for Ephraim has now been taken from it! 3432 After the death of Blessed Ephraim, the archbishop's throne was taken over by Domnus 3433, who came to Antioch from Constantinople. This Domnus was unkind to the poor. Having learned about this, the Monk Simeon predicted God's punishment for Domnus for his unmercifulness. And indeed, Domn soon fell into a serious illness: his arms and legs curled up, so that he could neither walk nor move his arms, but lay like a piece of wood. Then it was revealed to Saint Simeon about an earthquake that was about to happen in Antioch, even more terrible than the first. Having announced this to everyone who came, Simeon began to cry and pray to God to turn away His anger. That same day in the evening the earth shook so violently that the city walls fell and various city buildings were leveled to the ground; all the people fell into great fear and horror. Many of the citizens were killed by the city walls; all the rest hastily rushed to the Wonderful Mountain to the saint of God, and begged him with tears to beg the Lord to end the disaster. When the saint prayed with great zeal, the earthquake ended; then the saint saw the sky open on the eastern side; from here came an inexpressible light, signifying God’s favor towards repentant people. Then, by the command of God, the Monk Simeon built a monastery on Divnaya Mountain, and also built a church with the hands of the people healed by him (for there were a lot of these people who received healing for their illnesses through the prayer of St. Simeon); then the monk, through his prayer, asked God for a sufficient amount of water for the monastery; Through his prayer, the wheat in the monastery granary also increased, so much so that it almost did not decrease in quantity until three years, despite the fact that large quantities of it were taken from the granaries to feed many strangers. Subsequently, Saint Simeon also built a new pillar, onto which (as the monk clearly saw) the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came with His holy Angels and consecrated that pillar. Blessed Simeon ascended the pillar with great joy, and labored on it until the very end of his life. When blessed Simeon was thirty-three years old, by the command of God (revealed to the saint), Simeon decided to be ordained to the rank of priest, although he had not previously wanted to accept this high rank. By God's dispensation, Dionysius, Bishop of Seleucia, came to blessed Simeon, and ordained Simeon as a presbyter. After his ordination to the priesthood, blessed Simeon with great reverence performed the Divine bloodless Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, serving God in chastity, like an Angel. The saint often had many different wondrous visions and revelations from God. He predicted future events, foreseeing things as far distant as the present; The saint also saw into the secret thoughts of people. He performed many miracles, both on land and at sea, appearing in visions; he gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, gave health to the lame, cast out demons from people, stopped the mouths of beasts, healed every ulcer and every disease, raised the dead, so that the word of Christ was fulfilled on him: “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also” (John 14:12). Truly marvelous was God, revealed in His servant, marvelous Simeon! When the Venerable Simeon had completed seventy-five years of life, he, foreknowledge of his imminent departure to the Lord, called the brethren to him, taught them for a sufficient time, then, giving everyone his last kiss at the hour of vespers, he gave his soul into the hands of God on the twenty-fourth day of the month of May 3434, at the hour at which he usually received food from the Angel. Together with the holy Angels, he now enjoys in the endless 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 glory is given now and to endless ages. Amen. Desert dweller, and in the body an Angel and a miracle worker appeared, O our God-bearing Father Simeon: by fasting, vigil, prayer, I received heavenly gifts, healing the sick, and the souls of those who flow to you by faith. Glory to him who gave you strength: glory to him who crowned you: glory to him who brings healing to all through you. Desiring the one above, putting aside the one below, and making the sky like a pillar: thus didst thou shine upon the venerable dawn of miracles, and pray unceasingly to Christ the God of all for us all. Several cities are known with the name of Edessa. In this case, probably, of course, Edessa (now Urfa), located in the northern part of Mesopotamia. Of course Antioch is Syrian. Justinian 1st (the Great) reigned from 527 to 565. Vespasian ruled the Roman Empire from 70 to 79 AD. His son, Titus, reigned from 79 to 81. The expression is figurative, showing the power and cunning of demons. Emmanuel is the name of the Messiah or Jesus Christ in the famous prophecy of Isaiah about the birth of the Son from the Virgin (Is. 7:14). This name means from Hebrew: “God is with us.” This refers to the feat of the holy 40 martyrs who suffered in the Armenian city of Sebastia in the 4th century. Their memory is committed to St. Church on March 9. Khozroy (or more precisely Khosrov) from Persian means king in general. This name was usually added to the proper name of one or another king. In this case, of course, Khosroes I Anushirvan, who reigned from 531 to 579. His grandson Khosroes II Parvez (ruled from 590 to 628) took the Life-Giving Tree of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in 614, during the war with the Greek emperor Phocas. The tree of the cross was returned in 628 by Chosroes II's successor, Sroes, upon the conclusion of peace with the Greek emperor Heraclius. The wondrous mountain was located in a triangle formed by the cities: Antioch on the Orontes River, Seleucia-Sherieus and Ros. Jesus Christ cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene (see Mark 16:9). Ephraim was patriarch from 527 to 545. Domnus the 2nd was patriarch from 546 to 560. The most important moments in the life of St. Simeon the Stylite are distributed by year as follows: St. Simeon was born in 521; in the year 527, at the age of 6 years old, he ascended the pillar; 8 years later, in 535, he moved to another pillar; in the 22nd year of his life he moved to Divnaya Mountain, next. in 543; in 560, in the 39th year of his life, he was ordained presbyter. Died in 596, 76 years old. – The Venerable Simeon the Stylite, now remembered, should be distinguished from another Simeon, also the Stylite, whose memory is celebrated on September 1. He also labored within the borders of Syrian Antioch, but lived much earlier (died in 459). You might be interested in: