III. Праздник Сретения Господня у гроба праведного Симеона Богоприимца в Катамонасе близ Иерусалима.

In the history of this holiday, very briefly told by St. by the Evangelist Luke (2:22–39), perhaps the most prominent place is given to St. righteous Simeon the God-Receiver. About him, the divinely inspired writer notes: "And he was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon: and this man was righteous and pious, seeking the joys of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was in him. And he was promised by the Holy Spirit not to see death, before he had even seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in spirit to the church: when he had brought in the parent of the child Jesus, he would do according to the lawful custom about him. And he received him in his hand and blessed God and said: “Now you release your servant, Master.”... And Joseph and His Mother wondered about those spoken about him. And I blessed Simeon and spoke to His mother Mary: This is set for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel and is to be reproached as a sign: and a weapon will pierce your very soul: so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Neither before this significant event in the earthly life of our Savior, nor after it, we no longer meet with this highly righteous and prophetically inspired personality of the Jerusalem elder Simeon in the books of the Holy Scriptures. Who were the parents of St. the elder, from which tribe they came, where he lived in Jerusalem, what social position he occupied, when he died and where he was buried - all this is covered in the darkness of the unknown, and to many of these questions that excite inquisitive minds, only conjectural, fortune-telling answers are now possible. Even the reason why he was “promised by the Holy Spirit not to see death, before even seeing Christ the Lord,” is explained with the greatest difficulty, and then only to some extent, by church tradition. Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver was a very educated man for his time, fluent in the Hebrew and Greek languages. Some suggest that he was the son of the Jewish patriarch Hillel and allegedly the father of the famous teacher of the law, the Apostle Paul Gamaliel. For his deep theological knowledge and broad linguistic education, Righteous Simeon was invited, along with other seventy-two elders, to Alexandria by the famous lover of enlightenment, the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus, to translate St. Bibles from Hebrew into Greek. This translation subsequently received the name of the translation of seventy interpreters. It fell to the lot of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver, by the way, to translate the book of the prophet Isaiah. When he came to the famous prophetic passage about the birth of the Savior: “Behold, the Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 2:23), he thought deeply about the word “Virgin” and was perplexed how to convey it in translation. According to one version of this legend, he wanted to scrape out the word “Virgin” and replace it with the expression “Wife,” but at this time of his “doubtful thoughts” he was restrained from fulfilling his intention by a wonderful vision of an angel and even received from him “a promise: not to see death, before not even seeing Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:26). According to another version, righteous Simeon expressed his bewilderment to his companions upon returning to his homeland. While fording a river, he took the ring from his hand, threw it into the river and said: “If they find it, then I can believe the prophet’s saying to the letter.” Then stopping for the night in a place near this river, he bought fish for dinner. When, after cooking, he sat down to eat it with his companions, then, to everyone’s amazement, he found his ring inside it, thrown into the river. It was here, adds the second version of the legend, that a miraculous revelation of the Holy Spirit took place, promising him “not to see death before he even sees the Lord’s Christ.” Upon returning from Alexandria to his homeland, righteous Simeon lived in Jerusalem, “anticipating the joys of Israel,” and at the same time the end of his life. Whether the righteous elder held any public position in his hometown or not, it is difficult to give an exact answer to this. The Orthodox Church, in its sacred hymns for this holiday, glorifies the righteous elder, as in “the law of the most sacred former clergyman.” This idea is also suggested by the fact that the holy parents of Christ the Savior Joseph and Mary, “carrying up” the child Jesus to Jerusalem - “to set him before the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord” (v. 22), “and to give a sacrifice according to what was spoken in the law of the Lord” (v. 24) when they came to the church, they met here only one old man brought by the Spirit Simeon, who took “him in his hand” (v. 28), in order, of course, “to do him according to the lawful custom concerning him” (v. 27). But the famous priest and learned Patriarch Photius of Constantinople says about the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver that he “was not a priest, but much more than a priest.” Some therefore speculate that he was the chairman of the Jewish Sanhedrin. According to legend, St. the elder died in the 360th year of his life. His relics were transferred to Constantinople under Emperor Justin (565–578) and placed there at the Chalcopratian church in the chapel of St. James, brother of the Lord, built by this emperor. The coffin of Simeon the God-Receiver was also seen here by our 12th-century pilgrim, Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod. That's all that can be said based on a brief history of this holiday and legend about the personality of the righteous elder Simeon the God-Receiver. To this it is possible to make only one addition, that the inspired song of the holy elder: “Now dost thou let thy servant go, O Master,” came into church use from a very early time and was widely known. With this song on her lips, as is known, the Venerable Mary of Egypt went to the Lord after receiving St. Zosima from the hands of Elder Zosima. Tain. There are also no definite indications about where the holy elder was buried. Among the monasteries of St. The city has been maintained for a long time again only by the legend that the house of the righteous Simeon with the garden, and at the same time his family crypts, were located near Jerusalem in the area currently called “Katamonas”. “Katamonas” lies in the Ahmed Valley, planted with olive trees and irrigated by clear spring water. This place is located in the southwest of Jerusalem, half an hour's drive, near the ancient monastery of St. Cross, which now houses the local theological school. Until 1859 of the last century, this area was completely desolate, but this year the monk Abraham, originally from Madit, acquired the entire area as his property and cleared it for growing grapes and planting olive trees. During these works, the remains of ancient buildings, mosaic floors, pieces of skillfully crafted marble, cisterns, etc. were discovered. An oblong small house found under the ruins was turned into a church, about which Archimandrite Kirill Athanasiadis, author of the brochure “A Brief Topographical Description of the Monastery of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, called “Katamonas”, wrote about it. M. 1882,” notes that “here, as it seems to us, there was in ancient times a church in the name of St. Simeon the God-Receiver” (p. 15). To the plantings and buildings produced, persistent Fr. Abraham attached a high, 9-meter tower standing nearby. Inside it, on the lower floor, he built a kitchen and storage rooms, and upstairs there were four living rooms. By purchasing o. Abraham acquired neighboring fields, blew up the existing rocks with gunpowder, planted up to 600 olive trees, many fruit trees and grapevines, built a beautiful vegetable garden and began to sow the free lands with wheat, barley and beans. Thus, the result was a magnificent country dacha. Katamonas Monastery near Jerusalem (Patriarchal Dacha) But enterprising Fr. Abraham did not stop there. The legend that the house with the garden and family crypts of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, “as was the custom among the Jews and other ancient peoples” (the aforementioned brochure, p. 10) was located near Jerusalem, he was well aware of, and he tried to look for these “family graves” within his dacha, since the ancient legend confined the house of the righteous one approximately to this area Simeon. In 1879, Father Abraham carried out new and already “scientific” research, the result of which was that under the rock below, hewn graves were discovered, filled with stones, earth and bones, which, “on contact with atmospheric air, turned to dust” (brochure, p. 20 note 17). These were the burial caves. family graves” of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, and at the same time for the burial place of this righteous elder (ibid., p. 23). Since the named caves turned out to be far behind the tower, Fr. Abraham tried to include them in the general outline of his possessions by building a new wall. The church in honor of St. Simeon the God-Receiver is built in an ancient tower, divided into two parts, connected by a wide portico with a door opposite the tomb itself. The tomb of the righteous Simeon is located in the side left aisle, having above it a skillfully carved wooden edicule, resting on a stone slab of excellent white marble, which, in turn, rests on four pillars. The grave is fenced with an elegant iron lattice and five unquenchable lamps hang above it. The main church is small in size, but with its grace and decoration it makes the most pleasant impression on the viewer. The altar is separated from the church by a wooden iconostasis with artistic carvings. The church platform is made of white and dark red marble. The walls are covered with white plaster. The iconography in the iconostasis on themes from the life of righteous Simeon the Receiver of God was made by the hand of an extraordinary artist. During the reign of the Jerusalem Patriarchate of His Beatitude Nicodemus I, who is now retired on Chalki near Constantinople, a house was built in “Katamonas” to house the patriarch, and from that time this place became the favorite country residence of the Jerusalem patriarchs. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a holiday of the theological school at the Cross Monastery. Early in the morning, the students of this school, under the guidance of the rector and mentors, go to “Katamonas” to the tomb of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver. The liturgy here is performed by the school rector and priestly priests, and the students sing and read in the choir. The Patriarch stands in the throne and reads, according to accepted custom, the creed and the Lord's Prayer. At the end of the liturgy, the pupils of the school, having kissed the edicule over the coffin of St. Simeon, receive a blessing from the patriarch and go to a special room where a treat has been prepared for them, and then walk around “Katamonas”. From the heights of the local tower there are beautiful views of the surrounding area. From here you can see the whole of Jerusalem with our colossal charitable buildings, Catholic and Protestant, the Mount of Olives with the majestic Russian bell tower and the extensive buildings of the late Fr. arch. Antonina, the grandiose Catholic convent of “Our Father”, the field of giants with the monastery of St. Prophet Elijah, surrounded by dense olive groves, the vast building of the Austrian consul with a hospital and a beautiful garden and the monastery of St. Cross in the depths of the Wadi il Pasha valley. Warm spring sun, clean, invigorating air, the subtle aroma of awakening nature, emerald green fields dotted with different-colored spring flowers - all this greatly enhances the beauty of this area and makes a charming impression on guests who are reluctant to leave this charming corner. The school's mentors, after a warm meal with the patriarch and a conversation with him, together with their students, return to the Cross Monastery for lunch. The inhabitants of “Katamonas” begin to intensively prepare for the holiday of the next day, when the Church remembers the memory of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess, and at the same time for the reception of numerous guests and pilgrims flocking to the tomb of St. Simeon. During this second half of the day, the church is being cleaned for the upcoming solemn patriarchal service together with members of the patriarchal synod, rooms are being prepared for overnight pilgrims, bread is being baked, koliva is being cooked for the memorial service for the monastery’s saint and other pre-holiday preparations. The road from Jerusalem to Katamonas during this and the next day is crowded with crowds of pilgrims going to the tomb of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and returning back to the Russian buildings. Tomb of St. Simeon the God-Receiver in Katamonas The solemn vespers on February 2 and the liturgy the next day are performed by the patriarch himself with numerous clergy and synodal bishops. The small Katamon church does not accommodate even a third of the worshipers who come here on this day. Therefore, most of the pilgrims are located in an open, spacious courtyard, and some, having retired under a branchy sycamore tree and forming picturesque groups, peacefully conduct conversations, while waiting for the end of the service, about everyday subjects. At the end of the liturgy, the patriarch blesses bread for the people, which he distributes to those who wish. Some of the pilgrims are also offered Russian tea in one of the premises of “Katamonas”. The whole day, February 3, the doors of the Katamon church do not close. Numerous pilgrims rush to get inside it, kiss the cucumber of the coffin of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, place a labor candle in front of it, put a penny on the unquenchable lamp, serve a prayer service, etc. There is complete revival both in the monastery and all the way to Jerusalem on this day. From Katamonas, many pilgrims along the way visit the ancient monastery of St. Cross. They are drawn here by the desire to see and kiss the place where, according to legend, the tree grew, which served as the instrument of execution for our Savior. This place is located in the altar under the throne and is overlaid with silver. Without distinction of gender and age, all pilgrims enter the altar and unhinderedly venerate the given place, over which an unquenchable lamp glows. From here, through the side altar door, along a dark, narrow and low corridor, with lit candles in their hands, the pilgrims descend into the cave under the altar, where the guide shows them a cleft in the rock, in which the roots of this tree were supposedly previously visible. An unquenchable lamp also glows here. Pious pilgrims stock up on earth from this saint. a place that supposedly provides healing from various diseases. You might be interested in: