Saint Simeon (in the world Vasily Ivanovich Zhelnin) was born on March 1, 1869, in the village of Yakovlevskoy, Ostrovsky district, Pskov province, into a peasant family from parents John and Natalia. Soon he was baptized in the Vekhnovo churchyard and in holy baptism he was named Vasily.

His parents were deeply religious, God-fearing and pious, and raised Vasily in obedience and obedience to the parental will.

In his spiritual biography, written by St. Simeon already in his mature years, he recalls how Cornelius, a monk of the Krypetsky Monastery (now ranked among the locally revered saints of Pskov), came to his parents' house more than once. Sometimes he stayed overnight in their house, and always going to bed with the lad Vasily, he often said to him: “If you become a monk, you will be a great elder.” Sometimes he took the youth with him to collect for the monastery and at the same time said: “Vasya, they won’t give it here, but here they will give it to us.” That's how it's always been.

At the age of ten, Vasily, helping his parents, grazed his horses. In the same year, he heard from people stories about the life of Elder Seraphim, the miracle worker of Sarov, and, wanting to imitate the great ascetic, he found a large stone in the field and began to pray on it. At the age of 12, together with his parents, he went to the Pskov-Caves Monastery to bow to ancient shrines and pray before miraculous icons monastery. In the monastery, the youth Vasily liked it so much that he decided to stay here forever, and this thought did not leave him until his desire was fulfilled.

At the age of 20, Vasily began to ask his father to let him go to the monastery, but his father did not want to hear about it and told the young man: “You need to marry, not a monk.” But the young man stood his ground, firmly declaring to his father that he would never marry. This went on for several years, until the father became convinced of the seriousness of his son's intention to become a monk. Then he allowed Vasily to build a house in the estate, where the future ascetic lived and prayed in solitude until the age of 25.

But five years later, God miraculously brings Vasily out of his parental home. At that time, a certain elder Simeon lived in their village, whom the villagers revered as blessed. This elder liked to come to the house of Vasily's parents, and sometimes stayed overnight. Vasily once asked the blessed advice and blessing to go to the monastery, but received no answer. But one day the blessed one came to their house and told his father that he “came here to die.” And then Vasily, in front of everyone, began to ask the blessed one: “Father, bless me to the monastery.” And he suddenly took the rope, twisted it with a tourniquet and began to beat the petitioner and drive from the house to the yard, from the yard to the street - and drove along the street outside the village, and then returned to the house, lay down on a bench - and died. Everyone who saw this understood that the blessed one drove Vasily out of the house to the monastery. But even after this incident, the father did not want to let his son go, but then he reconciled himself and let Vasily go to the Pechersk monastery in peace.

In 1896, Vasily entered the Pskov-Caves Monastery as a novice. Archimandrite Methodius (Kholmsky, † 1906), who was then the abbot of the monastery, took him to be his cell-attendant in the rector's chambers. In addition, Vasily also went to common obediences with the brethren, especially to the construction of a hotel for pilgrims. Often I had to work from 5 o'clock in the morning until late in the evening. In the rare free hours, when young novices and monks were going to rest on fresh air on Holy Hill, in the garden, he always dissuaded himself from such idle communication and, under the guise of obedience given by the governor, went to the carpentry and, being an experienced cabinetmaker, turned various useful things there.

In 1900, the novice Vasily was tonsured a monk with the name Vassian, and in 1901 he was ordained a hierodeacon and received a separate cell for residence.

In 1903, Father Vassian was ordained a hieromonk and was soon appointed to the Snetogorsk Monastery in Pskov as a housekeeper to restore the monastery economy, and after 4 years he returned to Pechory. Soon he was again sent from the monastery to strengthen the monastery economy, this time to the Mustishchevo estate, 25 kilometers from the monastery towards Latvia.

“There were a lot of difficulties,” the elder later recalled, “I couldn’t get out of my bast shoes. It was necessary to restore almost the entire economy again, first of all to build a temple in the name of John the Baptist of the Lord, a church house, outbuildings, sheds, a barnyard, and so on. Arrange arable farming so that it benefits the monastery. It took many years, and when things went smoothly, he returned to his native monastery at the age of 46.

A revolution began, and the abbot of the monastery, Bishop John (Bulin, † 1941), wanted to appoint the experienced ascetic Father Vassian as the abbot of the monastery. But he, out of his humility, seeing that this obedience was beyond his power, began to refuse and asked to be tonsured into the schema, as he felt “an inner suggestion to accept the schema.” So, on February 3, 1927, he was tonsured with the name Simeon and appointed confessor of the brethren and pilgrims of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. The abbot of the monastery brought him to a wretched, damp, dark cell, in fact a cave, dug out in the mountain next to the Assumption Church, and said: “Here is your cell, here you will die.” And so it happened later.

Thus began the prayerful and senile deed of Hieroschemamonk Simeon, which lasted 33 years. Now the main content of the life of the future elder was prayer. He made it a rule to pray every day at the early Liturgy in the cave church of the Dormition, and there, at the altar of the Lord, he diligently commemorated all his spiritual children. At night, he fulfilled the cell rule of the schemnik, and during the day he received the brethren and numerous pilgrims in his cell. The elder did not leave bodily labors either - mostly in the carpentry workshop. The elder suffered many temptations in his cell from demons. On the very first night, as he settled in it, evil spirits appeared to him in a visible way and filled the cell. Creepy as he had never seen before.

At first the elder was frightened and did not know what to do. And they started shouting at him, pulling and chasing him: “Why did you come? Get out of here, anyway, we will not let you live here, ”and much more. “I thought,” the elder said, “that I would not survive this passion, from which I could not even cross myself, but only said: “Lord, receive my spirit.”

Such fears continued many times, but then they were no longer as terrible as the first time, and he learned, with the help of God, to repel them by the power of the cross and prayer.

For the great love of Elder Simeon for God and people and for his great humility, rare gifts of God were revealed in him: the gift of healing souls, insight and healing mental and bodily ailments. Many written testimonies of people who received miraculous healings through the prayers of the elder have been preserved about this.

In his humility, Elder Simeon did his best to hide the gift of his extraordinary insight. “Yes, I’m not a seer at all,” he said to one of the inquisitive visitors to the monastery with a slight embarrassment and mild annoyance in his voice, “the Lord gives a great gift of insight to his chosen ones, and here it’s just longevity that helps me, I went into the house earlier than others, that’s the order I know him better. People come to me with sorrows and doubts, and an agitated person is like a child, he is all in the palm of his hand ... A misfortune happened to a person, so he loses the accuracy of his spiritual eyes, falls either into despondency, or into insolence and bitterness. And I know the circle of the world well, and I have lived a long life, and I myself am protected by the Lord's power from troubles and temptations, and how can I, to the best of my small strength, not support my brother, a companion on the earthly road, when he is tired before me. ..”

“The monastic path is difficult,” wrote Elder Simeon in his biography, “but the feat of scheming is more difficult if we proceed in the way our Ascetic Lord Jesus Christ has shown us. When visiting His All-Holy Spirit, everything is possible to overcome, endure, endure and achieve the longed-for, unspoken eternal inheritance promised to us by Him in His Kingdom of Heaven.

Sixty-four years of such a monastic feat made Hieroschemamonk Simeon a vessel of the grace of God, which radiated from his eyes and the entire appearance of the elder.

“With all sorts of littleness, vanity, ignorance, blindness, people overshadow the miracle,” the elder said to one visitor. “The wondrous gift of the Lord— human life! If you don't buy it, you won't earn it. Here, man, accept a priceless reward! .. Joy, joy, great joy! .. ”

The last days before his death, the elder became very weak, but he continued to receive people. To the question of his spiritual children, to whom he leaves them, he answered: “To the Mother of God.” And he instructed everyone to love each other, to forgive all offenses, since hatred for at least one person leads to mortal sin, and you need to forgive in such a way that a person knows that you have forgiven him.

The last lesson of humility and obedience was revealed by the elder even in his repose to the Lord.

By revelation from the Lord, he was waiting for death on January 15/2, 1960, on the day of memory of St. Seraphim of Sarov. But the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov, † 1975), who visited the sick elder, became worried that he might die and make a stir on the very day of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and therefore asked the elder to pray to God to delay his death. “All right,” the humble old man answered him, “you are the governor, and I am a novice, let it be your way.” And so it happened: the elder reposed on Epiphany Christmas Eve, and they buried him after the feast of Epiphany.

By the day of his burial, many of his spiritual children arrived at the monastery from different places. The deceased abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov) and forty clergymen were buried. And after the funeral, the coffin with the honest relics of the elder was placed in the God-given caves of the monastery at the place indicated by him during his lifetime.

The memory of Elder Schieeromonk Simeon is sacredly revered in the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, where he fought a good feat for 64 years.

On April 1, 2003, Hieroschemamonk Simeon was glorified as a saint of the Pskov Caves. From now on, his holy relics rest in the Sretensky church of the monastery.

By his prayerful intercession before the Lord, Elder Simeon now gives his miraculous help to those who come to him with faith, and many, just as during the life of the elder, find peace of mind and the healing of ailments.

Let him who is born into this world not think that he was born for
to enjoy this world and taste its joys, for,
if this was the purpose of birth, then he would not die.

Saint Simeon the New Theologian was born in 946 in the city of Galata (Paphlagonia) and received a thorough secular education in Constantinople. His father prepared him for a court career, and for some time the young man held a high position at the imperial court. But when he reached the age of 25, he felt attracted to monastic life, fled from home and retired to the Studion Monastery, where he passed his obedience under the guidance of the then-famous Elder Simeon the Reverent.

The main feat of the monk was the unceasing Jesus Prayer in her summary: "Lord have mercy!" For greater prayerful concentration, he constantly sought solitude, even at the liturgy he stood apart from the brethren, often remaining alone at night in church; in order to get used to the memory of death, he spent his nights in the cemetery.

The fruit of his diligence was a special state of admiration: during these hours the Holy Spirit in the form of a luminous cloud descended on him and closed everything around him from his eyes. Over time, he reached a constant high spiritual enlightenment, which was especially evident when he served the Liturgy.

Approximately in the year 980, the Monk Simeon was appointed abbot of the monastery of St. Mamas and stayed in this rank for 25 years. He put the neglected economy of the monastery in order and landscaped the temple in it.

St. Simeon combined kindness with strictness and unswerving observance of the Gospel commandments. So, for example, when his beloved disciple Arseny interrupted the crows that pecked at the soaked bread, the abbot forced him to string dead birds on a rope, put this “necklace” around his neck and stand in the yard. In the monastery of Saint Mamas, a certain bishop from Rome, who accidentally killed his young nephew, atoned for sin, and Saint Simeon invariably showed kindness and attention to him.

Strict monastic discipline, which the monk constantly imposed, led to strong discontent among the monastic brethren. Once, after the liturgy, especially irritated brothers attacked him and nearly killed him. When the Patriarch of Constantinople expelled them from the monastery and wanted to betray them to the city authorities, the monk begged for forgiveness for them and helped them in life in the world.

Around the year 1005, the Monk Simeon transferred the hegumenship to Arseny, and he himself settled at the monastery in retirement. There he created his Theological Works, excerpts from which were included in the 5th volume of The Philokalia. The main theme of his creation is the secret work in Christ. St. Simeon teaches inner warfare, ways of spiritual perfection, struggle against passions and sinful thoughts. He wrote teachings for monks, "Active Theological Chapters", "Sermon on the Three Ways of Prayer", "Sermon on Faith". In addition, St. Simeon was an outstanding church poet. He owns "Hymns of Divine Love" - ​​about 70 poems full of deep prayerful reflections.

St. Simeon's teaching on the new man, on the "deification of the flesh," with which he wanted to replace the teaching on the "mortification of the flesh" (for which he was called the New Theologian), was accepted by his contemporaries with difficulty. Many of his teachings sounded incomprehensible and alien to them. This led to a conflict with the higher clergy of Constantinople, and Saint Simeon was exiled. He retired to the shores of the Bosporus and founded the monastery of St. Marina there.

The saint peacefully reposed to God in 1021. During his lifetime, he received the gift of miracles. Numerous miracles were performed after his death; one of them is the miraculous acquisition of his image. His life was written by a cell-attendant and disciple, the Monk Nikita Stifat.

Simeon the New Theologian
Troparion, tone 3

Divine illumination, Simeone, father, / perceiving in your soul, / the light in the world appeared to be the brightest, / dispelling that obscurantism / and assuring everyone to seek, to the south destroying, the grace of the Spirit, / diligently pray for him / grant us great mercy.

Another troparion, tone 1

Being uninvolved in external wisdom, / but you were filled with the Divine / and the New Theologian was truly known by all, Simeone. / For this sake, your memory, father wise, reverently, we cry out to you: / glory to you who glorified Christ, / glory to you is wondrous Who showed, / glory to He who acts by you all healing.

Kontakion, tone 3

Enlightened by the Light of the Tri-Sun, the God-Wise, / The Theologian appeared to the Divine Trinity. / Over the wisdom of words enriched, / exuded the divine wisdom of the Divine jets, / drinking from them, crying out: / Rejoice, treblessed Simeon the God-taught.

Venerable Simeon the Stylite

Rev. Simeon the Stylite, Simeon Divnogorets, Alypy the Stylite. Theophanes the Greek, fresco of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Ilyin Street in Novgorod, 1378
The Monk Simeon the Stylite (d. 459) is considered the founder of stylistics, as a special form of monastic achievement that originated in Syria. The life of the saint, written by his disciple Anthony, begins with the words: "A new and wondrous mystery has taken place in our times." And then we read: “The holy fathers who lived in the deserts heard about such a life of Simeon, and were amazed at his extraordinary exploits, for no one had yet invented such a life for himself to stand on a pillar. Wishing to test him, they sent to say to him: “Why do you not follow the path of our fathers, but invented another, new one? Descend from the pillar and follow the life of the ancient hermits.” Many considered this a whim and predicted that Simeon would not endure such a life for long. However, the ascetic spent 37 years on the pillar in fasting and prayer.
Rev. Simeon became famous for other exploits: he was a fiery preacher, crowds gathered at the foot of his pillar, everyone wanted to listen to his prophetic word, he had the gift of healing mental and bodily ailments, foresaw the future.
Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus, a contemporary and witness to the deeds of the monk, wrote: “The famous Simeon - this is a great miracle of the universe - is known to all subject to the Roman state: the Persians, the Medes, and the Ethiopians learned about him; the widespread rumor about his industriousness and wisdom reached even the Scythian nomads. But I, even having as witnesses, as they say, all the people of the universe who will confirm my word about the exploits of the saint, I am afraid, however, that my story will not seem to posterity incredible and alien to the truth. For what happened to Simeon exceeds human nature.
In Kalad Siman, where St. Simeon, a temple was built, which became a place of mass pilgrimage. Images of him began to spread already from the end of the 5th - the beginning of the 6th century, that is, after the death of the saint. They can be found in the paintings of churches and icons throughout the Orthodox world. But, perhaps, we find the most striking and deepest image in Theophanes the Greek, a Byzantine master who came to Rus' at the end of the 14th century. His paintings have been preserved in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ilyina Street in Novgorod.
In addition to the main volume, Theophanes painted this temple a small space on the choir stalls, the so-called. Trinity chamber, designed for individual prayer. On the eastern wall of the chamber, he depicted the Holy Trinity (“Hospitality of Abraham”), and along the walls, on three sides, pillars and hermits, among whom we see St. Simeon the Stylite. Theophanes presented here a whole series of great ascetics who stand before the Holy Trinity in prayer.
The painting of the Novgorod temple is very unusual, it is filled with only two colors: ocher and whitewash. By this, the master, as it were, reduces the whole diversity of the world to the dichotomy of clay (ocher, paint made from clay) as the colors of the earth and white color symbolizing light. It is also the opposition of flesh and spirit, created and uncreated, human and divine.
In the images of the ascetics, first of all, the intense work of the Spirit is shown, focusing on the most important thing: the acquisition of grace, the departure from the mundane, the entry into the space of the Divine presence. The saints are painted temperamentally, almost sketchily, with boldness and tangible dynamics unusual for the Middle Ages: it seems that the activity of the white color is growing from image to image.
Simeon the Stylite is represented on a high stone pillar crowned with a round cup-shaped shape. The arising association with the cup is not accidental: the ascetic, having ascended the pillar, completely gives himself to God. Bright flashes of light, lying like energetic white smears on clothes, hair, face, hands, show that the saint is entering into unapproachable light.
He is completely inside the flow of Divine energies descending on him from above. The white highlights on his clothes are like sharp lightning bolts piercing through decrepit flesh. Simeon's hands are put forward, on the fingertips we see energetic strokes of white - as if he touches the light, feels it physically. There are no pupils in the opened eyes, whitening engines are depicted in the eye sockets: the saint sees the light, he is filled with this light, he lives by it.
Next to Simeon the Stylite, Theophanes the Greek also depicted other great ascetics: Simeon Divnogorets, Alypy the Stylite, John of the Ladder, Macarius of Egypt and other saints, who at different times and in different places labored in prayer and asceticism. Gathered together, according to Theophanes, they should reveal the beauty of the monastic feat, the height of spiritual work, clearly show deification, that is, such a fullness of life in God, when a saint becomes a receptacle of divine grace, is transformed by the Holy Spirit, unites with God.
Theophanes the Greek himself, although he was not a monk, understood well the essence of the feat of Simeon and other ascetics. He belonged to the hesychasts (from the Greek "hesychia" - silence, solitude), a follower of the spiritual movement that was formed in the Orthodox monasteries of Athos and Sinai, and in the XIV century captured the laity. The principles of hesychasm were theologically meaningful and formulated by St. Gregory Palamas, who taught that through divine energies God, the world and man are interconnected, and therefore man has the opportunity to become directly involved in divine life, to become "God by grace."

In the country of Cappadocia39, in the village of Sisan, lived the Christians Susotion and Martha. God blessed their marriage with the birth of a son, whom they named Simeon and, according to Christian custom, washed in a baptismal bath. This lad was brought up not in book learning, but in simplicity and gentleness; but the wisdom of God often dwells in ordinary people and he chooses them as his instrument to put to shame the wisdom of this age (1 Cor. 15:21). The future shepherd of the verbal sheep41 Simeon, when he was thirteen years old, began to tend the flocks of his father's sheep. Like Jacob, Moses and David, who also shepherded the sheep and received divine revelations, Simeon was also called by God. One day, during the winter, the sheep did not go out to pasture for several days, because a lot of snow fell42. Being free from work, the blessed youth on Sunday went with his father and mother to church. Simeon listened attentively to what was being sung and read in the church, and he heard the holy Gospel, in which the poor, the weeping, the meek, and the pure in heart were called blessed. He asked an honest old man standing next to him what these words meant. Instructed by the Spirit of God, the elder began to explain to Simeon and taught him for a long time, showing him the path to spiritual poverty, purity, God's love and a virtuous life. The good seeds of the elder's teachings fell on good soil: for immediately in Simeon's soul a zealous desire for God was born and a firm desire grew to follow the narrow path leading to Him (Luke 13:24; Matt. 7:14). He put in his mind - immediately give up everything and strive only for what he desired. Bowing to the honest old man and thanking for the useful teaching, Simeon said to him:
- You have now become a father and mother for me, a teacher for good deeds and a leader to my salvation.
Immediately after this, Simeon left the church and, without going home, retired to a place convenient for prayer. Here he prostrated himself on the ground like a cross44 and with weeping begged the Lord to show him the way to salvation. For a long time he lay like this and prayed: at last he fell asleep and in a dream he saw such a vision. He dreamed that he was digging a ditch for some building. And now he hears a voice saying: "Dig deeper!" He began to dig deeper; then, thinking that it was enough,45 he stopped, but again he heard a voice commanding him to dig even deeper. Again he began to dig, and when he stopped again, for the third time the same voice urged him to the same work. Finally he heard:
- Stop doing that. Now, if you want to build a building, build, but work diligently, because without work you will not succeed in anything.
This wonderful vision came true over Simeon himself. In his deep humility, he laid such a foundation for the improvement of himself and others that his virtues and exploits seemed to be above human nature.
After this vision, Simeon got up and went to one of the monasteries located in his native country. Blessed Timothy was the abbot47 of this monastery. Simeon fell to the ground in front of the monastery gates and lay for seven days, enduring hunger and thirst. On the eighth day, the abbot left the monastery and began to ask Simeon where he was from, where he was going, what his name was, whether he had done any evil and whether he had run away from his masters. Simeon, falling at the hegumen's feet, wept and said to him:
- No, father, I'm not one of those; I have done no harm to anyone, but I wish to serve God with all diligence. Have mercy on me, a sinner: command me to enter the monastery and be a servant to everyone.
Seeing God's calling in him, the hegumen took him by the hand and led him into the monastery, saying to the brethren:
- Teach him the monastic life and monastic rules and regulations.
Having settled in the monastery, Simeon implicitly obeyed and served everyone. IN a short time he memorized the entire Psalter. Being still only eighteen years old, he was already tonsured a monk and soon surpassed all the monks of that monastery by the severity of his life. So some of the brethren ate food only once a day, in the evening, others - on the third day, but he did not eat food for a whole week.
Simeon's parents searched for him for two years and could not find him, because God hid him. They wept a lot for their son and mourned so much that his father died of sadness. Simeon, having found himself a father in God, gave Him all of himself from his youth.
Staying in the Lavra48, blessed Simeon once went to a well to draw water. Taking a rope from a scoop49, very stiff, woven from palm branches50, he wrapped it around his naked body, starting from the hips to the neck, so tightly that the rope cut into the body. Ten days passed, and his body festered from the wounds, and many worms boiled in these wounds. The brethren began to complain to the abbot:
"Where did you bring this man to us from?" It is impossible to endure it: the stench comes from it. Nobody can stand next to him. When he walks, worms fall from him: his bed is also full of worms.
The abbot was surprised when he heard about this; but, making sure that everything that was said to him was fair, he asked Simeon:
- Tell me, child, why such a stench emanates from you?
But Simeon, with downcast eyes, stood silently before the abbot. The abbot got angry and ordered to drag Simeon off by force. outerwear. Then they saw that the sackcloth that was on him51 was covered in blood, and a rope had cut deep into his body to the very bones. And the abbot and all who were with him were horrified. With great difficulty, they could hardly remove this rope from Simeon, since the rotten body was torn off along with it. Simeon, patiently enduring these sufferings, said:
- Release me like a stinking dog: I deserve this suffering for my sins.
- You are only eighteen years old, - the abbot told him, - what are your sins?
- Father! - answered Simeon, - the prophet said: I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother bore me in sin (Ps. 51:7).
Hearing such an answer, the abbot was amazed at Simeon's prudence and was surprised that such a simple young man could be so deeply imbued with the fear of God. He began, however, to convince him not to inflict such torment on himself.
- There is no use, - he said, - to start what is beyond one's strength: it is enough for a student if he will be like his teacher (cf. Matt. 10:24).
A lot of time passed until Simeon's wounds healed. But when Simeon recovered, the abbot and the brethren again noticed that he, like before, was exhausting his body. Then, fearing that others who were weaker would not begin to imitate him and become the culprits of their own death, the abbot ordered Simeon to leave the monastery. Leaving the monastery, Simeon wandered for a long time through the desert and through the mountains, until finally he found a waterless well in which reptiles lived. Having descended into this well, Simeon began to pray to God there.
Some time after this, the abbot saw a vision at night, as if a multitude of people with weapons and candles in their hands surrounded the monastery and exclaimed:
- Where is Simeon, the servant of God? Show us someone who is so pleasing to God and the angels. If you do not show it to us, then we will burn you and your entire monastery. Simeon is above all of you and through him God will perform many miracles on earth.
Rising from sleep, the abbot announced his terrible vision to the brethren and told them what horror he had suffered because of Simeon. He sent out everywhere to look for Simeon, and even went in search himself. Taking with him some of the brethren, the abbot walked through the desert and through the caves, looking for the ascetic. Soon he met shepherds tending their flocks of sheep, and after questioning them, he learned that Simeon was in an empty well. Hurrying to this well, the abbot began to call Simeon:
- Are you here, servant of God?
“Leave me, holy fathers,” replied Simeon, “only for a short time, until I betray my spirit: my soul has failed, for I have angered the Lord.
But the monks forcibly removed him from the well and brought him to the monastery. After living here for a short time, blessed Simeon secretly left the monastery and began to wander again in the mountains and the desert. Led by the Spirit of God, he came to a mountain that was near the village of Talanissa, and, finding a small cell carved into the rock52, shut himself up in it. He stayed in this cell for three years. Here he brought to mind how Moses and Elijah fasted for forty days (Ex. 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8), and wished to test himself with the same fast. At this time the bishop of that country, named Vass, came to Talanissa, going around the churches in the cities and villages. Hearing about the blessed Simeon, the bishop came to him. Simeon began to beg him to lock the doors of his cell for forty days, not giving him any food. But the bishop did not agree.
“It is not befitting,” he said, “for a man to kill himself with immeasurable fasting: for this is rather a sin than a virtue.”
“Then give me, father,” the monk answered him, “only bread and water, so that, if necessary, I can refresh my body a little with food.”
Vass did just that: having placed bread and water in the cell, he blocked the doors with stones and set off on his way. As soon as forty days had passed, he again came to the monk and, having scattered the stones, opened the doors and entered the cell. Here he saw that the monk, as if dead, was lying on the ground, and the bread and water were standing untouched in the same place where they had been placed: the great faster did not even touch them.
Taking a sponge, Vass washed and cooled the lips of the monk, and as soon as he came to his senses a little, he communed him with the Divine Mysteries. After this, Simeon strengthened himself by taking a light meal. The bishop spoke about this great abstinence of Simeon for the benefit of many brethren. From that time on, the monk also began to fast every year at St. forty days, did not drink or eat anything, and spent time in unceasing prayer, standing on his feet for twenty days, and sitting for twenty days from great fatigue.
After spending three years in his cramped stone cell, Simeon ascended to the very top of the mountain. And in order not to leave here, he took an iron chain, twenty cubits long,53 and bound his feet with one end, and chained the other end to the mountain. In this position, the monk all the time turned his gaze to heaven, ascending with his mind to the One Who is above heaven.
The archpastor of the Church of Antioch, blessed Meletios, himself heard about the ascetic and came to visit him. Seeing that Simeon was chained to the mountain, he said:
- A person can control himself without fetters; it is possible not with iron, but only with the mind and will to tie oneself to one place.
The monk, hearing this, hastened to take advantage of the instruction given and, desiring to be a voluntary prisoner of Christ, took off his shackles and bound himself with one will, “casting down thought and every high thing that rises up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought in obedience to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).54
The fame of the holy ascetic spread everywhere. And everyone began to come to him - not only those who lived nearby, but also from distant countries, those who had to make a long journey for this. Some of them brought their sick to him, others asked for healing for the sick lying at home; others themselves were obsessed with troubles and sorrows, others suffered torment from demons. And none of those who came to the monk returned without consolation, but everyone received what they asked for: some - healing, some - consolation, another - useful instruction, another - any other help. All returned to their homes with joy, glorifying God. The monk, if anyone received healing through his prayers, always said:
- Praise the Lord, who gave you healing, and do not dare to say that Simeon healed you - so that a greater disaster does not happen to you.
Like rivers, various peoples and tribes flocked to Simeon: they came to him from Arabia and Persia, from Armenia and Iveria55, from Italy, Spain and Britain. Thus God glorified him that glorified Him. When such a multitude of people gathered to Simeon and everyone tried to touch him, accepting a blessing from him, the blessed one began to be weighed down by such reverence and anxiety. And he invented an unprecedented way to get rid of the fuss of the people: so that those who come could not touch him, he intended to build a pillar and stand on it. Having placed such a pillar, he arranged on it a cramped dwelling two cubits in size, and began to spend his life here in fasting and prayers. And he was the first pillar. The pillar was six cubits high, and Saint Simeon stood on it for several years. After the height of the pillar was brought to twenty cubits, and then to thirty-six. So the monk, with pillars of various heights, like ladders, ascended to the heavenly country, enduring suffering, wet with rain in summer and scorched by heat, and enduring cold in winter; his food was soaked juice56, and his drink was water. Around his pillar, two stone fences were soon built57.
The holy fathers who lived in the deserts heard about such a life of Simeon and were amazed at his extraordinary deeds: for no one has yet invented such a life for himself to stand on a pillar. Wishing to test him, they sent to say to him:
- Why do not you follow the path of our fathers, but invented another - a new one? Descend from the pillar and follow the life of the ancient hermits.
At the same time, they taught the messengers that if Simeon did not obey, they would force him to come down from the pillar; if he listens and wishes to leave, then leave him to stand as he began: for then, they said, it will be clear that his new way of living is from God. When the messengers came to Simeon and announced the decision of the council of the holy hermit fathers, he immediately set his foot on the stairs, wanting to go down.
Seeing this, the messengers shouted:
- No, do not descend, holy father, but remain on the pillar: now we know that the work you have begun is from God. May He be your helper to the end.
The patriarch of Antioch, the successor of Saint Meletios, came to Simeon and Domn,58 and seeing his life, marveled and talked with him for a long time about what was good for the soul. Then the patriarch performed a divine service, and both of them partook of the Divine Mysteries.
After this the patriarch returned to Antioch; the monk indulged in even greater exploits, arming himself against an invisible adversary. Then the devil, a hater of all good, took the form of a bright angel and appeared to the saint near the pillar on a fiery chariot with fiery horses, as if descending from heaven, and said:
- Listen, Simeon! The God of heaven and earth sent me to you, as you see, with a chariot and horses, so that I would take you, like Elijah, to heaven (2 Kings 2:11); for you are worthy of such an honor for the holiness of your life, and the hour has already come for you to taste the fruits of your labors and receive the crown of praise from the hand of the Lord. Hurry, servant of the Lord, to see your Creator and worship the One who created you in His image; the angels and archangels with the prophets, apostles and martyrs wish to see you too.
The saint did not recognize the enemy's seduction and said:
- God! Do you want to take me, a sinner, to heaven?
And Simeon raised his right foot to step on the fiery chariot, but at the same time he overshadowed himself sign of the cross. Then the devil with the chariot disappeared like dust swept away by the wind. And Simeon knew the demonic temptation, repented and executed his foot, with which he wanted to step on the demonic chariot, by standing on that one foot for a whole year.
The devil, not enduring such a feat, struck the monk’s leg with a fierce ulcer, and the body rotted on the leg, many worms appeared, and pus with worms oozed from the wound down the pillar to the ground. One young man named Anthony59 collected worms that fell to the ground, and, at the command of the holy sufferer, again carried them to him on a pillar. The saint, enduring the disease with great patience, like the second Job, applied worms to the wound, saying: "Eat what God has sent you."
At that time Vasilik, the prince of Saracens60, having heard a lot about Saint Simeon, came to him and, having talked with him, received great benefit and believed in Christ. Seeing the worm that fell to the ground from the wound of the saint, the prince took it in his hand and walked away. The monk turned him back and said:
- Why did you take into your honest hands the stinking worm that fell from my rotten body?
Vasilik, straightening his hand, found a precious pearl in it and said:
- It's not a worm, it's a pearl.
“According to your faith, this was for you,” said the monk.
And the Saracen, having received his blessing, went home.
Many years passed, and the mother of the monk, Martha, learning about her son, came to see him and, stopping at the entrance to the fence, wept intensely. But Simeon did not want to see her and sent to her to say:
- Do not disturb me now, my mother, - if we deserve it, we will see you in the next world.
She desired to see him even more; and again the blessed one sent to her, begging her to wait a little in silence.
She lay down before the door of the fence, and there she gave up her spirit to the Lord. St. Simeon immediately learned of her death and ordered her body to be brought to the pillar. Seeing his mother, he began to pray for her with tears. During his prayer, movements were noticeable in the body of Saint Martha, and a smile appeared on her face. All who saw this marveled, glorifying God. She was buried at the pillar, and the saint commemorated his mother in prayer every day twice. Soon after, they again changed the pillar to the saint and made him a new one of forty cubits. The monk stood on this pillar until his blessed death.
In the vicinity of the place where the reverend spent his wondrous life, there was no water - it was brought from afar, from which those who came to the reverend and their animals suffered greatly. The monk, seeing these sufferings from lack of water, prayed diligently to God that He would send water, as once to thirsty Israel in the wilderness (Numbers 20:2-10). And then, about the tenth hour of the day, the earth suddenly shook and cracked on the eastern side of the fence, where a kind of cave opened up, in which, beyond any expectation, there was a lot of water. The saint commanded that the place be excavated for seven cubits around, and water flowed from there in abundance.
One woman, feeling thirsty at night, swallowed a small snake along with water. This snake began to grow in the woman's womb and became large. The woman looked as green as grass, and many doctors treated her, but could not heal her. They brought her to Saint Simeon. The blessed one said: "Give her to drink the local water." And when the woman began to drink, a large snake came out of her; crawling to the pillar, the snake immediately broke into pieces.
Some people who were walking to the reverend from afar, fleeing from the heat, stopped under a tree to rest a little. Sitting there in the shade, they saw a pregnant deer walking by and shouted to her:
- With the prayers of St. Simeon we conjure you, stay a little!
And a marvelous miracle happened: the deer stopped. So even animals became meek and obedient in the name of the saint! Having seized the deer, the travelers killed it, removed its skin and prepared a meal for themselves from its meat. But as soon as they began to eat, suddenly struck by the wrath of God, they lost their human voice and began to scream like deer. They ran to St. Simeon at a run, carrying with them the skin of a deer as a denunciation of their sin. They stayed at the pillar for two years and could hardly be healed and speak like a human being; and the skin of a deer was hung on a pillar as a testimony of what had happened.
On the very mountain where Saint Simeon labored, not far from the pillar, a terrible serpent settled, because of which even grass did not grow in that place. Once, a branch, about the size of an elbow, stuck into the right eye of a snake, and caused severe pain to the snake. Then the serpent crawled up to the pillar of the monk and, lying before the doors of the fence, bent all over, as if showing humility and asking for mercy from Saint Simeon. And when the saint looked at him, immediately the bough fell out of his eye, and the serpent stayed there for three days, lying before the doors like a sheep. Everyone fearlessly came and went without any harm from him. When the eye was completely healed, the serpent went to its lair. And everyone looked and marveled at the marvelous miracle.
In that country lived a pard61, a large and very terrible beast, devouring both people and cattle. No one dared to pass by the place where the beast settled - and he did many troubles in the surroundings. It was announced to the reverend. He ordered to take earth from his fence and water from the same place and, going around the place where the beast was, sprinkle and sprinkle from afar. And they did as the saint commanded. After a little time, seeing that the beast did not appear anywhere, they went to look for it and found it dead, lying on the very ground that was taken from the fence of the monk. And everyone glorified God.
Soon another beast, more ferocious than the first, appeared in that country, a verbal beast. It was a thief from Antioch62 named Jonathan. He killed many people on the roads and in houses, thievishly and unexpectedly attacking villages and suburbs. No one could catch him, although many lay in wait for him on the road; he was very strong and brave, so that no one could stand against him. When Antioch was agitated and soldiers were sent to take him, the robber, not being able to hide from the numerous pursuit, ran to the fence of St. Simeon. Grasping the pillar like a harlot at Christ's feet (Luke 7:37-38), he wept bitterly.
And he called to him from the height of the holy pillar:
Who are you, where are you from and why did you come here?
He replied:
- I am Jonathan the robber, who did a lot of all kinds of evil, and I came here to repent of my sins.
As he was saying this, soldiers from Antioch ran up and began to shout to the monk:
“Give us, father, our enemy, the robber, for even the beasts have already been prepared in the city to tear him to pieces!”63
But blessed Simeon said to them:
- My children! I did not bring him here, but God, who desires his repentance, sent him to me; if you can go inside, take him, but I cannot bring him out to you, for I am afraid of the One who sent him to me.
Hearing this and not daring not only to enter the fence, but even to utter a word against the saint, the soldiers returned with fear and told about everything in Antioch.
The thief, however, spent seven days at the pillar and wept with great weeping, falling down with prayer to God and confessing his sins. All who were there, seeing his repentance and weeping, were touched themselves. After seven days, the robber called out to the saint:
- Father! Will you tell me to leave?
Are you returning to your evil deeds again? the holy father told him.
“No, father,” he answered, “my time has come.
And thus conversing with him, he gave up his spirit to God. When the disciples of Saint Simeon wanted to give the body of the robber to burial near the fence, military commanders came from Antioch and began to shout:
- Give us, father, our enemy, because of which the whole city was in turmoil.
But the saint answered:
- The one who brought him to me, with a multitude of heavenly warriors, came and took him, purified by repentance, to Himself; so don't bother me.
Seeing the deceased thief, the leaders were horrified and praised God, who does not want the death of a sinner. Returning to the city, they announced what they had heard from the monk and what they had seen.
Standing on a pillar, like a candle on a candlestick, our reverend father Simeon was a light for the world, enlightening the peoples who were in the darkness of idolatry, and instructing them to the light of knowledge true God. Glory to the wondrous grace of God that worked in him! Standing in one place, the ascetic led so many to faith, as if he had traveled the whole universe, teaching and preaching. For, like the sun, he radiated the rays of his virtuous life and sweet-voiced teaching, and enlightened the surrounding countries. At its pillar, one could see Persians and Armenians receiving holy baptism; the Ishmaelites64 came in crowds - two hundred, three hundred, and sometimes a thousand people; with a cry they rejected the delusions of their fathers and brought to the pillar of the idols, which they had revered and worshiped since ancient times, crushed them at the pillar and trampled underfoot; and passing the law true faith from the honeyed tongue of the monk and having been vouchsafed communion of the Divine Mysteries, they returned with great joy, enlightened by the light of the holy Gospel.
One Saracen commander, whose relative was relaxed, begged the saint to give this patient healing. The saint commanded to bring him to the pillar and asked:
Do you deny the evil of your fathers?
He said:
- I deny it.
And again the saint asked:
Do you believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit?
The relaxed confessed that he believed without any doubt.
Then the saint said: “Get up,” and immediately the young man got up healthy, as if he had no illness. And in order to more clearly show his recovery, the blessed one ordered the young man to take on his shoulders the commander himself, who was fat in body, and carry him to his camp, which he did, throwing him on his shoulders like a sheaf. Seeing this, everyone gave praise to God, who works marvelous miracles through His saint.
The monk also had the gift of prophecy, for he predicted a drought and a famine, and a pestilence in two years, and also said that in thirty days locusts would fly in, and all this came true. Once in a vision he saw two rods descending from heaven, one of which fell to the east, the other to the west. The monk told about this vision to those who were with him and prophesied that the Persians and Scythians65 would rise up against the Greek and Roman region. And with many tears and unceasing prayer, the monk propitiated God, so that He would turn away His righteous wrath and not allow that execution on Christians. And he begged God for this: for the entire Persian army, already ready for battle, by God's will, slowed down to set out on a campaign, and since internecine strife began among the Persians, they abandoned their intention.
One day the monk became aware that the emperor Theodosius the Younger66 returned to the Jews the house of prayer, which had been given to the Christians. He immediately sent a letter to the king and, not embarrassed by the royal face, threatened him with the wrath of God. After reading the letter, the tsar was afraid - again ordered the Christians to take the house of prayer, the mayor, who advised the return of the church to the Jews, deposed from the city administration and sent a prayer from himself to the monk, asking God. To the wife of the same king, Empress Evdokia, who after the death of her husband fell into the Eutychian heresy67, the monk admonished with his letters and within four months again converted her to piety. Upon her conversion, having lived four more years in repentance, she was granted a blessed death in Jerusalem and was buried in the church of St. First Martyr Stephen, created by her. After Theodosius the Younger, after Theodosius the Younger, he took over the kingdom, Marcian68 often secretly visited the monk and received many benefits from him.
The Persian queen, having heard about the miracles and holiness of the Monk Simeon, sent to him to ask for blessings and received from him a blessed oil, which she considered a great gift and kept with honor.
The queen of the Ishmaelites, being barren, sent to the monk, asking him to pray for her and hoping that through his holy prayers she would become a mother. And so it happened: for soon her barrenness was resolved, and she gave birth to a son. Taking the baby, the queen set off on her way to the monk. But when she heard that women should not see the monk, for he did not even allow his mother to come to him, she sent her son in the arms of her servants, ordering to say:
- Here, father, the fruit of your holy prayers, bless this baby.
What can be said about the incomprehensible deeds of the saint? It is impossible to express them, for they surpass human powers.
- I, - says the blessed Theodoret, - first of all, I am surprised at his patience: night and day he stands so that everyone can see him. It happened once that the doors and a considerable part of the upper wall collapsed from decay, and until the wall and the doors were made again, the saint was visible to all for a considerable time. Then they saw a new and amazing sight: sometimes he stood motionless for a long time, sometimes he offered prayers to God, making frequent prostrations. One of those who stood at the pillar said that he wanted to count the bows that the ascetic made without ceasing, and, having counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four, he was exhausted and, being unable to look at the height of the pillar, stopped counting. The saint, however, did not become exhausted from prostrations, but taking food once a week, and then very small and light, he became light and capable of frequent prostrations. From a long standing, an ulcer also opened on his other leg, which did not heal, and a lot of blood flowed from it. But even this suffering could not distract him from contemplation of God.
The voluntary martyr endured everything valiantly, but was forced to show his ulcer. One priest from Arabia, a kind and inspired man, came to him and began to say:
- I ask you in the name of the Truth Itself, which attracted the human race to Itself, tell me: are you a man or an incorporeal being?
Why are you asking me this? the reverend told him.
“I heard about you,” answered the priest, “that you don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t sleep: but this is unusual for a person, and a person cannot live without food, drink and sleep.
And the monk commanded the priest to ascend to his pillar and allowed him to see and touch the ulcer, covered with pus and worms. The priest, seeing the ulcer and hearing about the monk that he eats food only once a week, was surprised at the patience and feat of the saint.
With such exploits, working so many miracles and leading such a virtuous life, the monk was meek and humble, as if he were lower and more indecent than all people. For all, his face was equally bright and his word was loving, both for the nobleman and for the slave, both for the rich and for the wretched, and for the very last monster: for he had no partiality. And everyone could not get enough - both the contemplation of his holy face, and his sweet-spoken conversation, for his lips were filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Having the gift of wisdom, every day he filled the hearts of those who listened with a river of teaching, and many, instructed by his teaching, left everything earthly and, like birds, ascended to the mountain, some leaving for monasteries, others for deserts, and others remaining to live with him.
The daily charter of the life of the saint was as follows. All night and day until the ninth hour he stood in prayer, but after the ninth hour he spoke a lesson to those gathered at the pillar; then he listened to the needs and petitions of everyone who came to him and healed the sick. Then he tamed human quarrels and disputes and restored peace; Finally, at sunset, he again turned to prayer. Carrying such labors, he did not cease to take care of the church world, ruining pagan godlessness, refuting Jewish blasphemy, eradicating heretical teachings; with his wise and useful letters, he directed kings and princes and all authorities to the fear of God, to mercy and love, and aroused them to the protection of the church of God and taught everyone a lot that is beneficial to the soul. Thus, spending a wondrous life, which seemed unbearable for human nature, he already approached his death, having been over a hundred years old. He stood on the pillar, as people who are quite worthy of faith write, eighty years. He was completely perfected in virtues - he was an earthly angel and a heavenly man.
His disciple Anthony tells about the blessed death of the saint.
“One day,” he says, “it was on Friday, after the ninth hour, when we expected from him the usual teaching and blessing, he did not look down on us from the pillar; likewise on Saturday and Sunday, he did not teach us according to custom my father's word. And I was afraid, and ascended the pillar, and I see - the monk is standing with his head, bowed down, as in prayer, and his hands are folded on his chest. Thinking that he is doing a prayer, I stood silently, and then, standing before him, he said:
- Father! Bless us, for the people, for three days and three nights, have been surrounding the pillar, waiting for your blessing. He didn't answer me. And again I said to him:
Why, father, do you not answer your son, who is in sorrow? Have I offended you in any way? Stretch out thy hand to me, that I may kiss it.
But there was no answer. Having stood before him for half an hour, I began to doubt and thought: had he not already gone to the Lord? I bowed my ear to him, and no breath was heard, only a strong fragrance, as if from various fragrant aromas, emanated from his body.
Then, realizing that he had rested in the Lord, I grieved and wept bitterly. And having approached him, I laid down and hid his relics, and kissed his eyes, beard, mouth and hands, saying:
"Who are you leaving me to, father?" Where will I hear your sweet teachings? Where will I be satisfied with your angelic conversation? Or what answer will I give about you to the people who are waiting for your blessing? What shall I say to the sick who come here asking for healing? And who, seeing your pillar unoccupied, not having you on it as a lamp, does not weep? And when many from afar come here looking for you and do not find you, will they not weep? Woe is me! Now I see you, but tomorrow - whether I go to the right or to the left - I will not find you!
Weeping so over him, in the sorrow of my soul, I dozed off, and behold, the reverend appeared, like the sun, saying:
- I will not leave a pillar, nor a place, nor a mountain of this blessed one. Come down and bless the people, for I have already rested. So the Lord willed; and do not tell them lest there be a rumor, but rather send word of me to Antioch. It is fitting for you to serve in this place, and the Lord will reward you according to your work.
And I woke up from sleep, and in trembling said: "Do not forget me, father, in your holy rest," and fell on his feet, and kissed his holy feet, and, taking his hand, put it on my eyes, saying: "Bless me, Father," and again wept bitterly. Then, having risen, I wiped away my tears, so that no one would know about what had happened, and went down and secretly sent a faithful brother to Antioch to Patriarch Martyrius69 with the news of the repose of the monk. And soon the patriarch arrived with three bishops, as well as the mayor with his troops, and a multitude of people not only from Antioch, but also from all the surrounding cities and villages, and from the monasteries of monks with candles and censers, and a great multitude of Saracens soon flocked, as rivers, for the news of the death of the monk went everywhere, as if carried by the wind. And the patriarch with the bishops ascended the pillar, and, taking the honest relics, they carried it down and laid it at the pillar. And all the people wept; even birds in multitude, in full view of everyone, flew around the pillar with a cry, as if crying about the death of such a lamp to the world. The people's weeping was heard for seven stages70, and the surrounding mountains, fields and trees seemed to mourn and weep along with the people, for everywhere the air was gloomy and dark clouds were moving. But I saw an angel appearing at the holy relics, and his face was like lightning, and his clothes were like snow, and with him were seven elders talking; I also heard their voice, but what they said, I did not understand, for fear and horror seized me.
On the day when the Monk Simeon reposed, his disciple and imitator of his holy life, the Monk Daniel 71 - shortly before the time when he, at the mouth of the Black Sea, near Constantinople, also intended to climb the pillar, - he saw from the side where the pillar was St. Simeon, many hosts of heaven ascending from earth to heaven, and in the midst of them the ascending joyful soul of St. Simeon. And not only the Monk Daniel, but also Blessed Auxentius,72 summoned from the desert to the Council of Chalcedon,73 saw the same thing while in Bethany74.
When the honorable relics of St. Simeon were laid on the prepared litter, the patriarch extended his hand, wishing to take some hair from the saint’s beard as a blessed memory, and his hand immediately withered. And only after the fervent prayer of all for him to God and the saint of God, the hand of the patriarch became healthy. Taking the precious relics of Saint Simeon, they carried them with the singing of psalms to Antioch, and the whole city came out to meet them. There was a dumb and deaf man there for about forty years. As soon as he saw the holy body of the monk, the bonds of his hearing and tongue were immediately loosened, and he, falling before the holy relics, exclaimed: “You have come for the good, servant of God, for behold, your coming has healed me.”
The inhabitants of Antioch, having accepted the body of the saint, the most precious of gold and silver, carried him to the great patriarchal church,75 and many miracles and healings took place at his tomb. A few years later, a church was built in the name of St. Simeon the Stylite, and his holy relics were transferred there.
The monk reposed in the reign of Leo the Great,76 in the 4th year of this reign. This was the year 460 A.D. King Leo sent to the Antiochians, asking them to give the relics of the monk to be transferred to Constantinople; but they, not wanting to lose such an intercessor, said to the envoys of the king:
“Since our city has no stone walls, for they fell, partly ruined by the tsar’s wrath, partly crushed by a great earthquake,77 it was for this reason that we brought in the holy body of Simeon, so that it would be our wall and protection78.
In the place where the pillar of St. Simeon was, a beautiful cruciform church was built in his name and a large monastery was built79. And the monk fulfilled his promise, which he told Anthony to his disciple in a vision, namely, that he would not leave his place: for miracles and healings of the sick did not fail there. And on the day of his memory, every year a great star appeared above the pillar and illuminated the whole country. Many historical writers testify to the appearance of that star, especially Evagrius Scholasticus,80 who saw it with his own eyes. The same Evagrius writes that this holy place was inaccessible to women, and they guarded it in every possible way so that a woman’s foot would not dare to touch the threshold, beyond which even the mother of the monk was not allowed to enter. They say that one woman dressed like a man so as not to be recognized to enter the church of St. Simeon, and when she touched the threshold of the church, she immediately fell dead on her back. If, however, women came there, as Nicephorus writes81, then they still did not dare to approach the fence, but stood at a distance and made their prayers, looking at the pillar.
And all those who came in faith did not lose the grace of the monk, but received help and various healings and returned with joy, thanks to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity, to whom honor and glory and worship, now and forever, and forever and ever . Amen.
Word from Lug82 about Minas the deacon, who went into the world, having put off the monastic image, and again through Saint Simeon put on it and was saved
Georgy of Raifsky83 told us about a brother who was a deacon there, named Mina:
"He left the monastery, and - what happened to him, I do not know - but only he left the monastic rank and became a simpleton (layman). After many days, he went to the city of God Antioch and, when he passed Seleucia84, he saw the monastery from afar Simeon the Stylite and said to himself: “I will go and see the great Simeon, for I have never seen him.” When he approached the pillar and approached so much that the saint saw him, Simeon learned from God that Mina was a monk and was serving as a deacon , and calling the servant to him, he said:
- Bring me the scissors here.
The employee brought Simeon told him:
- Blessed be the Lord, tonsure this one, - and pointed to Mina with his finger, and many stood near the pillar.
Mina, amazed at the words of the saint and seized with great fear, did not argue at all, realizing that God had revealed to the elder about him. After he was tonsured, the great Simeon said to him: "Do a prayer, deacon," and when he said a prayer, the saint said to him: "Go to Raifa, from where you came out."
When he began to say: “I cannot bear the shame of the fathers,” Simeon said to him:
- Have faith in me, child, - in what happened now, there is no shame for you, and the fathers will receive you in peace, and they will have joy and fun from your return. And know that God will show you a sign by which you will know that He has forgiven you your sin, for His grace is inexpressible.
When he came to Raifa, the fathers received him with open arms and left him in the rank of deacon. On the same Sunday day, when he carried the life-giving blood of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, his eye suddenly leaked out. And from this sign the fathers understood that the Lord had forgiven him his sin, according to the word of Saint Simeon.
The Miracle Performed by Saint Simeon on the Presbyter
A presbyter once sat in the porch of the church and read the Holy Gospel. And then the evil spirit came to him in the form of a dark and gloomy cloud and, like a hood, wrapped around his head; and the light went out for him, and his mind was taken away, and all his bones were relaxed, and he could not speak. Those who entered found him lying dead; and he stayed in that illness for nine years, and could not turn over unless someone helped him. His household, hearing about St. Simeon, went to the saint, carrying the sick man on the bed, and, having not reached the monastery for three miles, they stopped there to rest. And Saint Simeon, standing at prayer, was open about the presbyter. At midnight the saint called one of his disciples and said to him:
- Take water from here and go quickly; you will find one presbyter carried on the bed, sprinkle him with this water and say to him: "Sinful Simeon says to you: in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, arise and leave your bed and come to me on your feet."
The disciple went and did according to the word of the saint. And the presbyter got up quite healthy and, having come, prostrated himself before the saint.
The saint said to him:
- Get up, don't be afraid! Although the devil caused you grief for nine years, God's love for mankind did not leave you to perish to the end. For the fact that you, without the fear of God and even insulting to the shrine, behaved in the holy altar and, before the discovery of the truth, listened to slanderers who secretly condemned your neighbors, and without guilt offended those who were slandered, excommunicating them from the Holy Mysteries, and, doing this, you grieved God the Lover of mankind a lot, and made the devil very happy, - for this the devil received power over you. But the love of mankind and the mercy of God have multiplied over you. Those whom you have saddened by excommunication, you will find very sick: they pray for you, so that you, having recovered, will forgive them; and as God has shown mercy to you, so do you also show mercy to them, and taking the land from here, sprinkle it on them.
And the presbyter went with joy, giving thanks to God, and did as the saint commanded him. And immediately they were healed, glorifying God.
Troparion, tone 1:
You were a pillar of patience, jealous of the forefather of the reverend, Job in passions, Joseph in temptations, and incorporeal living, being in the body, Simeon our father: pray to Christ God that our souls be saved.
Kontakion, tone 2:
Seek the highest, copulate with the highest, and make a chariot of fire pillar: that interlocutor of the angel was thou reverend, praying unceasingly to Christ God with them for all of us.

39 Cappadocia is a region in Asia Minor. Cappadocia was formerly an independent state. From 363 to 370 BC, it was first under the rule of the Persians, and then the Macedonians. Then, until the 16th year A.D., she again had her kings. In 17, under the emperor Tiberius, it was united with Pontus and Lesser Armenia and turned into a Roman province. At the end of the XI century. (1074) Cappadocia fell under the rule of the Turks and still belongs to them. During the time of Rev. Simeon, Christianity flourished here. Great teachers of the Church: St. Gregory of Nazianzen, his friend St. Basil the Great, brother of St. Basil of St. Gregory of Nyssa - were a kind of Cappadocians.
40 i.e. the sacrament of St. Baptism, which in Holy Scripture is called a bath (see Titus 3:5; Eph. 5:26).
41 Rev. Simeon was not really a shepherd of the sheep of words, i.e. he did not have a priestly rank, and is called so because by his very life and teaching (conversations) he directed people to salvation.
42 In the East, cattle still graze all year round and is not driven out only in heavy snow and storm, then remaining in special pens.
43 The Gospel beatitudes are found among the evangelists: Matthew in ch. 5, art. 3-12, and Luke, ch. 6, Art. 20-23.
44 Ancient Christians during prayer fell face down on the ground, depicting a cross, i.e. extending arms to the sides; through this, faith in the crucified Lord and the consciousness of human sinfulness were expressed.
45 That is, that he dug to the solid (mainland) earth.
46 Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, who lived at the same time as St. Simeon, he himself visited him during his stay on the pillar. He writes: “Although I can testify to his deeds by everyone, I am afraid to start the story, so that they do not seem fabulous and unreliable to posterity, since they exceed human nature.”
47 Abbot (from Greek - leader) - the head of the monastic monastery.
48 Lavra (from Greek, part of the city, lane) - a number of cells located in the fence, around the dwelling of the abbot, in the form of lanes in the city. On the first and last day of the week, the hermits gathered together for Divine services; the rest of the days they were silent. Life in the laurels was much more difficult than in other monasteries. Since ancient times, the name Lavra has been applied to populous and important monasteries. It first appeared in Egypt, and then in Palestine.
49 i.e. from a bucket used to draw water from a well.
50 A rope made of palm branches - like our bast.
51 Hairshirt - lower clothing woven from horsehair and worn by ascetics on their naked bodies.
52 Cells from Latin means actually a cellular cell.
53 Elbow, or lacquer - a measure of length, equal to 10.5 inches.
54 The offerings raised against the mind of God are bold thoughts against the truths of Revelation and the ordinances of the Church. To captivate every mind into the obedience of Christ means to force the mind to submit to the truth of Christ, to recognize its height and power.
55 Iberia - present-day Georgia.
56 Soaked sochivo - soaked or boiled dry fruits, rice, wheat, etc.
57 These fences were built by the coming people from dry stones. Such enclosed places were called mandras, and since those who wished to labor under the guidance of St. Simeon, then he is called the archimandrites (for example, in the Service Menaion).
58 St. Meletios was Patriarch of Antioch from 358 to 381, and Domnos II or Domninus from 441 to 448.
59 Anthony was a student of St. Simeon and wrote his life.
60 The Saracens are the inhabitants of Arabia. Initially, this name was called a nomadic robber tribe, and then Christian writers transferred this name to everyone and Muslims in general.
61 A pard or leopard is a predatory animal, similar to a tiger, but with spotted rather than striped skin and less stature.
62 During the life of the monk there were several cities with this name; closest to the place where he escaped was Antioch of Seleucia (near the city of Seleucia Pieria).
63 Ravage of criminals wild animals- a type of execution - usually took place in special buildings, which were called circuses, and was, by inheritance from pagan times, a popular spectacle.
64 The Ishmaelites are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of the patriarch Abraham from Hagar: see Gen. 25:12 et seq.
65 The Scythians lived mainly along the northern coast of the Black Sea.
66 He reigned from 408 to 450.
67 Eutyches, condemned by the IV Ecumenical Council, taught that Jesus Christ had one nature - Divine, while St. The Church has always recognized and recognizes in Jesus Christ two natures, unmixed and inseparable - Divine and human.
68 Reigned from 450 to 457.
69 Martyrius was Patriarch of Antioch from 456 to 468.
70 Stage - a measure of length, about 88 fathoms; seven stages - about 1.25 versts.
71 His memory is December 11th.
72 Memory of Rev. Auxentia February 14th.
73 The Council of Chalcedon - the 4th Ecumenical - was in 451.
74 Bethany - a village southeast of Jerusalem, about 2 versts away, at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
75 The Great Churches in the East are the temples located in the patriarchates and appointed for the performance of Divine services in them by the patriarchs themselves.
76 Leo the Great reigned from 457 to 474.
77 Here, of course, Antioch Syrian, once the magnificent capital of the Syrian state, and now the poor town of Asiatic Turkey.
78 Some of the relics of St. Simeon were then transferred to the Monk Daniel the Stylite, through his prayers, as it is written in the life of this saint - December 11.
79 In the VIII century. St. John of Damascus compiled the canon of St. Simeon, and from Patriarch Herman the Church received sacred hymns in honor of the monk.
80 Evagrius Scholasticus, who lived in the 6th century, wrote down the Church History.
81 Nicephorus Callistus, who lived in the 14th century, wrote the History of the Church.
82 "The Spiritual Meadow" - a composition by the monk John Mosch, contains legends from the life of eastern hermits.
83 Raifa is a village on the eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula.
84 Seleucia - a seaside city of Syria, on the coast mediterranean sea west of Antioch and at the mouth of the Orontes.
85 The event with the deacon Mina can be understood in this way. For a hateful reason, Mina arbitrarily left monasticism and deaconry and spent his time as a layman. This self-will on his part, of course, was a grave sin, but at the same time, without the judgment of the church over him, he could not yet be considered as deprived of the grace of the diaconate. Accordingly, the monastic tonsure performed over Mina, at the command of the monk, as well as the utterance of a prayer by Mina, i.e. litanies, was only a figurative, visible reminder to Mina of the monastic life and deacon service that he had left arbitrarily; through this reminder, the monk obviously wanted to arouse repentance in Mina and, moreover, perhaps, to relieve the brethren of the monastery from doubts about the possibility for Mina to continue the deacon's ministry. As for the outpouring of Mina's eye, it meant that Mina was punished for her sin by God Himself and, therefore, no longer subject to punishment (according to the monastery charter and church rules).
86 In this narrative, it is remarkable that those excommunicated by the presbyter for slander, although innocently deprived of communion of the Holy Mysteries, nevertheless underwent a serious illness, and they themselves, as if forgetting about their innocence, prayed for the recovery of the one who excommunicated them, so that, having received forgiveness from him , have the opportunity to partake of the Holy Mysteries. Such, therefore, is the power of the Holy Mysteries that deprivation of them, although not through the fault of the deprived, does not happen without a trace for him!

Lives of Saint Simeon the Stylite and his mother Martha of Cappadocia

Holy Si-me-he was born in the pre-de-lah of An-tio-chia of Syria in the middle of the IV century from poor ro-di-te-lei . In his youth, he pastured his father's sheep. One day, when he came to the temple, he heard the chanting for-the-ve-day Blessings (), and in him there was a thirst for the great-vedic life. Si-me-he began diligently, but praying to God and asking him to show him how to achieve true truth. Soon he dreamed that he was digging the earth, as it were, for fun-da-men-ta under the building. The voice said to him: "Dig deep." Si-me-he began to zealously co-pat her. Counting you-dug hole to a hundred-precise depth, he stopped, but the same voice told him to dig even deeper . The same ve-le-nie in the second-ri-moose several times. Then Si-me-he began to ko-pat without-rest-but-voch-but, until the mysterious voice did not stop his words: “Before - at will! And now, if you want to build, build, working diligently, because without work you won’t achieve success in anything. Deciding to become mo-on-hom, holy Si-me-he in-ki-null the ro-di-tel house and accepted a different-ness in the neighboring obi-te- whether. Here he spent some time in the mo-na-she-s-mo-lits of mo-lit-you, in a hundred and in listening, and then for more big moves, he secluded himself in the Syrian wilderness. Here, the holy Si-me-he, lo-lived on-cha-lo, but-in-the-way-of-movement-no-thing: “pillar-no-thing”. Having built a pillar of a few meters you-with-you, he sat down on it and by this deprived himself of the opportunity to lie down and rest breathe. Standing day and night, like a candle in a straight line, he almost incessantly prayed and thought about God. In addition to strict air-holding in pi-sche, he is good-ro-free-but re-re-but-strength of many hardships: rain, heat and stu-zhu. He pi-tal-sya raz-mo-chen-noy wheat-ni-tsey and water, some-rye bring him good people.

His extraordinary feat became from-ve-walls in many countries, and a lot of se-ti-te-ley from Arabia, Per-sia, Ar-me-nia, Georgia, Italy, Is-pa-nia and Bri-ta-nia. Seeing his unusual-vein-nuyu si-lu du-ha and heeding his breath-but-vein-nym on-becoming-le-ni-pits, many tongues-no-ki convinced-yes -lis in true-tin-no-sti of the Christian faith and with-no-ma-whether baptism.

Holy Si-me-he spo-do-beat-sya da-ra heal the soul and body pains and fore-see-de-fu-du-che . Im-pe-ra-tor Fe-o-do-siy II the Younger (408-450) had great respect for pre-do-no-go Si-meo-na and often a hundred after -shaft it with-ve-there. When they-pe-ra-tor passed away, his widow tsa-ri-tsa Ev-do-kiya would-la co-vra-sche-na in mo-no-fi-zit-ska heresy. Mo-no-fi-zi-you don’t recognize two natures in Christ - God’s and human’s, but only one Bo -same. Pre-beautiful Si-me-on vra-zu-mild tsa-ri-tsu, and she again became right-in-glorious chri-sti-an-koy. New im-pe-ra-tor Mar-ki-an (450-457) in clothes-de pro-sto-lu-di-na tai-but se-schal pre-do-but th and co-ve-that-val-Xia with him. According to the co-ve-tu pre-dob-no-go Si-meo-na Mar-ki-an convened the IV All-Len-sky So-bor in Khal-ki-don in 451, to -that-ry condemned the mo-no-fi-zit-sky false-teaching.

Saint Si-me-he lived for more than a hundred years and died while praying in the year 459. His relics are in chi-va-li in An-tio-chii. The right-to-glorious Church in divine service, in a sacred way to the holy Si-meo-well, calls-y-wa-et his "heaven" nym-lo-ve-com, earthly An-gel-lom and sve-til-no-one all-len-noy.

See also: "" in from-lo-same-nii svt. Di-mit-ria Rostov-sko-go.

Prayers

Troparion to Saint Simeon the Stylite

You were a pillar of patience, / jealous forefather, revered: / Job in passions, Joseph in temptations, / and incorporeal dwelling, being in the body, / Simeon our father, / / ​​pray to Christ God, be saved to our souls.

Translation: You were a pillar of patience, imitating: Job - in the patience of suffering, Joseph - in the transfer, and (jealous) of the life of the incorporeal (angels), being in the flesh, Simeon our father, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion to the Monk Simeon the Stylite

Seek the highest, copulate with the highest, / and make a chariot of fiery pillar: / that interlocutor was an angel, reverend, / with them to Christ God / / praying unceasingly for all of us.

Translation: Desiring the highest and uniting with the heavenly, you made a pillar on which, like a fiery chariot (raising to heaven), therefore you became the interlocutor of the angels, reverend, with them to Christ God pray unceasingly for all of us.

Prayer to Saint Simeon the Stylite

Oh, holy and great servant of God Simeon! Struggling with a good feat on earth, you received in heaven the crown of righteousness, which the Lord has prepared for all those who love Him to eat. The same, looking at your holy image, we rejoice at the glorious end of your life and honor your holy memory. But you, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring to the All-Merciful God, forgive us every sin and help us become against the wiles of the devil, and get rid of sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil let us live piously and righteously in the present forever and we will be honored by your intercession, if not worthy of us, to see the good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints, the glorious God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

Second Prayer to Saint Simeon the Stylite

Oh, holy head, reverend father, blessed Abbot Simeon! Do not forget your wretched ones to the end, but always remember us in holy and auspicious prayers to God: remember your flock, even if you saved yourself, and do not forget to visit your children, pray for us, holy father, for your spiritual children, I have the courage to Heavenly King: do not be silent for us to the Lord, and do not despise us, who honor you with faith and love: remember us unworthy at the Throne of the Almighty, and do not stop praying for us to Christ God, for grace has been given to you to pray for us. It is not imaginary that you are a dead being: if in body you have ceased to be from us, but even after death you remain alive, do not depart from us in spirit, preserving us from the arrows of the enemy and all the charms of demons and wiles of the devil, our good shepherd. Even more, and the relics of your cancer are always visible before our eyes, but your holy soul with the Angelic hosts, with the Incorporeal faces, with the Heavenly powers, at the Throne of the Almighty is forthcoming, worthy of having fun, leading thee in truth and in laughter mouth is alive, we bow down to you and we pray to you: pray for us to the Almighty God, for the benefit of our souls, and ask us time for repentance, so that we will go from earth to Heaven without restraint, from bitter ordeals, demons of princes in the air, and from eternal torment, let us be delivered, and the Heavenly King the succession of an heiress let us be with all the righteous who from time immemorial have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ: all glory, honor and worship is due to Him, with His Father Without Beginning, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever . Amen.

Canons and Akathists

Canon to Saint Simeon the Stylite

Canto 1

Irmos: Let us sing to the Lord all the people, / in the sea of ​​the Black Pharaoh immersed, / singing a song of victory, / as if glorified.

Give me a rotten organ of the tongue, / O God-bearing Simeon, / a weaving song to you, / by your supplications, knowledge is the light of God-taught.

Know your wisdom, father, / Persians, Ethiopians, Indians, and Scythians, and many Arabs, / and glorify Christ, whom you glorify.

Filled with spiritual grace, / from the shepherd's camps like Jacob, David and Moses, / the head of the verbal leader appeared to the flock, blessed.

Theotokos: Most Pure Theotokos, rejoice, Honest One, / Thou hast contained the uncontainable God in Thy womb, / get rid of the fierce, ask those who sing to Thee.

Canto 3

Irmos: Plant Thy fear, O Lord, in the hearts of Thy servants, / and be an affirmation to us, / Who in truth call upon Thee.

You soon escaped the winter misfortunes of the spirits, / you rushed to the saving of the monastery, Simeon, / from the ageless and ageless life you took.

You bowed rejoicing, / your submissive ear, all-blessed, to the Blessed Master, / and you found a blessed life.

Words receive seeds, / reins of your heart, and drunken tears, / you reaped the class of virtues multiplied by Christ.

Theotokion: Inexpressibly you conceived, God-breasted, / the Savior and the Lord, delivering us from the fierce, / calling you in truth.

Sedalen of the Reverend, tone 8:

Leaving all earthly, / and in the world of this bodily, / the spirit was a heavenly angel, / finding more passions having killed the flesh, / Thou hast appeared to the Trinity, blessed. / In the same way, healing the passions of those who are ill, / and with the word of spirits you drive away grace, / Simeon, blessed, / pray to Christ God, grant forgiveness of sins / to those who honor your holy memory with love.

Glory now: Lead us on the path of repentance, / deviating forever towards evil without a path, / and the most gracious angering the Lord, Unskilful, Blessed Mary, / a refuge of desperate people, God's dwelling place.

Canto 4

Hear, O Lord, Thy hearing;

Not on the arctic fox, blessed, / but on your deepest labors, having laid the foundation of abstinence, / of virtues you created an unshakable pillar.

Having settled your body in your dwelling cruelly, / you have nailed the spirit with fear, / and you have found the dwelling of the Divine inheritance, reverend.

Thou hast tamed the bodily secret passions, rich, / lying in the pus of worms, father, / thou hast found incense.

By passion at will, like the Life-giving Dead Man, / like a coffin, a dark ditch, / you betrayed yourself alive.

Theotokion: God, the Most Pure Mary gave birth to Him, / always pray to Your servant / to grant forgiveness of sins.

Canto 5

Irmos: Enlighten us with Thy commandments, Lord, / and with Thy lofty muscle, / Give us Thy peace, Lover of mankind.

New Daniel Simeone, / Christ showed you, / from the ditch of the atrocity bring you back unharmed by a manifestation.

Having entrusted everything to yourself to the Lord, / sloth, and filth, and heat, with disgusting anger, you were exposed.

The new Moses and Elijah appeared to you, / one night through the whole forty-day period, receiving food, / throughout your life, reverend.

As if golden, Simeon, a monist reverend, we are already taxed, / the heavenly one seemed to be / Divine wings.

Theotokion: Pray everlastingly to Thy Son and our God, / unskillful Mary the Pure, / send us faithful great mercy.

Canto 6

Irmos: Give me a robe of light, / clothe yourself with light like a robe, / Many-merciful Christ our God.

The signs and wonders of Christ the self-doer of the show, / Divine blessedness, action, pleasant dwelling.

Thou hast lifted up thy body, Simeone, / as if on a pillar on the Cross. / You were glorified by this, / on the tree for the sake of the Ascended Christ.

You will find the procession above, O wonderful Simeon, / raise you faithfully to the height of the heavens.

Theotokion: Mount, Daniel foresaw, / Christ was cut off from the Unseen Stone of Faith, / We recognize you.

Kontakion of Saint Simeon, tone 2:

Seek the upper ones, copulate with the lower ones, / and make a chariot of fiery pillar: / that interlocutor was an angel like an angel, / praying with them to Christ God / unceasingly for all of us.

Ikos:

Simeon's immaculate life, / what tongue of man is ever sufficient to confess with praise? / both I will sing to the wisdom of God, / for this giant suffering and deeds, even on earth, / like a lamp, being all man, / with much patience, shining in the face of angels: / for with them sing unceasingly Christ u, / gaining purity by abstinence, / praying unceasingly for all of us.

Canto 7

Irmos: Fathers of piety in Babylon, / not worshiping the golden image, / but watering in the midst of the fiery cave, / singing a song saying: O exalted God of the fathers and us, blessed be Thou.

Thou hast resolved dryness for those who are perplexed, / and thou hast opened the gates of the rain, / and thou hast established the earth that is shaking with prayers, / and thou hast taught people to call: / blessed is the God of our fathers.

Like the greatest church lamp, / and many-colored, Simeon, the sun, emitting rays everywhere, thou hast enlightened, / and thou hast taught people to call: / blessed is the God of our fathers.

Waters flowing from everywhere, pleasing Christ, / abyss of men, in the fence of your gathering of abstinence, / cry out from you to punish: / blessed is the God of our fathers.

For an ancient time, embrace the old man, / the tablets of your heart, reverend, by invisible power, Christ, rest in peace, Simeone. / Thou didst cry the same: Blessed be the God of our fathers.

Theotokion: Like the Seedlessly Incarnated from Thee, Pure Virgin: For Thou hast appeared with the purity of all. / We cry out to him with songs: / Blessed be the God of our fathers.

Canto 8

Irmos: Glorified on the mountain of the saints, / and in the bush with the fire of the Ever-Virgin Moses, the secret of the revealed one, / sing to the Lord, / and exalt forever.

Having departed from every addiction, / and having pitied the matter with infirmity, / as if you appeared alive after death, / sing to the Lord, and exalt Him, crying out, forever.

You tightened the young man and you are relaxed, / and command Philarchus on the frame to carry the most sacred cry: / Sing to the Lord, and exalt Him to all eternity.

Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord.

Having clarified Job by passion, / having rotted your flesh, / turn it into pearls of great value, thee, pleasing to Christ, Simeon, / glorify forever and ever.

And now, the Theotokos: I received joy from an angel, / and gave birth to the Lord of Glory, / and shone the light of the world, / we sing to you all the Virgin Mother of God, forever and ever.

Canto 9

Irmos: Manifested on the mountain to the legislator in the fires and the bush, / the Nativity of the Ever-Virgin, / in our faithful salvation, / we magnify with unceasing songs.

Having reigned over the passions of patience, / Christ welcomes you, Simeon Bogonose, / to His comrade to the kingdom: / we honor you with songs.

Healing grace, / from the treasures that are not stolen by the Spirit, O Bogonose Simeon, / giving healing to the triumphant memory of yours.

Ascended, reverend, of the heavenly current to the virtuous air, / girded with suffering, flying to the tabernacles of heaven, / pray that our souls be saved.

Theotokos: The bush burning with fire, and unscorched, thou hast appeared, O Lady, / having seedlessly conceived God and the Savior of the world, / We unceasingly magnify Him.

Akathist to Saint Simeon the Stylite

Kondak 1

Chosen from infancy as a lamp of the world and a healer of mental and bodily ailments to our reverend father Simeon, humbly flowing, as if he could free us from passions and all sorts of troubles, from the depths of our souls we bring praise and prayer, zealously calling: Rejoice, Simeone, wondrous pillar and great miracle worker.

Ikos 1

The Guardian Angel was given to you from God, when the fruit of fervent prayer was given to you by your parent. Preserving that be, moreover teaching in spiritual wisdom, when you were dressed in snow-white clothes at your baptism. But we, leading thee the wonderful chosen one of God to be, dare to bring this praise to you, as if due: Rejoice, God-given fruit of prayer to your parents. Rejoice, thou who wast worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in holy baptism. Rejoice, chosen vessel of God's grace. Rejoice, manifestation of the love of God by man. Rejoice, unlearned earthly wisdom. Rejoice, heavenly enriched. Rejoice, thou who was mysteriously deified by the Body and Blood of Christ. Rejoice, delighted in prayer. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 2

Seeing the Lord the humility and simplicity of your heart, having chosen you as His weapon, let the cunning wisdom of the wise men of this age be put to shame, and from the sheep of the fathers make you a shepherd of the sheep of the verbal flock of Christ, and sing loudly to the Creator: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

Your mind, having a hunger and thirst for the truth of Christ, did not hesitate to ask an honest elder about the words of the holy Gospel. And, having learned his God-taught verbs, in the same hour you firmly desired to leave your father's house and all the red of this world and drink in the narrow path leading to the eternal belly. For this sake, we cry out to you: Rejoice, beloved stay in the temple from youth. Rejoice, thou who hast gone out of the house of the father. Rejoice, protector of the world running around. Rejoice, God-pleasing image. Rejoice, thou who didst receive the good yoke of Christ with love. Rejoice, flesh like a sword cut. Rejoice, instruct the erring. Rejoice, affirming the good of those who live. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 3

God's revelation was to you in a dream a vision: laying the foundation of the building, you dug a ditch and heard the voice three times, more deeply, and, having reached many depths, command the Lord with all your zeal to build. And this wonderful vision will come true over you: with the depth of humility you laid a solid foundation with virtue for all, adorned with your image, you incessantly called out to the Lord: Alleluia.

Ikos 3

Having a desire for a strong monastic life, you came to one monastery. For the sake of humility, for the sake of seven days without food and drink, before the gates of her, you fell on the ground, you did not have boldness to enter into it. The blessed abbot of that monastery, having seen thee, the chosen one of God, tested thee in the past days, as if you were willing to work with the Lord, and honored the face of your brethren. And we all honor thee: Rejoice, true listener of the commandments of Christ. Rejoice, jealousy of a life equal to the angels. Rejoice, leaving this world. Rejoice, life of fasting fiery desire. Rejoice, arming yourself with abstinence from passion. Rejoice, good warrior of Christ. Rejoice, subjugating yourself in humility to obedience. Rejoice, great diligence for the teaching of the monastery. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 4

Calming down the storm of passions, as if the meek lamb of the spiritual fathers always listened to you and, for your humility, still young, you were honored with the image of an angel, in it you aggravated abstinence and labors, you mortified the flesh, saving your soul, and in the depths of your heart crying out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

Hearing the abbot tell the brethren that the stench comes from you and the worms fall from your body, ask you why for the sake of being taco. But you, bowing your head, stood in silence. Then taking clothes with you and stained with blood your body uzresha, with a hard cord thrust into him. Thinking of your suffering with many horrors, we call to you: Rejoice, dwelling sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Rejoice, the image of God is not gloomy in itself. Rejoice, thou who amazed the brethren with patience, Joblem. Rejoice, great courage in yourself. Rejoice, zealot of the truth. Rejoice, fragrant oil lamp. Rejoice, renew the corrupted temples of our souls. Rejoice, cast down the idols of our wisdom. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 5

We strengthen with grace-filled power, you have endured new feats to mortify your flesh. But for fear, as if the brethren, imitating you, will perceive feats not according to reason, command the abbot to take them away. But you, without malice, fulfilling his will, in the desert in the well of waterless settled thou, again and again sang the song to Christ God: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

Seeing the blessed hegumen Timothy a vision in a dream, how many people are in his monastery and they ask about the servant of God Simeon, he is obsessed with horror and, waking up from sleep, the brethren tell this. Abiye went with them into the wilderness and called out to thee. Honoring your deeds, and we duly magnify thee: Rejoice, revealing the strength of the spirit of Joseph. Rejoice, great deeds of Christ for the sake of accomplishing. Rejoice, meekly bearing the Cross of Christ. Rejoice, ornament of the Church. Rejoice, marvelous servant of God's righteousness. Rejoice, good helmsman of the ship of Jesus. Rejoice, rule of pious faith. Rejoice, the image of spiritual meekness. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 6

The preacher of the word of God, Bishop Vass, by the will of God, came when you settled in a desert cell. Having shown great zeal for Moses and Elijah, you desired a fourty-day fast. May you not partake of the brashna during this time, arrange your holy hierarch's cell without entering, praying, hedgehog and create, and depart, singing to the Lord: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

Thou didst shine, reverend, with thy miraculous abstinence, when, on the past day of your fast, the saint of God found you, as if dead, lying on the earth, exalting you and the Mysteries of Christ's immortal communion worthy. Therefore, having told many brethren about your wondrous feat, teach them to glorify the Lord, showing wondrous deeds in His saints, and to you, His saint, to sing sing: Rejoice, your earthly path in the footsteps of Christ walked. Rejoice, imitating Moses and Elijah by fasting. Rejoice, for you placed your hope in the Lord. Rejoice, in the hope of this food and drink you did not partake. Rejoice, for thou hast illumined with divine light. Rejoice, for you strengthen us, the faithful, with your prayers. Rejoice, for thou hast become like thyself by incorporeal abstinence. Rejoice, that, like a spiritual weapon, invisible enemies thou hast won. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 7

Although your feats are more aggravated, as if on a ladder leading to heaven, thou hast ascended to the top of the mountain: yes, do not come down from there, with fetters on it, having listened to the words of St. Thou called out: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

The new Bethesda appeared on the mountain, on it you labored, holy day. Not only one in the summer and the first to those who enter, healing is given on that one, but always and to everyone in troubles, illnesses and sorrows that exist and hopefully flow to God, your good help is granted, and I will return, glorifying God, and thee, the saint of His Majesty, calling: Rejoice, holy light, kindled by the Divine flame. Rejoice, lamp burn and shine. Rejoice, healer of mental illnesses. Rejoice, physician of bodily ailments. Rejoice, feeder of those who hunger for truth. Rejoice, fountain of those who thirst for truth. Rejoice, prayer book for our souls. Rejoice, I intercede for us and the blessings of the earth. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 8

You have made your life strange, blessed, when you see many people coming to you, understand, as if they honor and glorify you. Fleeing glory, having loved humility, you were pleased to stay on a high pillar and, as if by the degree of a ladder to heavenly heights, ascending, and scum, and rain, and enduring scorching heat, the Lord unceasingly sang: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

You were all filled with obedience, testing you by the holy father of the hermit: obeying their commandment, as if of God, you were trying to take it down from your pillar to the earth, and seeing it, you understand, as if your work is from God, and deciding that you abide on your pillar unhindered . Then, the enemy of the human race, plan to tempt you: in the form of an angel, it is bright to appear, but for a moment you did not comprehend, blessed, the flattery of the enemy, but with the sign of the honest Cross you defeated that deceit. Afterwards, you brought repentance to the Lord, and we, having learned from this, praise thee: Rejoice, reflecting the arrows of the evil one kindled. Rejoice, victorious deceit of the enemy. Rejoice, arming yourself with the power of the cross. Rejoice, scorching lie with the fire of truth. Rejoice, armed with prayer, like a sword. Rejoice, crowned with the helmet of salvation. Rejoice, thou who didst bring repentance to God. Rejoice, placing your hope in God's mercy. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 9

The Lord accepts every sinner who repents, and your repentance is acceptable, and again glorify you. The devil, who cannot endure your feat, strike you with a fierce ulcer, and there was fierce pus with worms in your nose. After a lot of time, having taken your mother away from you, come to your pillar and weep bitterly. But you, blessed, trusting in the will of the Lord, in the future, you promised her to meet you, and, having betrayed her spirit in the hand of the Lord, having made a prayer, you sang to the Lord: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

Vetiy of supernatural wisdom will not be able to explain the power of your miracles, which you did to the glory of God and in the wonderful name of the Lord. Water that did not have a place for that, by your prayer, holy, the earth shook and gave abundant water. A woman who took a small snake in the water into her womb, having drunk your water, healed Abie. And many others are healed at your pillar with your holy prayers. But people, seeing the great miracles of God, with joy I glorify you: Rejoice, good and faithful servant of the Heavenly King. Rejoice, aggravating talent received from Him. Rejoice, rejoicing heaven with your life. Rejoice, you who marveled at the wonders of the universe. Rejoice, our helper and prayer book. Rejoice, defender from the temptations of the enemy. Rejoice, for by you our passions are quenched. Rejoice, for by you our good desires are fulfilled. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 10

To save even the sinners and to call to repentance, you followed the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ and the robber Jonathan, who ran under your shelter, did not betray him to those who wanted to kill him, but after the greatness of his repentance, he begged him to return to the Lord in peace, so that he could improve the bliss of paradise, in eternity will praise the All-Generous Humanity God with a thankful song: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

You were a good servant and faithful servant of the King of Heaven and the Lord, but your spiritual child is a father and a merciful mentor: in one place, on a pillar you dwell, a multitude of people, both faithful and unfaithful, I come to you, and every helper was thou Healing all sorts of mental and bodily illnesses, most of all the unbelievers with the light of Christ's Gospel enlightened you, as if they were baptized in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, they would exalt the Lord to you, their good shepherd, they would cry: Rejoice, mirror of the Trisyannago Light. Rejoice, filled with heavenly illumination. Rejoice, enlighten your neighbor from the wealth of the spirit. Rejoice, teach the fear of God. Rejoice, uncomplaining executor of the will of the Lord. Rejoice, glory to His zealot. Rejoice, our good shepherd. Rejoice, merciful and meek father. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 11

Bringing singing to the beloved Christ in your life, you were honored with the gift of prophecy, foreshadowing the coming drought, foreshadowing famine and pestilence, you predicted the invasion of the infidels and propitiated the Lord with many tears and a warm prayer, but turn away your anger, righteously moved, and do not allow the tongue to defeat Christians, those who repent and thank the Lord for His great mercy and sing unceasingly to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

The chosen one appeared to the light of the heavenly vessel, when your hour has come from this world to the village, beloved and wishing to pass away. About your blissful death, your disciple Anthony narrates: “One day, on Friday, at the ninth hour, awaiting us his teachings and blessings, he did not look at us from the pillar. Same on Saturday and every week. And I was afraid, and sighed on the pillar, and saw the reverend with his head bowed down and his hand on his forehead. I think, as if he is doing a prayer, keep silent az, follow the rekoch: “Bless us, father!” He doesn't answer. Then I thought, as if the reverend father had departed to the Lord, and understood, as it is, and wept bitterly, and, approaching, kissed him, saying: “To whom do you leave us, father?” And we ask you: and do not leave us sinners with your prayers favorable to the Lord, calling from the depths of your soul: Rejoice, from infancy betraying yourself to the Lord. Rejoice, commandments of God, as if you received a good treasure in your heart. Rejoice, fragrant with heavenly grace. Rejoice, enlightened by the light of prayer. Rejoice, clothed in Christ. Rejoice, adorned with the robe of incorruption. Rejoice, for you turned all your thoughts to the Lord. Rejoice, thou who didst love thy neighbors. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 12

Ask the Lord for a gift of grace, Father, we truly praise you; Hear our sighing, and do not despise our tears, and do not leave us, as if you promised not to leave either your pillar or the mountain, chosen by you, for the benefit of those who run to you, preserved under your roof, the Lord singing: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

Singing your life, God-blessed Father, we glorify God, and, as if on your burial, saints, and shepherds, and myrrhs, with tears and many prayers, flock to your grave, bearing candles and incense, so we, having come down on the day of your memory, fervent praise and we bring prayers to you: Rejoice, dying from youth to the world. Rejoice, take up the good yoke of Christ. Rejoice, joyfully departed from the prison of the body to eternal life. Rejoice, enjoying the sight of the Divine Light. Rejoice, as you stand before the Most Holy Trinity. Rejoice, for you pray unceasingly for us. Rejoice, thou who didst leave unto us the wholesome relics. Rejoice, kind of Christian helper. Rejoice, Simeone, marvelous stylist and great miracle worker.

Kondak 13

Oh, great and marvelous servant of God, our reverend father Simeon! Now stand before the throne of God and bring our petitions to the Lord, and accept this small prayer from us sinners, and, as if you did not reject the robber who ran to your pillar, but you also delivered him from earthly troubles, and the leader was to Him in the Kingdom of Heaven, so do not leave us sinners with your intercession, but also in this temporary life help us, and in the future heavenly cloisters with your prayers, grant us, where with you Christ, our Savior, we will cry: Alleluia.

(This kontakionread three times, then ikos 1 and kontakion 1).

Prayer

Oh, holy and great servant of God Simeon! Having fought a good feat on earth, you received in heaven the crown of truth, which the Lord has prepared for all those who love Him. Meanwhile, looking at your holy image, we rejoice in the glorious end of your residence and honor your holy memory. You, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring to the All-Merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us become against the wiles of the devil, and get rid of sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, we will live piously and righteously in the present forever and we will be honored by your intercession, if not worthy of Esma, to see the good on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints glorifying God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.