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ST SIMEON OF TRIER - 1 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 1st of June

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Saint Simeon [Symeon, monk and hermit] is mentioned by Abbot Eberwein (Ebroinus) in his biography of Archbishop Poppo of Trier [Treves]. 

Born in Syracuse in Sicily, Simeon was brought to study in Constantinople by his father Antonius, a Greek. As a young adult he joined a group of pilgrims who travelled to Palestine. There he remained for seven years, staying for some time with a certain hermit on the banks of the Jordan. When his holy companion decided to leave the cell to serve God at an even more secluded spot, Simeon went to live at a monastery in Bethlehem, where he stayed for two years. There he was ordained a deacon. At length he settled among the monks who dwelt at the foot of Mount Sinai in Arabia, and edified the brethren there by his austere life and virtuous conduct. For some time Simeon left to stay at a cave on the Red Sea, and on another occasion he dwelt in a dilapidated monastery on the top of the mountain. He took nothing with him when he left except the Gospel, the Psalter, some bread and cabbage seeds and a jug of water. When a famine broke out in the area, his superiors sent Simeon to Richard II, Duke of Normandy, to receive the alms that this prince had kept for the monastery in order to help the monks survive.

On this journey he had to endure many hardships and overcome temptations. When he finally reached Rouen he learned of the duke's death. Nobody seemed to know anything about the alms that had been promised. Therefore Simeon directed his steps towards the diocese of Verdun, to visit the abbot Richard of St Vannes, whom he knew from his travels, and then went to stay at the abbey of St Martin at Trier. From there he accompanied the pious Archbishop Poppo to the Holy Land and afterwards returned to Europe with him. 


When they finally arrived back in Trier, he asked to be locked in the so-called Porta nigra and devoted his remaining days to penance, prayer and contemplation. Fierce battles with the devil, who so incited some evil people against him that they pursued him with all kinds of hostilities, even to the point of throwing stones at him, alternated with the sweetness of holy visions and miraculous healings. Simeon cured a sick woman with no hope of recovery - she became well when she ate the blessed bread he had sent her. A child with dropsy to whom the holy man gave blessed water to drink was suddenly relieved of his illness. 

Finally the Lord called Simeon to his eternal reward on June 1, 1035. Pope Benedict IX
placed him among the saints on September 8, 1042, according to others, in the year of his death. The celebration of his canonisation was celebrated in Trier on November 17, and that of the discovery of his relics on January 9. He is also in the mentioned in the Roman Martyrology (on June 1). The Benedictines count him as one of their saints. Some other martyrologies list Simeon on December 1st.

His cell was expanded to become St Simeon's Church, which has long since collapsed. The Porta nigra is now called the Simeon Gate. When his grave was opened in 1400, his body was found intact. Depictions of Simeon show scenes of his life. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, pp. 314-15)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Simeon may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org






































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