Simeon (Gospel of Luke)

Simeon (

According to the Biblical account, the Holy Spirit visited Simeon and revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ of God. Upon taking Jesus into his arms, he uttered a prayer which is still used liturgically as the Latin Nunc dimittis in the Catholic Church and other Christian churches, and gave a prophecy alluding to the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Some Christian traditions commemorate this meeting on 2 February as the feast of

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." - Luke 2:25–35, RSV-2CE

Some writers have identified this Simeon with

• Simeon senex (Simeon the old man) occurs in some Latin texts and hagiographies.^[4]
• Aged Simeon in poetry and music, including the Candlemas anthem "When Mary to the Temple Went" by Johannes Eccard (1533–1611).
• "Simeon" is used by Protestants.^[5]
• Simeon the God-Receiver in Eastern Orthodoxy (Greek: Συμεών ο Θεοδόχος [Simeon Theodochos]ͺ, Slavonic: Симеон Богоприимецͺ [Simeon Bogo-Priimets]).

Age

The Bible is silent about Simeon's age at this point, though he is generally assumed (for example by Howard Marshall, who refers to him as an "old man")^[6] to have been elderly.

Orthodox tradition says that he was one of the seventy scholars who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into the Septuagint, and that he translated Isaiah 7:14 as saying "a young woman" would conceive rather than "a virgin" due to his disbelief. Because of this, a divine being told him he would live to see the fulfillment of this prophecy. When he was around 360 years old, he saw Jesus, uttered the benediction and died.^[7][8]

Relics

Sometime between AD 565 and 578, a body believed to be that of Simeon was translated from Syria or Jerusalem to Constantinople.^[9] Sometime around the Siege of Constantinople (1203) the relics were seized and shipped to Venice; however, a storm forced the ship to put in to the port of Zadar on the Dalmatian coast. The relics were first placed in the Velika Gospa (Church of the Virgin) and then later translated to the Church of St. Stephen, which became known as the Sanctuary of St. Simeon the Godbearer. Simeon is one of the four patron saints of Zadar; his feast day is celebrated on 8 October. In October 2010, Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar conveyed a small silver reliquary containing some of Simeon's relics to Archbishop Theofylactus of Jordan, representing Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the monastery of St. Simeon the Godbearer in Jerusalem.^[10]

Festal observances

The events in the life of Simeon the Righteous are observed on both 2 and 3 February.^[

born of a virgin.

Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Under

Jewish law (see Leviticus 12:2–8), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The Gospel of Luke 2:22–39 relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, after which Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem

. This explains the formal names of the feast.

In the

Rachmaninoff

).

The feast of 2 February is often known as "

Great Feasts

.

2 February

This feast day has a number of different names:

• The Meeting of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Eastern Orthodox Church
  )
• The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church
  )
• Eastern Rite Catholic Churches
  )
• Roman Catholic Church
  )
• Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1962 and earlier forms of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church
  )
• Episcopal Church of the United States
  )
• Presentation of Our Lord (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  )
• The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Anglican Church of Canada
  )
• The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Church of Canada
  )
• The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Church of England and Anglican Church of Australia
  ).

3 February

Simeon the Righteous is commemorated in his own right on 3 February. In the

Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, and the first Bishop in Sweden

in 864.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Simeon is commemorated with

Anna the Prophetess on 3 February on the Feast of the Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess

.

16 February

While both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches agree on the date of

Gregorian Calendar.^{[citation needed}

]

The

The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple

, is on 14 February.

On 1 December occurs commemoration of his,

James and Zacharias relics translation in 351, and 25 May is commemoration of their relics discover also in 351.^[11]

See also

• Circumcision of Christ
• Epiphany
• Liturgical year
• "A Song for Simeon" – a poem by T. S. Eliot in 1928

References

1. ^ "3 ФЕВРАЛЯ - Древо". drevo-info.ru (in Russian). Retrieved October 2, 2023.
2. ^ The Rabbinic Traditions about the Pharisees before 70: The Houses – Page 217, Jacob Neusner, 1971: "It is not integral to the story, and some say is immediately corrected: Hillel was not a priest (as if Yohanan was!), and therefore could not have been the master to whom the story is assigned."
3. ^ Driscoll, James F. "Holy Simeon." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 1 February 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. Ramsgate Abbey, The Book of Saints: a Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized by the Catholic Church
   , 1921, p. 245.
5. ^ Meeting Simeon and Anna in the Temple (Luke 2:21–38).
6. ^ "The Gospel of Luke", I Howard Marshall, Paternoster Press, 1978, Page 119
7. ^ "Amshir 8 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium - CopticChurch.net". www.copticchurch.net. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
8. ^ "Holy, Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver". www.oca.org. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
9. S2CID 193388734
   .
10. ^ "Part of Relics of St. Simeon the Godbearer handed over by the Archbishop of Zadar to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem", Byzantine Catholic Church in America, 19 February 2013
11. ^ "СИМЕОН БОГОПРИИМЕЦ - Древо". drevo-info.ru (in Russian). Retrieved October 2, 2023.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Holy Simeon". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simeon.

• Entry for February 3 from the Prologue from Ohrid with a brief hagiography of S t. Simeon.
• Icon and hagiography from the website of the Orthodox Church in America.
• Pope John Paul II. "Simeon is Open to the Lord's Action", General Audience, December 11, 1996