ولد قدّيسنا في غلاطية بفلاغونية، في آسيا الصغرى، سنة 949 م لعائلة مقتدرة من النبلاء. فلما بلغ الثانية عشرة أرسلوه إلى المدينة المتملّكة لمتابعة دروسه استعداداً للدخول في خدمة القيصر. سلك في الطيش بعضاً من الوقت لكنْ رأف الرب الإله به فلما ينـزلق في مزالق الفساد بل انتشله من الجب من خلال قراءات روحية كانت له فشرع يبحث، على الأثر، عن رجل قدّيس قادر ان يرشده إلى الخلاص رغم الكلام المحبط الذي سمعه من المحيطين به . قالوا عن زمانه إن رجلاً قدّيساً كالذي يلتمس لا وجود له . رغم ذلك استمرّ في البحث إلى ان وجد أباً روحياً، راهباً حبيساً في دير ستوديون. هذا كان سمعان التقي . لكن سمعان هذا لم يشأ ان يقتبله راهباً واكتفى بإعطائه كتاب القدّيس مرقص الناسك ليقرأ . حالما فتح قدّيسنا الكتاب طالعه القول التالي:” إذا كنت تبحث عن الشفاء فاعتنِ بضميرك واصنع ما يمليه عليك فتجد المنفعة” (القول 69). للحال اعتبر وشرع في اتباع ما يشير به. قال له ضميره، محبة بيسوع، ان يستزيد من الصوم والسهر فأخذ يفعل كذلك. ولم يطل الوقت به حتى تلقّى عربون الحظوة عند الله في معاينة عجيبة للنور غير المخلوق نقلته كخارج العالم وخارج جسده. ملأته الفرحة الكبرى وسبح في الدمع حاراً وأخذ يردّد بلا توقّف ولا كلل: كيرياليصون (يا رب ارحم). وفي قلب ذلك النور عاين أباه الروحي سمعان قائماً إلى يمين غيمة مضيئة يعلّمه فن الصلاة دونما تشتّت.
Since his first experience of beholding divine glory was not based on the pillars of divinity, he soon fell into apathy and laxity. But he returned and repented as if he had committed a great sin. For six or seven years after that, he continued his relationship with his spiritual father without seeking to leave the world and its annihilation.
Once again, the Lord God had compassion on him and plucked him from the mire of the world like his hair and set him before His face. He went out to his hometown on a mission during which he arranged his pending affairs and quickly returned to the royal city to join under the banner of his spiritual father, surrendering himself completely to him.
He settled in a small cell under the stairs of Simon his father's cell. There he was always looking at his sins and performing the most despicable actions, completely nullifying his own will, considering his father as Christ himself, a sinner, and with great honor every place where his father stood to pray as if it were the Holy of Holies. Therefore, as our saint took refuge in Simon’s prayer, he was able to fend off, without fear, the attacks of the demons who tried, with all their might, to instill in him fear, laziness, impurity, and envy, with all violence, to instill despair in his soul.
From the Studio Monastery, our saint moved to a small monastery, the Monastery of Saint Mama. He joined it as a monastic student, but maintained his ties with his spiritual father, Simeon the Pious. He remained like this until the Iskim took his hand and also took the name Simon. That occasion marked the beginning of a new phase of spiritual advancement in his life, so he resorted to complete silence, as well as prayer and contemplation of the Holy Book, contenting his body with food with some legumes. His cell, from which he no longer came out except to participate in divine services, became for him a burning furnace into which he immersed himself completely, transforming into a pure flame of love through which his Lord often put him into a state of astonishment and astonishment. Simeon, in one of his articles, likened himself to a wretched man after he fell into a pit of silt. His Lord pulled him out of it out of compassion, and then the hand of his spiritual father led him through the traps of the enemy and the great difficulties he suffered to the springs of water to wash and purify himself of what was stuck in him, and to transform from blindness to seeing spiritual things. As much as his insight was refined, yes, with luminous visions that became clearer and clearer. In a formless light like the sun, the veil of his insensibility fell, so he saw, little by little, the face of Christ and recognized it with increasing purity. He was taken out of the body and became stunned. Christ spoke to him and called him a brother and stepson. He did not understand until after a series of visions and after shedding tears in front of the icon of the Mother of God that he had acquired, within his heart, that personal love which is the Lord Himself.
Two years have passed since our saint lived in the Monastery of Saint Mama, during which his superior noticed that he had made amazing progress in spirit, so he ordained him a priest. On the day of his ordination, the Holy Spirit descended as a simple, shapeless light to envelop the sacrifice. Since then, and throughout his priestly life, not a day goes by when he performs the sacrifice without a similar vision. As he was surrounded by a bright cloud, he had such an angelic expression on his face that no one could stare at him whenever he blessed the people.
ورقد رئيس الدير واختير سمعان خلفاً له. الحياة الرهبانية هناك كانت متراخية واستحال المكان مدافن للعامة. فشرع قدّيسنا، مذ ذاك، في إعادة بناء ما تهدّم إلا الكنيسة، كما أخذ يستنهض همم الرهبان سعياً لاجتذابهم إلى التماس وجه العليّ كما عرفه هو. كان، لهذه الغاية، يقف واعظاً كالنار ثلاث مرّات في الأسبوع. لم يكتفِ بتذكيرهم بمبادئ الحياة المشتركة بل نظير ” امرء فقير امتلأ محبة أخوية”، متى حظي ببركة خاصة، ركض إلى رفقة الشقاء فرحاً ليعرض عليهم ما حصل عليه ويحثّهم على التحرّك بسرعة ليستفيدوا، هم أيضاً، من سخاء الذي أحسن إليه. هكذا شرع سمعان يكشف لرهبانه العجائب التي تمّمها فيه ربّه مؤكّداً بقوة ان لنا جميعاً، منذ الآن، في هذه الحياة، ان نبلغ رؤية ملكوت السموات. هذه الرغبة العميقة في إشراك إخوته بالنعمة التي تلقّى هي التي كمنت وراء الحميمية الشخصية لكتاباته مما لا نجد له مثيلاً عند الآباء إلا ما ندر.
هذه ” الحميّة الجامحة” لسمعان أثارت اعتراض بعض الرهبان وملاحظاتهم التهكّمية. هؤلاء آثروا سيرة سهلة وأدانوه كمتبجّح. اشتدت حركة المقاومة ضدّه إلى ان انفجر في وجهه ثلاثون راهباً قاطعوه بعنف، ذات مرة، خلال إحدى عظاته، وأخذوا يزأرون عليه كالحيوانات الشرسة . لم يترك مكانه . حافظ على ابتسامته وهدوئه فحدّ من هياجهم . فما كان منهم سوى ان خرجوا من الكنيسة في جلبة عظيمة، وطلبوا وجه البطريرك سيسينيوس مشتكين . فلما نظر هذا الأخير في الأمر برّر القدّيس بالكلية وحكم عليهم بالنفي . غير ان محبة سمعان كانت أكبر من ان يسلم خرافه إلى الضلال فعمل على إبطال العقوبة في حقّهم وخرج يلملمهم ويستسمحهم ويتوسّل إليهم ان يعودوا إلى الدير.
It was not long after that incident until peace returned and the monks began to be active in the paths of ascetic life until the place became one of the most prominent spiritual fortresses in the city. This good development attracted many ordinary believers and students who came from afar to the monastery. Simon's pastoral duties doubled. However, none of his ascetic duties were fulfilled, so he would recline in his cell three times a day, at specific hours, to wash the ground with his tears. For him, tears became second nature, and from them flourished love and compassion towards everyone, as well as patience in times of adversity. An attractive touch of divine grace illuminated his face from the soul with inner joy. Following a new enlightened vision, he received the gift of divinity. Since then, if he was kidnapped, he would become distraught, otherwise he would spend his nights composing wondrous songs of divine love, which continued to constitute one of the most valuable testimonies of the effects of grace in the soul of a saint. The spread of his writings and teachings allowed many to regain the fervor of the time of the Holy Fathers, which is, from afar, the victory of hesychasm as the official doctrine of the Orthodox Church.
In the year 1005, Simeon resigned from the presidency of the monastery and, for the love of God, retired to one of the cells in order to give himself completely to the path of holy tranquility and to support, through prayer, the efforts of his monks, like Moses ascending to the top of the hill. He had written about the divine scenes and the news of knowing the future and what creation would lead to. One night, he became in the light that penetrated all his limbs and made him, in its entirety, fire and light. And behold, a voice from above proclaimed to him that this glory that He had made manifest was His, being stored up for the elect in the general resurrection. Since then, the Holy Spirit of the Lord possessed him and he became God by grace, he began writing his theological and mystical articles.
Although our saint had reached perfection, as much as it is possible for a human being on earth to achieve, he suffered new hardships and toils. Stephen, the Metropolitan of Nicomedia, who became an assistant to the Patriarch and was a man of great knowledge and of great weight in official circles, when he saw the status Simon enjoyed in the hearts of many, he envied him and began looking for opportunities to challenge and shame him. He raised a sensitive theological issue with him, and the saint gave him a brilliant answer in the form of poetic verses. From what he said to him, speaking about theology is only for those who have experienced the Holy Spirit. This answer aroused the bishop’s hatred, so he did everything in his power to overthrow Simeon until in 1009 AD he was able to issue an order to banish him. He was accused of honoring, as a saint, a sinful man, Simon the Pious, his spiritual father. Our saint had created an icon for his father after his death and prepared a liturgical service to honor him, and for sixteen years he held an annual memorial for him in the presence of legions of believers.
أقام قدّيسنا في منفاه، في عزّ الشتاء، فوق هضبة قاحلة من ناحية خريسوبوليس. وبقي هناك إلى ان تدخل تلاميذه والمعجبون لدى البطريرك. إثر ذلك مثل أمام السينودس. ولما فاتحوه بموضوع أبيه الروحي رفض ان يتنازل عن إكرامه له. وكانت النتيجة ان رضخ البطريرك وأطلق سمعان قائلاً:” إنك لراهب ستوديتي لا غش فيه، لك حبك العميق لأبيك الروحي، ولكن لك أيضاً عناد الستوديين. ولعل في موقفك ما يستحق المديح!”
Following Simon's return, he received more divine blessings despite what the demons provoked against him. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he continued composing his hymns and writing articles in which he taught that neither forgiveness of sins nor sanctification can be given to anyone without the conscious abiding of the grace of the Holy Spirit within us. This grace did not only make Simon amazed, but it performed a number of miracles in him to relieve his disciples and provide comfort to his visitors.
When Simeon reached advanced old age, he was struck by a painful illness in the entrails that lasted for a long time, and he lay motionless in his bed. Despite this problem, one of his disciples saw him, while he was praying, rising from the ground surrounded by an indescribable light. Finally, he knew precisely the day of his death, as well as the day his remains were transferred thirty years after that, and he rested in the Lord on March 12, 1022, complete with virtues.
(On the Lives of the Saints - Synaxarium, and other feasts in the Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Monk Thomas Bitar)
The church celebrates it on March 12.