Simeon of Syracuse (Trier) ( German: Simeon von Trier ; X century , Syracuse ( Sicily ) - June 1 (14) 1035 , Trier ( Germany )) - a Byzantine monk who ended his life as a recluse . Catholic and locally revered Orthodox saint (Berlin and German diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church MP ). Canonized by Pope Benedict IX in 1042 as Simeon of Syracuse, now better known as Simeon of Trier.
Tradition
Simeon of Syracuse was born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily at the end of the 10th century. His father was a Greek officer and at the age of seven, the boy was transported to Constantinople , where he received a good education. As he came of age, he undertook a pilgrimage to Palestine , where he became acquainted with all Christian shrines and became the leader of the pilgrimage groups.
Over time, he became a monk , lived for some time in Bethlehem , and then settled in the monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai . As an obedience, at the direction of the monastery clergy, he went to Europe to the Duke of Normandy Richard II the Good , who promised the monastery large-scale financial assistance. After a long and arduous journey, upon arriving in Rouen , he learned that the duke had passed away, and his successor did not intend to donate to the monastery.
Having visited Trier, Simeon met the local archbishop Poppo , with whom he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1028-1030). Upon returning to Trier, Simeon asked the archbishop for blessings for imprisonment in the eastern tower of the ancient Roman gate . St. Simeon was walled up in the feast of the Apostle Andrew in 1030 . From that time, miracles began to occur. [ specify ] .
History
June 1 (14), 1035, St. Simeon died. After a short time, Archbishop Poppo made an idea to Rome about the canonization of the recluse. Which was done by Pope Benedict IX. This canonization became the second in the history of the papacy.
In 1041, on the site of the imprisonment of Simeon, the construction of a church named after him began. A small monastery was founded nearby. And this saved the ancient Roman gates of Trier from destruction in the Middle Ages, when the locals used the old structures as quarries.
The church of St. Simeon stood until 1803 . Napoleon I ordered the destruction of the church and the restoration of the Roman gates of Trier. Which was done.
For a long time, what is considered the sarcophagus and the relics of St. Simeon were stored in the church of St. Hervasius in Trier. In 1971, in the west of the city, a new church was consecrated in the name of St. Simeon, where both the relics of the saint and his sarcophagus were solemnly transferred. Separately, the Greek collection of apostolic and gospel reading and a knitted monastic cap belonging to Simeon are preserved in the treasury of the Trier Cathedral . Unfortunately, the Euchology belonging to him (a collection of prayers from both the clergyman and the treasury ), written in Palestine until 1030, from which Ambrose Pelarg (Storch) translated the liturgy of John Chrysostom ( 1540 , published in Worms ) into Latin , was lost in 1541 ).
Pilgrimage
For centuries, pilgrims went to the relics of St. Simeon. Currently, this tradition has been lost, but is being restored by Orthodox believers living in Germany.
Literature
- Hans-Joachim Kann. Wallfahrtsführer Trier und Ungebung. Verlag Michael Weyand, Trier. Modern edition, year of publication not specified.
- Handbuch der deutschen Heiligen von Albert Schütte. Druck und Verlag JP Bachem, Köln, 1941.