Holy, Glorious and Righteous Simeon : The God-Receiver | Feb 2

The Feasts of Commemoration of Saints Righteous Simeon and the aged, Prophetess Anna, is celebrated on the Feast Day of Presentation of our Lord to the Temple (Ma’ altho), on 2 February. The Glorious, Righteous, Prophet Simeon (Symeon) the God- receiver, was, a just, devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2: 25). God promised him that he would not die until the promised Messiah, Christ the Lord, came into the world. He was a ‘just man’ and was also ‘devout’. He valued the “outward and visible sign,” and he possessed also the “inward and spiritual grace.

Simeon in the Bible was a man in Jerusalem (Luke 2: 25) who lived at the time Jesus was born. Simeon’s reputation was that of being “righteous and devout” (Luke 2: 25). Ancient historians tell us that the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.) invited seventy scholars to Alexandria to translate the Holy Scriptures from Hebrew to Greek. The completed work was called ‘The Septuagint’, used by the Orthodox Church. The Righteous Simeon was one of them called for. St Simeon was assigned to translate, the book of the Prophet Isaiah.

As Simeon, the Scribe copied the text – – Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7: 14). He thought that “virgin” was inaccurate, and he wanted to correct the text to read “woman.” Simeon changed the text ‘virgin shall conceive’ to ‘woman shall conceive’ assuming the law of nature to be true. However, the next day Simeon saw the text restored to ‘virgin shall conceive’. He again changed the text as before.  At that moment an angel appeared to him and held back his hand saying,

“You shall see these words fulfilled. You shall not die until you behold Christ the Lord born of a pure and spotless Virgin.”

From this day, St Simeon lived in expectation of the Promised Messiah and was unique in what he knew, that he would see the Messiah with his own eyes, for “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2: 26).

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The Holy Spirit came on him, as had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel (Lk. 2: 29-30).

Then Simeon held the Child, blessed them and pronounced his prophetic hymn, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation.” (Lk. 2: 29-30) The Holy Church teaches us to pray this prayer every time we leave the Church. Our Prayer while leaving the Church is composed on this Bible Reference –

We in the Church, see the Lord Jesus with the eyes of our spirits. Like Simeon, we too meet, the Lord through the Divine Sacraments in the Church and can say that our eyes have seen the salvation of God in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Simeon stands as a testimony of how we, too, should anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. Simeon looked forward to Christ’s first coming, and we anticipate His second coming (Acts 1: 11 and Titus 2: 13). Holy, righteous Simeon the God-Receiver died at a great age (he was over 300 years). His holy relics were said to have been transferred to Constantinople in the sixth century. His feast day is commemorated on Feb 2 or Feb 3.