Saint Symeon of Trier

Saint Simeon of Trier (or Simeon of Syracuse), also written as Symeon (Greek: Ὁ Ὅσιος Συμεὼν ὁ Πεντάγλωσσος ὁ Σιναΐτης, Sicilian: San Simeuni di Saraùsa), was a monk and recluse who died in Germany in 1035. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church with his feast day on 1 May, as well as in the Catholic Church, particularly in Germany. Simeon was born in the late 10th century in Syracuse, Sicily, to a Greek father and a Calabrian mother, during the period of Arab rule of the island. His father, who had been a soldier of the Byzantine army, sent him to Constantinople when he was seven years old to learn to read and write their native Greek language. As he grew older, Symeon decided to lead a life of religion, so he set out on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Afterwards, for seven years, he became a guide, leading pilgrims to the holy places, before tiring of this life and preferring instead to live as a recluse. Having heard of a holy recluse who lived in a tower on the bank of the Jordan River, Simeon went to work as his servant, living in the lower room of the tower, while learning from his new master how to practise the life of a recluse. Forced to depart, he realised after reading and re-reading the Lives of the Fathers (Vitae patrum), that in order to become a recluse he should train for a time in a monastery. As a result, he entered the Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem and became a monk. After two years there, he transferred to the famed Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt. While he was a member of that community, he was ordained as a deacon. After serving the brethren for some years there, Simeon gained the abbot's permission to depart to live as a hermit, settling alone in a small cave on the shore of the Red Sea.