Behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, He also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: “Now dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace: because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother: “Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be contradicted. And your own soul a sword will pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”Praise be to you, O Christ.
Saint Adamnan and Saint Gregory of Tours said that holy Simeon was buried on Mount Olivet. In the sixth century his relics were translated to Constantinople by Justin the Younger. Since the thirteenth century the body of the holy prophet has rested in a great silver ark in the Church of Saint Simeon in Zadar, Croatia (formerly Zara):
“After various vicissitudes and removals this magnificent piece of silversmith's work, the largest it is said, in the churches of the Austrian Empire, is now to be seen above and behind the high altar, supported by two bronze angels, and reached by a narrow flight of stairs from each side, so that the faithful who come to adore the saint may ascend on one side to see the relic and kiss the shrine, and descend on the other.
This they may be seen doing all day long, but on the feast of St. Simeon, October 8th, they come in enormous numbers, and each pilgrim receives a bombace, or little tuft of cotton-wool in a paper envelope, which has been shut up in the ark and has thereby imbibed virtues which are miraculous in cases of toothache or earache or other minor ills to which cotton wool is applicable... For three months beforehand the business of making these bombaci goes on...
Either in 1213 or 1273 a ship was driven to Zara by a tempest, having on board a nobleman who during his stay deposited in the cemetery the body as he said of his brother, which he was taking home for burial. The nobleman however died at Zara, and from his papers it was discovered that the body was none other than that of Simeon the Just, who had held Christ in his arms in the Temple. Dreams and portents were not long wanting to confirm the discovery, and the body was taken to the collegiate Church of Sainta Maria, where, by the expulsion of devils from demoniacs and other satisfactory miracles of the same kind, it sufficiently asserted its sanctity. In 1371 Louis the Great of Hungary with the elder and younger Elizabeth, his mother and wife, visited Zara after his conquest of Dalmatia. The younger queen, so says the legend, was so desirous of possessing a piece of the relic that she broke off a finger and hid it in her bosom, but she instantly lost her senses and only recovered them on restitution of her theft. The finger miraculously attached itself to the body, and the bosom of the queen which had begun to mortify and breed worms was no less miraculously healed. After this we at last touch historical ground. Elizabeth wrote to certain nobles of Zara to have a rich ark of silver made to contain the relic: they entrusted the work to one Francesco d’Antonio di Milano, a goldsmith of Zara, with whom they entered into a contract in 1377, and the ark was finished in 1380, as we know by the inscription on the back, in which Francesco di Milano has recorded his own name as the artificer. The ark is an oblong coffer with a coped roof and a gable at each end, and is long enough to contain a human body at full length... Both within and without the whole ark is covered with silver plates, embossed with figure subjects, and chased with diapers and ornamental borders. The effigy of Simeon lies on the slope of the roof towards the church, and the rest of the surface is occupied with various scenes of the arrival of the relic at Zara, and of the miracles it performed there, the only historical subject being the Presentation in the temple which occupies the central panel of the front” (Thomas Jackson, Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria, 1887).
Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Caesarea in Palestine, in the reign of Decius, St. Reparata, virgin and martyr, who, refusing to sacrifice to idols, was subjected to various kinds of torments and finally struck with the sword. Her soul was seen to leave her body in the shape of a dove and ascend to heaven.
At Thessalonica, St. Demetrius, a proconsul, who, for having brought many to the faith of Christ, was pierced with spears by order of the emperor Maximian, and thus ended his martyrdom.
In the same place, St. Nestor, martyr.
At Seville in Spain, St. Peter, martyr.
At Laodicea, in the time of Diocletian, St. Artemon, a priest, who gained the crown of martyrdom by fire.
In the diocese of Laon, St. Benedicta, virgin and martyr.
At Ancona, Saints Palatias and Laurentia, who were sent into exile in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Dion, and sank under the weight of toil and misery.
At Rouen, St. Evodius, bishop and confessor.
At Jerusalem, St. Pelagia, surnamed the Penitent.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
