Saint Simon Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal

Monastic Life and Episcopate

Simon entered the monastic life at the Kiev Caves Monastery in the second half of the twelfth century, the community from which he would later draw the substance of his writing. In 1206 he was appointed igumen (abbot) of the Nativity monastery at Vladimir.

In 1214 Prince George (Yuri) Vsevolodovich selected him as the first bishop of Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma and Suzdal. During his episcopate he consecrated a church at the Nativity monastery in 1218 and a cathedral church at Suzdal in 1225. He was esteemed by contemporaries as a learned teacher.

When the prince wished to establish a separate bishop's see at Suzdal for the monk Polycarp, Simon dissuaded him, judging that Polycarp was not yet spiritually prepared for such an office.

The Kiev Caves Paterikon

Simon's enduring contribution is the body of writing that grew out of his correspondence with the monk Polycarp of the Caves in the 1220s. He framed his letters as spiritual instruction, both promoting knowledge of the Kiev Monastery where he had once lived and rebuking his disciple for an excessive desire for ecclesiastical honors pursued without the abbot's blessing.

Within these letters Simon composed nine monastic biographies, the portion that became known as Simon's Epistle. He drew on earlier sources including the Life of Theodosius of the Caves, the Life of Anthony of the Caves, the Rostov Chronicle, and the monastery records, and his prose was noted for its erudition in patristic literature and its striving for an elegant, elevated style.

His letter of counsel to Polycarp was placed at the beginning of the Kiev Caves Paterikon. Polycarp in turn added eleven further stories, dedicating his work to the abbot Akindyn, so that the correspondence of the two men formed the foundation of the completed collection.

Repose and Relics

Simon received the great monastic schema on the eve of his repose in 1226. His body was first buried at Vladimir, but in accordance with his own final wishes it was afterward transferred to the Kiev Caves Lavra, where it rests in the Antoniev (Near) Caves among the monks of the community he had served and chronicled.

He was canonized for veneration throughout the Russian Church in 1982.