Fool-for-Christ16th century

Blessed Simon of Yurievets

died November 4, 1584

Also known as Simon the Fool-for-Christ

A holy fool abandoned by his parents who lived barefoot and in poverty, enduring hardship for Christ and honored for hidden holiness.

November 4New Calendar

Feast Day

November 17Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

The Holy and Blessed Simon of Yurievets, Fool-for-Christ

Life

Blessed Simon of Yurievets was a sixteenth-century Fool-for-Christ who lived in the Povolzhsk (Volga) region of Russia. Born in the city of Yurievets and forsaken by his parents, he embraced the ascetic discipline of foolishness for Christ, enduring poverty, exposure, and ill-treatment while concealing his holiness.

He went barefoot in both winter and summer, clothed only in a shirt, so that his skin became blackened and withered from fasting, and he often prayed on church porches. Tradition holds that through his ascetic labors he received from God the gift of clairvoyance. He died on November 4, 1584, and was buried at the Theophany Monastery in Yurievets; his veneration was formally established in 1635.

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

16th centuryBirth and abandonmentSimon is born in Yurievets in the Povolzhsk (Volga) region and is forsaken by his parents, taking up the discipline of foolishness for Christ.
November 4, 1584DeathAfter being beaten in anger by the military commander Theodore Petelin, Simon falls gravely ill, receives the sacraments, and dies. He is buried at the Theophany Monastery in Yurievets.
1635Veneration establishedPatriarch Joasaph orders Igumen Dionysius to compile Simon's life and miracles, blesses the painting of his icon, and formally establishes his feast day.

Contributions & Legacy

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Ascetic Life

Simon was born in Yurievets, a city in the Povolzhsk (Volga) region, and was abandoned by his parents. He took up the ascetic calling of foolishness for Christ, a form of holiness in which the saint conceals inner virtue beneath outward disregard for comfort and reputation.

He maintained extreme self-denial, going barefoot and wearing only a shirt throughout the year, so that his skin became blackened and withered from fasting. He frequently prayed on the porches of churches. According to his life, thoughtless people often treated him cruelly and at times beat him, yet he never complained and prayed for those who mistreated him.

The sources relate that through his ascetic exploits Simon received from God the gift of clairvoyance, foreseeing many things and predicting the future.

Death

Shortly before his death, Simon went to the house of the military commander Theodore Petelin. Not knowing the saint, Petelin in a fit of anger ordered him to be beaten. Simon fell gravely ill as a result. He summoned a priest, made his confession, received the Holy Mysteries, and died on November 4, 1584.

His body was buried at the Theophany Monastery in Yurievets. Petelin later repented of his actions.

Veneration

In 1635, Patriarch Joasaph ordered Igumen Dionysius of the Theophany Monastery to compile an account of the life and miracles of Blessed Simon. The patriarch gave his blessing for an icon of the saint to be painted and formally established his feast day, observed on November 4.

Contemporaries reported miraculous signs associated with the saint.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints