Dr. Augustin Sokolovski
On May 23, according to the calendar of the Holy Fathers—that is, according to the old style—the Church commemorates Saint Simon the Apostle. Simon was one of the Twelve Apostles.
He should be distinguished from the Apostle Simon Peter, and from Simon of Cyrene, who, according to the Gospel of the Passion, was compelled to carry Christ’s Cross on the way to Golgotha, from Simeon, a relative of the Lord who became the second bishop of Jerusalem after James the Just, and, of course, from Simeon the God-Bearer, who, according to the Gospel of Luke, met the Infant Jesus in the Temple and sang “Now You Let Depart.”
What seems obvious to us today was extremely important to learn and remember in ancient times, when there was no mass dissemination of information. In the early centuries of Christianity, the Gnostics deliberately confused the names of the Apostles and biblical figures in order to prove their claim to exclusive esoteric knowledge. In our time, when widespread religious illiteracy is reaching truly global proportions, a basic knowledge of Sacred History becomes of paramount importance.
The Gospel calls Simon “Zealot.” Hagiography tells us that it was Simon himself who was the bridegroom at Cana in Galilee, where, during the wedding feast, Jesus turned water into wine. He followed Christ in preaching the Gospel despite the daily obligations of marriage, which was a sign of particular zeal in grace, but he did not renounce marriage itself. Otherwise, it would bear too close a resemblance to Gnostic traditions, which, by superimposing their dualistic worldview onto the Gospel narrative, promoted ideas hostile to the family and marriage.
Another explanation, citing the historical circumstances of that era, suggests that Simon may have belonged to the Zealots, a party of zealots for the law, prior to his conversion. The intransigence of the Zealots and other popular leaders like them subsequently led to a revolt against Rome, the destruction of Jerusalem, which led to its transformation into a Roman pagan settlement and the loss of its status as the Holy City. The Lord called Simon and, in doing so, freed him from the bondage of human nationalism and prejudice.
The biographies of most of the Apostles have not been preserved because all the early Christians, including the Apostles, lived in expectation of Jesus’ imminent and direct return at the Second Coming, and left no records about themselves, with the exception of the Book of Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles, which are divinely inspired. Tradition tells us that toward the end of his life, Simon preached in the Caucasus, in Abkhazia, where devout people still point out the site of his death. Like most of the Apostles, with the possible exception of John, Simon suffered martyrdom for preaching the Gospel. Thus, the name “Zealot” became not only a companion throughout his life, but also a prophecy regarding the manner of its conclusion. Hagiographies and the traditions of local churches indicate that, prior to his death around A.D. 65, Simon preached in Egypt, in Roman Africa among the Berbers, in Armenia, Persia, and even Britain. In truth, “zeal for his father’s traditions” was transformed, through the power of the Holy Spirit, into a universal and global calling for Simon the Apostle.