1586–1641
A peasant's son who, after long pilgrimage and monastic struggle, founded a monastery in the Volomsk wilderness, where he was slain by robbers.
Venerable Simon, Abbot of Volomsk, was a seventeenth-century Russian monastic who, after years of pilgrimage and solitary struggle, established a monastery in the Volomsk wilderness southwest of Velikiy Ustyug. He was slain by robbers in 1641, and is venerated both as a venerable monastic and as a monk-martyr.
Born in 1586 the son of a peasant named Michael from the vicinity of Volokolamsk, Simon embraced the monastic life after extensive pilgrimages, received tonsure at the Pinegsk Makariev monastery, and ultimately drew disciples to the remote forest where he built a church and served as abbot until his violent death.
By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Simon, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Simon was born in 1586, the son of a peasant named Michael who lived in the vicinity of Volokolamsk. At the age of twenty-four he undertook extensive pilgrimages through Orthodox monasteries, and at the conclusion of these wanderings he received monastic tonsure at the Pinegsk Makariev monastery.
In 1613 Simon withdrew to the Volomsk forest, roughly eighty versts southwest of Ustiug (Velikiy Ustyug), near the River Kichmenga. There he passed his first five years in solitude, sustaining himself by the vegetables he cultivated and occasional bread brought from nearby settlements.
As others drawn to the quiet life began to gather around him, Simon obtained a grant from Tsar Michael Theodoreovich and the blessing of the Rostov Metropolitan Barlaam, and built a temple in honor of the Cross of the Lord. In 1620 he became the abbot of the resulting monastery. He was remembered for his strict asceticism — his virtue, his dedication to labor, and his fasting and prayer.
On July 12, 1641, Simon was murdered in his own monastery. His remains were interred on the left side of the church. Reports of grace-filled miracles at his relics led to the beginning of his veneration in 1646, and his Life was written in the course of the seventeenth century.
Because he was a venerable monastic slain by robbers, Simon is commemorated in the dual character of a monk-martyr (hosiomartyr) as well as a venerable abbot.
Simon's remains were interred on the left side of the church of his monastery in the Volomsk wilderness. Miracles reported at his relics prompted the beginning of his veneration in 1646.
Browse other saints who share his calling and place.