Ascetic Life on Mount Athos
The synaxarion preserves little about Simon's birth or early years. According to the accounts, he arrived on Mount Athos in the thirteenth century and sought out an experienced elder, learning under him that obedience is essential to the monastic life. After this period of training he withdrew in search of greater solitude and lived as a recluse in a cave. The sources relate that while he was praying near this cave he heard a voice address him, 'Simon, Simon, thou faithful friend and servant of my Son! Do not go away from here. I shall glorify this place,' and that he was thereby kept from abandoning the site.
The Star and the Founding of New Bethlehem
Tradition holds that Simon saw a star of extraordinary brightness, which he came to identify with the Star of Bethlehem. Watching it over several nights, he at first feared it might be a demonic temptation, but on the eve of the Lord's Nativity the star came to rest over a high rock, and he heard a voice say, 'Here, O Simon, you must lay the foundations of your monastery for the salvation of souls.' The accounts add that he beheld a vision of Bethlehem, in which the Mother of God stood before the Divine Child lying in swaddling clothes. He built the monastery on that rock and named it New Bethlehem; from his own name it later came to be called Simonopetra, the 'Rock of Simon.' The monastery is built atop a single great rock, hanging from a cliff roughly 330 metres above the sea, and remains dedicated to the Nativity of Christ.
Miracles of the Construction
The narratives connect the building of the monastery to several wonders. The sources relate that three wealthy brothers came to Simon after Christmas, confessed their sins, asked to live under his direction, and offered all their wealth for the work; they at first resisted building on so dangerous a cliff. During a meal, a disciple is said to have fallen from the precipice into the abyss while carrying wine and glasses, yet to have appeared again before the brotherhood whole and unharmed, without a drop of wine spilled — a sign that, according to the accounts, persuaded the workers of divine approval. The same tradition relates that Simon, making the sign of the Cross over a great foundation stone, lifted it single-handedly onto his shoulder and carried it to the appointed place.
Repose and Myrrh-streaming Relics
The sources record that Simon reposed on the 28th of December in the year 1287. After his death, a fragrant myrrh is reported to have issued from his holy relics, through which, according to tradition, many miracles were worked; from this his titles Myrrh-bearer and Myrrh-gusher derive. He is commemorated by the Church on December 28.
