| CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: SIMON, SAINT AND APOSTLE |
| Klemens Loeffler
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| The name
of Simon occurs in all the passages of the Gospel and Acts, in which a list of
the Apostles is given. To distinguish him from St. Peter he is called (Matt., x,
4; Mark, iii, 18) Kananaios, or Kananites, and Zelotes (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).
Both surnames have the same signification and are a translation of the Hebrew
<qana> (the Zealous). The name does not signify that he belonged to the
party of Zealots, but that he had zeal for the Jewish law, which practised
before his call. Jerome and others wrongly assumed that Kana was his native
place; were this so, he should have been called <Kanaios>. The Greeks,
Copts, and Ethiopians identify him with Nathanael of Cana; the first-mentioned
also identify him with the bridegroom of the marriage of Cana, while in the
"Chronicon paschale" and elsewhere he is identified with Simon Clopas.
The Abyssinians accordingly relate that he suffered crucifixion as the Bishop of
Jerusalem, after he had preached the Gospel in Samaria. Where he actually
preached the Gospel is uncertain. Almost all the lands of the then known world,
even as far as Britain, have been mentioned; according to the Greeks, he
preached on the Black Sea, in Egypt, Northern Africa, and Britain, while,
according to the Latin "Passio Simonis et Judae", the author of which
was (Lipsius maintains) sufficiently familiar with the history of the Parthian
Empire in the first century, Simon laboured in Persia, and was there martyred at
Suanir. However, Suanir is probably to be sought in Colchis. According to Moses
of Chorene, Simon met his death in Weriosphora in Iberia; according to the
Georgians, he preached in Colchis. His place of burial is unknown. Concerning
his relics our information is as uncertain as concerning his preaching. From
Babylon to Rome and Toulouse we find traces of them; at Rome they are venerated
under the Altar of the Crucifixion in the Vatican. His usual attribute is the
saw, since his body was said to have been sawed to pieces, and more rarely the
lance. He is regarded as the patron of tanners. In the Western Church he is
venerated together with Jude (Thaddaeus); in the East separately. The Western
Church keeps his feast on 28 October; the Greeks and Copts on 10 May.
Transcribed by Gerald Morine |
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