St. Simeon of Jerusalem

St. Simeon of Jerusalem was, according to early tradition preserved by the historians Hegesippus and Eusebius, a kinsman of the Lord, a son of Clopas who was reckoned an uncle or close relative of Jesus, and thus of the family from which the first leaders of the Church at Jerusalem were drawn. After the martyrdom of St. James the Just, the first bishop of the holy city, Simeon was chosen to succeed him and to shepherd the mother Church of Jerusalem.

He led that community through grave trials, including, by tradition, the flight of the Christians to Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70, so that the Church survived the catastrophe. He governed the see for many years into great old age. During the persecution under the Emperor Trajan, when the authorities sought out those of the royal line of David and the followers of Christ, Simeon, then a very old man, was denounced, tortured, and put to death by crucifixion about the year 107. He is venerated as a saint and martyr, his memory kept on 18 February.