Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-streaming (Stefan Nemanja)

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: "ktitor" (Church Slavonic for "builder, founder of a church/monastery") is a fixed epithet specifically attached to Venerable Simeon, not an indication of martyrdom; the saint was never executed and died peacefully as an elder. The category has been corrected from "martyr" to "venerable."

Venerable Simeon, in the world Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja, was born in 1113 and ruled Serbia, uniting the scattered Serbian lands and laying the foundations of the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1196 he abdicated the throne in favor of his son Stefan the First-Crowned and took monastic vows under the name Simeon; soon his younger son, the future St. Sava of Serbia, joined him in asceticism.

Together with his son, Simeon founded Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos, which became a spiritual and cultural center of Serbian monasticism. He reposed peacefully at Hilandar in 1200; myrrh streamed from his relics, earning him the title "Myrrh-streaming."

His feast is kept on February 13/26 (day of repose); Greek tradition also marks November 3 (reunion with St. Sava at Vatopedi, 1196).