Venerable Martyr Simon Of Volom

Venerable Martyr Simon of Volomsk (born Simeon, c. 1585–1586, on the estate of the Iosifo-Volokolamsk Monastery) was a 17th-century Russian ascetic of the Vologda land. As a young man he moved to Moscow and trained as a tailor before taking monastic vows as Simon at the Krasnogorsk (Chernaya Gora) Monastery on the Pinega River. Seeking solitude, he wandered through several northern monasteries before settling, in 1613, in the Volom forest on the Kichmenga River, about 65 versts from Veliky Ustyug. After five years as a hermit he was joined by fellow ascetics, and the Exaltation of the Cross Simono-Volomsk Monastery grew up around him. A tsarist charter granted the monastery surrounding land, provoking resentment among local peasants who disputed the claim; they burned the monastery church, then tortured and beheaded Simon on 12 July 1641. Veneration began in 1646 after healings were reported at his grave, and his Life was compiled soon after. Because his ascetic life ended in violent death rather than a peaceful repose, the Church glorified him as a venerable martyr, not simply a venerable monk. Feast: 12/25 July.