Venerable Simon the Myrrh-streaming, of Athos

Venerable Simon the Myrrh-streaming of Athos (Simonopetra), founder of Simonopetra Monastery ("New Bethlehem"), was a 13th-century Athonite ascetic. His exact birth and death dates are unknown; tradition places the monastery's founding around 1257 and his repose around 1287. He lived as a hermit on the southern slope of Mount Athos, where for two years he beheld a brilliant star mysteriously appearing and vanishing over a sheer cliff — a sign he took as a divine command to build a monastery there. The site has since been called "Simonopetra" ("Simon's Rock"), commemorating his firm faith. After death his relics streamed fragrant myrrh, giving him the epithet "Myrrh-streaming." He is commemorated in the Synaxis of the Athonite Fathers. Feast day: 28 December Old Style / 10 January New Style. In this database he previously also appeared as a separate card, "Simon of Athos" — the same saint under a locative epithet, not a different person.