Almoutran

Holy and Righteous

Symeon the God-Receiver

and

Anna the Prophetess

February 3rd
TAKEN FRON Bending over a page of the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, written in Hebrew, the puzzled scholar gazed at a prophecy that seemed to make no sense: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son. (Isaiah 7:14) Frowning and baffled, the white-haired scholar told himself: This has to be an error of language. How could a virgin give birth to a child? Somehow, this passage in the Hebrew Old Testament contained a writing mistake – and it would have to be corrected.

Now the elderly scholar reached for his pen. As a translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (after having been chosen for the task by the great Egyptian Emperor Ptolemy II Philadelphos), the accomplished Jerusalem linguist, Righteous Symeon, was responsible for making sure that the Book of Isaiah was rendered with perfect accuracy. Leaning intently over the page, he intended to replace the word “virgin” with a two-word phrase of his own invention: “young woman.”

And then it happened.

The scholar’s right hand froze in midair! It was completely paralyzed, utterly useless. Try as he might, the elderly translator could not bring the pen he held to the surface of the paper. And then a moment later, he was amazed by the appearance of a dazzlingly radiant figure that spoke to him gently but firmly in words like these:

“Have faith in the words written down; thou thyself shalt be persuaded that they will be fulfilled, whereof thou shalt not taste of death until thou behold Christ the Lord, Who shall be born of a Pure and Immaculate Virgin.”

Shaken and alarmed by the intervention of the Angel, Righteous Symeon nonetheless obeyed – and left the passage of Isaiah unchanged. Instinctively, he trusted this angelic presence. Yet he could not help wondering: How could he, already an elder citizen near the end of his life, hope to witness the miraculous arrival of a Savior who would be born to a Virgin . . . when that blessed event was surely still far off in the very distant future?

Shaking his head in wonderment, the aging historian and linguist from Palestine departed the great library at the center of Alexandria. The year was around 260 B.C., according to most Church historians of the period, and the project on which the faithful and obedient St. Symeon was working would one day be known as “The Septuagint” – the authoritative translation of the Old Testament from its original language, Hebrew, into the cultured and cosmopolitan language of Simeon’s world: Ancient Greek.

As an accomplished scholar and writer who lived in Jerusalem, Simeon had been chosen by the Emperor as one of 72 editors who would work on translating the Old Testament. Later, after performing that service with his usual care and thoroughness, the old man returned to Jerusalem. There he resumed his cultured life of study. Bent with age and preparing himself for eternity, he did not expect to live long.

But the angelic presence that had helped him translate the passage about the “Virgin Birth” would be proved correct in the end. As the years passed one by one, the humble St. Symeon did not seem to be aging anymore. If anything, he felt younger with each passing day! Healthy and energetic, he would live on for more than 200 years . . . until that glorious hour when the Son of God, having been born in a stable in Bethlehem 40 days before, was finally brought to the Temple for the Jewish ritual of “Presentation.”

Alerted by the angel to the approaching event, the grateful St. Symeon rushed to the Temple and witnessed a remarkable sight: both the Child who was being presented and His Mother were bathed in a glowing, radiant light! Clearly, this was the “Virgin” of the passage that he had translated . . . and the child was none other than the Holy Redeemer who had come to save the world. Full of hope and love, the great saint gave fervent thanks to God for this miracle of salvation.

Then Symeon thanked Jesus for the miracle that had taken place, while uttering a phrase of thanksgiving that is still repeated to this day as part of Vespers, or evening prayers: “Now, Master, You may let Your servant go in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”

Having lived to witness one of the greatest events in the history of the world, the Righteous St. Symeon went to his eternal reward soon after the Presentation of Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple. More than six centuries later, his relics would be discovered and transported for interment in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

Obedient and faithful throughout his remarkably extended lifetime, he helped to tell the world the true story of the Messiah who would come down to earth to save it, with His Own suffering and death on the Cross. From St. Symeon we learn the immense value of trusting the Word of Almighty God – rather than relying on our own knowledge, no matter how skilled and accomplished we might be as thinkers in the merely human realm.

Anna the Prophetess

Anna the Prophetess, whose memory is also commemorated on this day by the Holy Church, was in attendance at the Temple on that great day when the Infant Jesus was presented to the world. This good widow, whose husband had recently died, was gifted by Almighty God with the ability to prophesy. Because of her keen vision, which transcended time, she was able to recognize the Infant Savior instantly, and she cried out to the happy assemblage the news that the Holy One had truly arrived.

St. Luke described the scene in the New Testament as follows:

And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38)

Anna the Prophetess was eighty-four years old during this extraordinary event. As the daughter of Phanuel – and a member of the tribe of Aser – she had been married seven years before tragically losing her husband. Grieving and heartsick, she then retreated to the Temple at Jerusalem, where she would spend the rest of her life performing humble chores and praying and fasting ceaselessly.

The joy experienced by Anna the Prophetess, who was full of humble righteousness, reminds us of the glorious Beatitude that was delivered during the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Although Anna suffered the agonizing grief of losing a youthful husband, her reward finally came in the last years of her life, as she witnessed the arrival of the Savior who would redeem the world!

A model of faith who responded positively and properly to the coming of the Messiah, Anna is remembered for her worship of God through prayer and fasting.

Apolytikion in the First Tone

Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, O Virgin Theotokos, for from thee hath risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. Rejoice, thou also, O righteous Elder, as thou receivest in thine arms the Redeemer of our sols, Who also granteth unto us the Resurrection.

Kontakion in the First Tone

Thou Who didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb by Thy birth, and didst bless Symeon’s hands as was meet, by anticipation hast even now saved us, O Christ God. But grant peace in the midst of wars unto Thy commonwealth and strengthen the hierarchs whom Thou hast loved, O only Friend of man.

Troparion of St. Symeon and Anna in the First Tone

In the Temple thou didst embrace as an infant God the Word Who became flesh, O glorious Elder Symeon, who didst hold God in thine arms. And also as a Prophetess the august Anna ascribed praise to Him. We acclaim you as divine servants of Christ.

Kontakion of Ss Symeon and Anna in the Third Tone

Let Symeon the Righteous and Anna the Prophetess, that godly pair, be praised together; well-pleasing to God, they became witnesses of the Incarnate Lord. When they saw Him as an infant, together they worshipped Him.