Holy Fools

Date: 21 July 2005 10:41:28

Icon from OCA

Today is the Feast Day of St Simeon of Emessa, the Fool-for-Christ and his companion and fellow-ascetic John. St Simeon is also the Patron Saint of the web magazine Ship of Fools and they have a page on him here.

Having heard the voice of Your Apostle Paul:
We are fools for Christ's sake!
Your servant Simeon, O Christ God,
Lived the life of a fool here on earth for Your sake.
Therefore as we venerate his memory,
We entreat You, O Lord, to save our souls!

Troparion

Let us praise with fervent love,
This man who lived in the flesh as an angel,
Adorning his soul with the most radiant virtues!
Simeon, the equal to the Apostles and the Bearer of God.
Together with him, let us honour his companion John,
For they both ever stand before God, interceding for us all!
Kontakion

The "Fool for Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:18-19) takes on a very unusual style of life. OrthodoxWiki has an article on Fools for Christ and a listing of the many fools for Christ. A few that I know of:

Simeon (d. 590) tied a dead dog to his belt while walking through town, ate sausages on Good Friday, threw nuts at worshippers during church services, and went into the women's section of the local bath. Yet after his death stories abounded of his healing power and his bringing of many to Christ.

Basil the Blessed (d. 1552) walked naked through the streets of Moscow, threw stones at the houses of respectable people, and offered the Tsar Ivan the Terrible blood and raw meat.

Pelagia Ivanovna (1809-1884) lived on the street in a pit, broke windows in her monastic cell, always walked barefoot, pierced her feet with nails and in every way tormented her body, and fed herself on bread and water, and never went to the monastery meals. Yet she was known for her healing of others.

Mother Maria Skobtsova [d. 1945] was noted as a fool for Christ in a book I read. She shocked people by missing church services, smoking, and spending time with the destitute. But her life was filled with helping others. She founded "Orthodox Action" to provided care for those in need. She protected and helped Jews to escape when the Nazis arrived in France. She died in Ravensbruck concentration camp on Easter Saturday, voluntarily taking the place of another prisoner who was to be gassed, the day before the Red Cross arrived to begin the release of prisoners.

These fools for Christ all shunned the acceptance of the world. Though their lives they showed that, "the love of Christ does not naturally fit into sensible worldly patterns. It cannot be contained in any vessel and cannot be made sense of." [Binns, An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches, 2002, p. 122]