Saint Simeon was a righteous and pious man, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him about the coming of the Messiah. Simeon, being one of the seventy translators of the law of Moses, doubted the words of the prophet Isaiah about the Virgin, but the angel of the Lord assured him that he would not see death before he had seen Christ.
Simeon lived a righteous life in the temple, praying for the salvation of the world. When the Lord Jesus Christ was brought to the temple, Simeon, led by the Spirit, recognized in Him the promised Messiah. He took the Infant in his arms and said: “Now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, O Master, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”
Simeon prophesied about the sufferings of Christ and the sorrow of the Mother of God. Having reached a great old age, he departed to the Lord, having lived three hundred sixty years, to see the birth of Christ from the Virgin.
