6th century
Saints Symeon the Fool for Christ and John
Two monk friends from sixth-century Edessa; Symeon became known in Emesa as a holy fool, hiding his sanctity behind feigned madness.
Biography
The monks Symeon and John came from Edessa in Syria and lived in the sixth century. Friends since youth, they travelled together to Jerusalem on pilgrimage and became monks at a monastery near the Jordan; within days they withdrew into the desert, where they lived side by side for forty years of strict asceticism.
According to tradition, Symeon later returned to the world and settled in Emesa, where, out of humility, he pretended to be mad while secretly working miracles and helping the suffering. He died poor and misunderstood by the townspeople, and his friend John, on learning of his death, died himself soon after.