Apostle and Hieromartyr Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, a Kinsman of the Lord

Simeon was the son of Clopas, the brother of Joseph the betrothed of Mary, and so a kinsman of Jesus, as the early historians Eusebius and others report. He believed in Christ after seeing his works, was counted among the Seventy apostles and, after the death of James the brother of the Lord, became bishop of Jerusalem.

In the reign of Trajan, he was denounced to the Roman governor Atticus both as a Christian and as a descendant of King David, since the Romans were hunting down David's line. Already a very old man, he was tortured for days and crucified. Tradition gives his age as about a hundred years; the Church dates his death to about 107.