Venerable Martha, Mother of Venerable Simeon of the Wonderous Mountain

Martha, a native of Antioch, was the mother of Simeon the Younger, the stylite of the Wondrous Mountain near Antioch (c. 521–592). Widowed after a few years of marriage, she raised her son alone. According to St Dimitry of Rostov’s account, she lived near a church, attended the services first and left last, visited hospitals to tend the sick, gave clothes to the poor and to the newly baptized, and was known for her mildness. After Simeon began his life on a pillar, she came to visit him, and the Life says she foretold the approach of her death to him there. She died c. 551.