Simeon the Righteous, also known as Simeon the Elder, Simeon Senex (senex means “the old man”), or Holy Simeon is the "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who met the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfil the requirements of the Law of Moses on the fortieth day from Jesus' birth.
On taking Jesus into his arms, he uttered the prayer Nunc dimittis (“Now you dismiss”) which is still used liturgically in many Christian churches and gave a prophecy alluding to the crucifixion. This meeting is commemorated on February 2 as Candlemas or more formally, the Presentation of the Lord, the Meeting of the Lord, or the Purification of the Virgin. His prophecy is used in the context of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Simeon is venerated as a saint with his memorial today in the revised Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church. The sole mention of Simeon is in Luke 2:25-35.
According to a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Simeon had been one of the seventy-two translators of the Septuagint (LXX), the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. As he hesitated over the translation of Isaiah 7:14 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive...", and wondered how this was possible, or even that it might be a copyist's error, an angel appeared to him and told him that the prophecy was correct as it was written, and that he would not die until he had seen its fulfilment with the Christ born of a Virgin. This would make him well over two hundred years old at the time of the meeting described in Luke, and therefore miraculously longeval.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Pelagia
2. Saint Badilo
3. Saint Benedicta
4. Saint Martin Cid
5. Saint Nestor