St Simon the Tanner
A humble tanner in Old Cairo, famously performed a miracle by moving a mountain through prayer, demonstrating faith's power under the caliph.
Relic
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Background
St Simon the Tanner lived towards the end of the 10th century when Egypt was ruled by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Muizz Li-Deenillah, and Pope Abraham of Alexandria (the Syrian) was the 62nd Coptic Pope.
At the time, many Coptic Christians in Egypt were engaged in handicrafts. St Simon worked in one of those crafts widespread in Babylon (Old Cairo) which was tanning, a craft still known there until this day.
This profession involved other crafts that depend on the process, from where St Simon carried several titles related to skins, such as the Tanner, the Cobbler, the Shoemaker.
There is a famous story about him, that one day a woman came to him to fix her shoes, and this woman was beautiful in the image, so while she took off her shoes, her legs were exposed, and his eyes looked at them with lust. Immediately, he struck the abscess in one of his eyes and emptied it, in implementation of the Lord's commandment,
Matthew 5:28-29
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
He literally carried out the commandment. But note that the Church does not allow this and does not teach it. It was a free and simple act, so the Church forgave him.
St Simon was an austere ascetic. This appeared from his conversation with the Pope Abraham, when he asked him about his life, and he was certain that he was a wondrous man of prayer. He used to serve the elderly and the sick and deliver water to them every day. He used to distribute bread and food, daily for the needy in the area. St Simon was very humble and had a very strong faith.
Al-Muizz Li-Deenillah was a man who loved literature councils and religious discussions. And there was a fanatical Jewish man who converted to Islam in order to obtain his position, and his name was Yaqoub bin Kilis. And he hated Christians, especially Qzaman ibn Mina, known as Abu al-Yaman.
One day, the caliph sent the patriarch to set a date for the Jews to reason before him. So Anba Sawiris ibn al-Muqaffa, bishop of Ashmunin accompanied him. So the bishop began accusing the Jews of ignorance. The Jew blamed the Jew for his censure of the verse that says,
Isaiah 1:3
The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.
Relic of St Simon the Tanner
As a result of that, bin Kilis was very annoyed, and he and his companion Moses searched the Bible for any verse that would give him consideration. He found,
Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
So he went up to the caliph and asked him to make the Christians prove the validity of this verse. So the caliph liked the idea, especially since he thought about removing the mountain perched East of the new city (Cairo), but if the Christians were unable to implement these words, then this is evidence of the invalidity of their religion, and then he will get rid of the Christians.
The caliph sent to the Pope and gave him the choice to either fulfil this commandment, leave the country, or die. So the Pope asked the caliph for three days, and called for a fasting and praying to all the people. On the third day, the Virgin Mary appeared to the Pope and told him to come out, and he will see a man carrying a jar who will complete the miracle on his hands.
Indeed, he went out and met St Simon, and talked with him about his life and spirituality, the reason for losing his eye, and more. So the saint told the Pope to pray with the people “Lord have mercy” (”Kyrie eleison”) 400 times and to pray the liturgy’s prayer while carrying the Bible, crosses, and candles. He will stand with them behind the Pope as one of the people. Then the Pope should kneel down with the priests, and to make the sign of the Holy Cross on the mountain then he will see the glory of God.
The Pope raised his hand and drew the sign of the Holy Cross, as a great earthquake occurred, the mountain was thrusting up and down, and the sun could be seen from under it. After the miracle was performed in the presence of the caliph, the Pope turned left and right looking for St Simon the Tanner, but he had disappeared and no one could find him (a sign of the saint's deep humility).
The relics of St Simon were discovered in 1991 in St Mary's Coptic Orthodox church in Old Cairo (known as the Hanging Church).
