Their story
Simeon the Old lived alone in a cave, eating vegetables. Theodoret (5th-century bishop and church historian) heard from an eyewitness that when lost travellers asked the way to a fort, Simeon called two lions from the desert to guide them.
When many disciples gathered round him, he moved to Mount Amanus near Antioch and built a monastery. Later, wishing to end his days on Sinai, he set out across the desert. There he met an old hermit dressed in palm leaves who had vowed never to leave his companion; when the companion died on the way, he stayed by the grave, fed each day by a lion bringing dates. Simeon went on and founded two monasteries on Sinai, one at the summit and one at the foot.
The two hands Simeon saw raised from a cave mouth were drawn in when he approached, and he feared a trick of the devil before the hermit came out. They sang the morning office together before Simeon went on.



