Simon of Trent
Also known as Simeon
Feast day: March 24
Born in Trent, Italy, in 1472;
Died 1475.
According to reports of the time, Simon was a 2-1/2-year-old Christian boy living in Trent, Italy. The story was told that the Jews met in the synagogue on Tuesday of Holy Week to decide how to celebrate Passover that year, which fell on Holy Thursday. Reportedly, they decided to sacrifice a Christian child on Good Friday out of hatred for Christ. A Jewish doctor cajoled young Simon from his home while his parents were attending the Tenebrae service on Wednesday evening. The story continues that he was murdered at midnight on Holy Thursday. The description of his crucifixion is horrid. After his death his body was supposedly hidden in various places to prevent his parents from finding it and finally thrown into the river.
Under intensive and terrible torture, those arrested for the crime admitted to it, were executed after further torture, and burnt. The synagogue was destroyed and a chapel erected on the spot where the child was thought to have been martyred. The child's relics now rest in a stately tomb in Saint Peter's Church in Trent. Though the murder was blamed on the Jews of Trent, there never has been any proof that such a crime was committed for ritualistic purposes. The account of Tiberinus, the physician who inspected the child's body, and the juridical acts can be found in Surius and the Bollandists, with Henschenius's notes on this day.
The trial was reviewed in Rome by Sixtus IV in 1478 but he did not authorize the cultus of Saint Simon. This was done by Sixtus V in 1588, largely on account of miracles worked at his shrine.
While miracles were later reported at the child's tomb, this is not one of the more stellar events in the history of the Church as evidenced by the removal of his name from the Roman Martyrology in 1965 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, which forbade all future veneration. The cause of the child's death is considered quite uncertain.
Now, you may ask why his feast is celebrated liturgically if it is forbidden. I don't know but I'll venture a guess. There are probably some churches which had been dedicated to his patronage and celebrate their patronal feast day. It is indeed possible that Simon is numbered among the saints in heaven, as evidenced by the miracles, but not for being a martyr, which is the primary reason the cultus was banned
In art, Saint Simon is a child crucified, tortured, or mocked by Jews. At times he may be shown strangled with a cloth around his neck, holding a banner, nails, and pincers; or with a palm sign of a martyr and long bodkin
Also known as Simeon
Feast day: March 24
Born in Trent, Italy, in 1472;
Died 1475.
According to reports of the time, Simon was a 2-1/2-year-old Christian boy living in Trent, Italy. The story was told that the Jews met in the synagogue on Tuesday of Holy Week to decide how to celebrate Passover that year, which fell on Holy Thursday. Reportedly, they decided to sacrifice a Christian child on Good Friday out of hatred for Christ. A Jewish doctor cajoled young Simon from his home while his parents were attending the Tenebrae service on Wednesday evening. The story continues that he was murdered at midnight on Holy Thursday. The description of his crucifixion is horrid. After his death his body was supposedly hidden in various places to prevent his parents from finding it and finally thrown into the river.
Under intensive and terrible torture, those arrested for the crime admitted to it, were executed after further torture, and burnt. The synagogue was destroyed and a chapel erected on the spot where the child was thought to have been martyred. The child's relics now rest in a stately tomb in Saint Peter's Church in Trent. Though the murder was blamed on the Jews of Trent, there never has been any proof that such a crime was committed for ritualistic purposes. The account of Tiberinus, the physician who inspected the child's body, and the juridical acts can be found in Surius and the Bollandists, with Henschenius's notes on this day.
The trial was reviewed in Rome by Sixtus IV in 1478 but he did not authorize the cultus of Saint Simon. This was done by Sixtus V in 1588, largely on account of miracles worked at his shrine.
While miracles were later reported at the child's tomb, this is not one of the more stellar events in the history of the Church as evidenced by the removal of his name from the Roman Martyrology in 1965 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, which forbade all future veneration. The cause of the child's death is considered quite uncertain.
Now, you may ask why his feast is celebrated liturgically if it is forbidden. I don't know but I'll venture a guess. There are probably some churches which had been dedicated to his patronage and celebrate their patronal feast day. It is indeed possible that Simon is numbered among the saints in heaven, as evidenced by the miracles, but not for being a martyr, which is the primary reason the cultus was bannedIn art, Saint Simon is a child crucified, tortured, or mocked by Jews. At times he may be shown strangled with a cloth around his neck, holding a banner, nails, and pincers; or with a palm sign of a martyr and long bodkin
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