Symeon and the Poor

On his way out of the churchyard and into the market, Symeon overturns the tables of the pastry chefs, a deed which recalls Jesus’ activities in the temple. The casting out of those buying and selling and the overturning of the tables of the money changers were interpreted by some allegorizing biblical commentators, Origen among them, to refer not merely to trade in the temple but to Christians who, in Origen’s words, were “inclined to merchandize,” those whose business activities were considered unworthy of the Kingdom of God.^[24] Leontius uses Symeon’s overturning of tables full of pastry, slapstick though it is, to introduce his concerns about the place of commerce and the “love of money” in the Christian community.

Leontius sets much of Symeon’s activity in the marketplace and in other venues where commercial activity takes place. Demons reside in Emesa’s stores (pp. 147, 153–54) and in its market (p. 157); and these are among the demons which Leontius’s Symeon seeks to drive out. Once in the market, Symeon is offered a job by the owner of a phouska-stand. Leontius writes, “When they set him up one day, Symeon began to give everything away to people and to eat, himself, insatiably” (p. 146). In fact, Symeon gives all the food away to the poor and to other monks, so that at the end of the day, the food is gone and the cash box is empty. The phouska-seller and his wife, who are (not incidently) Monophysite heretics, are furious; they beat Symeon and pull his beard. Symeon’s behavior is both comic—the deeds of a madman—and saintly, since he feeds the hungry, donating to the poor food which the phouska-seller intends to sell at a profit to those who are able to pay.

As we saw above, on two other occasions, Symeon performs miraculous feedings, going far beyond Jesus’ wine, loaves, and fishes (Mk 6:32– 44 and parallels, Jn 2:1–11), adding jams, meatballs, and cakes for dessert (pp. 159, 163–64). He provides five former circus fans with a miraculously replenishing supply of bread (p. 164). In the world of Late Antiquity feeding the poor and hungry was a miracle in itself, a meritorious act of saintly compassion.

In Symeon’s second job, he is employed carrying buckets of hot water in a tavern. But, as Leontius narrates,

The tavern keeper was heartless, and he often gave Symeon no food at all, although he had great business, thanks to the Fool. For when the townspeople were ready for a diversion, they said to each other, “Let’s go have a drink where the Fool is.” (p. 147)

Symeon perceives that the Devil has come to reside in the heartless tavern keeper’s shop and proceeds to smash all the jars of wine until the Devil is rooted out, at which point the tavern keeper is reformed, literally “edified” (οἰκοδομήθη). The tavern keeper’s heartlessness is exemplified by the fact that he does not feed the poor monk; presumably the tavern keeper’s edification involves learning to use his food and his profits to assist the poor.

Leontius is not opposed to commercial activity. Throughout the text, either through his folly or his miracles, Symeon brings prosperity to the citizens of Emesa. The tavern keeper’s sales increase thanks to Symeon’s presence (p. 147). Later Symeon advises a mule driver to open a tavern, which Symeon presages will turn a profit. Leontius says, “And when [the mule driver] opened it, God blessed him” (p. 165), that is, with good business. Symeon befriends the wealthy citizens of Emesa, whom he also reforms (pp. 151, 162–62). Leontius’s point, however, is that those who benefit from commerce must support the poor.

Leontius’s concern for the poor is made most explicit through Symeon’s relationship with John, the deacon of the church in Emesa, the only person in Emesa with whom Symeon does not play the fool (cf. p. 160). At one point, Symeon saves John from execution when he has been framed for a murder and falsely convicted (pp. 159–60). Symeon explains to John the reason for his misfortune:

The trial came to pass because yesterday two beggars came to you, and although you were quite able to give to them, you turned them away. The things which you give, are they yours, brother? Or do you not believe in Him who said that you will receive a hundredfold in this age and eternal life in the age to come? If you believe, give. And if you don’t give, it will be manifest that you don’t believe in the Lord. (p. 160)

Symeon expresses a similar message in the sermon he preaches to John shortly before his death.

I beg you, never disregard a single soul, especially when it happens to be a monk or a beggar. For Your Charity knows that His place is among the beggars, especially among the blind, people made as pure as the sun through their patience and distress. . . . [S]how love of your neighbor through almsgiving. For this virtue, above all, will help us on [the Day of Judgment]. (pp. 166–67)

Here Symeon drops his persona of folly and obscurity and speaks plainly. Here too, we must imagine, Leontius momentarily abandons his role as a storyteller and speaks directly to his audience, an audience which must have had the means to donate to the poor. Here Leontius addresses the same concern he had addressed earlier and in more explicit detail in the Life of John the Almsgiver: the role of the poor in the salvation of the wealthy.

For Leontius, almsgiving, above all, will help on the Day of Judgment. While such an act does not overturn the social structure implied by the market, it does counteract some of its imbalances. At the same time, it allows those who benefit from the economic system to contribute to their own salvation. Complete detachment from the workings of the market, by leaving the city completely and retiring to the desert, was not an option for the urban laity. So Leontius instructs his congregants that concern for the poor is a crucial component in the Christian’s effort to meet the challenge of living the moral life in an urban setting.