Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/876

 SIMON

800

SIMON

"Bibliotheca Casinensis", IV (Rome, 1880), 322-46. The work entitled "De tribua impostoribus " was not written by Simon. A letter of Stephen of Tournai, earUer than 1192, speaks in verj' flattering terms of a Simon, who is probably to be identified with the subject of this article.

Hist. Litter, de la France, XVI, 388-94; Denifle and Chate- LAiN, Chartularim Unirers. Paris, I, 45, 71; Haur^au, Histoire de la philosophie scolastique (Paris, 1880), 58-62; Notices el eilraits des manuscrUs de la Bibl. Sal., XXXI, pt. II, 293-300; Notices et extrails de quelqueti mamiscrits (Paris, 1891), III, 250-59; Ueberweg-Hein'ze, Grundriss der Geschichle der Philosophie (Berlin, 1905), II, 211, 277, etc.; de Wulf, Histoire de la phil- osophie scolastique. . . dans les Pays Bas (Brussels, 1895), 39, etc.; Histoire de la Philosophie en Belgique (Brxissels, 1910), 56-57. J. DE GhELLINCK.

Simon Stock, Saint, b. in the County of Kent, England, about 1165; d. in the Carmehte monastery at Bordeau.x, France, 16 May, 1265. On account of his English birth he is also called Simon Anglus. It is said that when twelve years old he began to live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of an oak, and later to have become an itinerant preacher until he entered the Carmelite Order which had just come to England. According to the same tradition he went as a Carmelite to Rome, and from there to Mt. Carmel, where he spent several years. All that is historicallj' certain is that in 1247 he was elected the si-xth general of the Carmelites, as successor to Alan, at the first chapter held at Aylesford, England. Notwithstanding his great age he showed remarkable energy as general and did much for the benefit of the order, so that he is justly regarded as the most celebrated of its generals. During his occupancy of the office the order became widely spread in south- em and western Europe, especially in England; above all, he was able to found houses in the university cities of that era, as in 1248 at Cambridge, in 1253 at Oxford, in 1260 at Paris and Bologna. This ac- tion was of the greatest importance both for the growi:h of the institution and for the training of its younger members. Simon was also able to gain at least the temporary approbation of Innocent IV, for the altered rule of the order which had been adapted to European conditions. Nevertheless the order was greatly oppressed, and it was still struggling everywhere to secure admission, either to obtain the consent of the secular clergy, or the toleration of the other orders. In these difficulties, as Guilelmus de Sanvico (shortly after 1291) relates, the monks prayed to their patroness the Blessed \'irgin. "And the Virgin f lary revealed to their prior that they were to apply fearlessly to Pope Innocent, for they would receive from him an effective remedy for these dif- ficulties". (Cf. "Speculum Carmel.", I, 101 sqq.; Zimmermann, 325; "Biblioth. Carmelit.", I, 609). The prior followed the counsel of the Virgin, and the order received a Bull or letter of protection from In- nocent IV against these molestations. It is an his- torical fact that Innocent IV issued this papal letter for the Carmelites under date of 13 January, 12.52, at Perugia ("Registr. Innoc. IV", ed. Berger, III, 24, n. 5563).

Later Carmelite writers give more details of such

a vision and revelation. Johannes Grossi wrote his " Viridarium" about 1430, and he relates that the Mother of God aj^pearcd to Simon Stock with the scapular of the order in hor hand. This scapular she gave him with the words: "Hoc erit tibi ct cunctis Carmelitis privilegium, in hoc habitu morions salvabitur" (This siiall be the privilege for you and for all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall be saved). On account of this great priv- ilege many distinguished Englishmen, such as King Edward II, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, and many others of the nobility secretly wore {clajti porlaverunt) the Carmelite scapular under their clothing and died with it on ("Specul. Carmelit.", I, 139; Zimmermann, 340). In Grossi's narrative, however, the scapular of the order must be taken to mean the habit of the Carmehtes and not as the small Carmelite scapular. As was the custom in medieval times among the other orders, the Carmelites gave their habit or at least their scapular to their benefactors and friends of high rank, that these might have a share in the privilege apparently connected with their habit or scapular by the Blessed Virgin. It is possible that the Carmelites themselves at that period wore their scapular at night in a smaller form just as they did at a later date and at the present time: namely, in about the form of the scapular for the present third order. If this is so they could give laymen their scapular in this form. At a later date, probably not until the sixteenth century, instead of the scapular of the order the small scapular was given as token of the scapular brotherhood (cf. Zimmermann, 351 sq.; Wessels, "Analecta Ord. Carmel." (1911), 119 sqq.). To-day the brotherhood regards this as its chief privilege, and one it owes to St. Simon Stock, that anyone who dies wearing the scapular is not eternally lost. In this way the chief privilege and entire history of the little Carmelite scapular is connected with the name of St. Simon Stock. There is no difficulty in granting that Gro.s.si's narrar tive, related above, and the Carmelite tradition are worthy of belief, even though they have not the full value of historical proof (see Scapular). That Simon himself was distinguished by special venera- tion of and love for the Virgin is shown by the anti- phonies "Flos Carmeli" and "Ave Stella Matutina", which he wrote, and which have been adojited in the breviary of the Calccd Carmelites. Besides these antiphonics other works have been incorrecitly at- tributed to him. The first biographical accounts of Simon belong to the year 1430, but these are not entirely reliable. However, he was not at this time publicly venerated as a saint; it was not until 1435 that his feast was put in the choral books of tlic monas- tery at Bordeaux. It was introduced l)ci^<)re 1458 into Ireland and, probably at the same time, into England; by a decree of the General Chapter of 1564 its celebration was commanded for the entire order.

Acta SS., May, III, 653 sq.; Zimmermann. Monument, hist. Carmel., I (I/rihs, 1907), 313-22; Sainte- Marie, L'Ordre de N. n. du Mont-Carmel (Bruges, 1910); see also Carmelite Order, and Scapulab.

JOSEPU HiLGERS.

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