Apostle and Evangelist
Feast day October 28th

St. Simon may have been born at Cana, in Galilee. Some modern Greeks think that it was at his marriage that our Lord performed his first miracle of turning water into wine.

St. Simon is also called the Cananaean or Canaanite, and the Zealot, to distinguish him from St. Peter.

Simon was named the Zealot for his rigid adherence to both the Jewish and Canaanite law. Once he had been called by the Lord to be an apostle, he gave his heart and his energy to preaching the Gospel.

Legend is that Simon went to Egypt where he preached the Gospel, and then on to Carthage, up into Spain where James had been, and even into Britain. Sailing back through the Mediterranean he returned to Jerusalem where he joined Jude on missionary journeys east to Syria, Mesopotamia and into Persia (which is today Iran).

Saint Simon the Zealot, shares the feast day October 28th with Saint Jude Thaddeus because tradition holds that Simon and Jude were martyred together in Persia.

Historians report that Simon was sawed in half and left to the beasts to devour. However, Eastern tradition says Simon died peacefully at Edessa.

St. Peter's Church on the Vatican at Rome, and the cathedral of Toulouse are said to possess the chief portions of the relics of Saints Simon and Jude.

In our window, Saint Simon is holding the Scriptures because of his missionary work. And you can clearly see that he is also holding a saw which represents the instrument of his death.