Martha, mother of Simeon the Younger

Venerable Martha was the mother of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger, from Antioch, and reposed in 551 (one source places her in the sixth century). The Orthodox Church commemorates her on 4 July, and the Roman Catholic Church on 5 July.

When her parents betrothed her to a young man, she seriously considered leaving home and withdrawing from the world. But John the Baptist is said to have appeared to her and advised her to do as her parents had arranged and to marry the man to whom they had betrothed her. Her husband, John, soon died, and Martha gave all her strength to the upbringing of her son. From this marriage Simeon Stylites was born. For her son she was an example of high Christian worth: she often went to the houses of the Lord, listened attentively and reverently to the services and often received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. It is said that she rose at midnight for prayer every night. She regularly helped those in need, visited the poor and orphans, cared for the sick, fed and clothed the needy, buried the dead and, for those preparing to receive holy Baptism, prepared garments with her own hands.

In the year before her death, she is said to have seen a number of angels with candles in their hands and to have learned from them the time of her coming death. The vision prompted her to even greater dedication to prayer and good works. She died peacefully in 551 and was buried near her son, on the Wondrous Mountain, at the place of Saint Simeon's labours. Since her death, it is said, there have been many appearances of her to various people, generally to heal the sick and offer instruction. The most noted was to an abbot of the monastery founded by her son. The abbot placed a votive candle on her grave with the instruction that the light never be allowed to be extinguished. Martha appeared to him saying that when the abbot burned a light on her grave, he was asking her to pray to the Lord for him.