This miraculous deliverance from the pit apparently corresponds to the decision of St. Simeon to finally leave the world and become a monk. As is known from the Vita, he entered the Studite monastery as a novice at the age of about twenty-seven. Ave. Simeon recalls this change in his life in the following terms: "You, my God... He had mercy on me... from my father and brothers, relatives and friends, from the land of my birth, from my father's house, as from dark Egypt, as from the depths of hell... Thou hast separated me, O Gracious One, and having received me, hast led me, holding me with Thy dreadful hand, to him whom Thou didst deign to make my father on earth, and cast me at his feet and embrace. And he brought me to Thy Father, O my Christ, and to Thee through the Spirit, O Trinity my God, weeping like the prodigal son and falling down in the Word."28 In the Studite monastery, St. Simeon found his old spiritual father, Simeon the Pious, and immediately became his faithful disciple, showing great zeal in obedience and in the ascetic life in general. However, in this coenobitic monastery, where great importance was attached to order, uniformity and the sole authority of the abbot, such a special attachment to the spiritual father soon aroused displeasure among the monks. The abbot summoned Fr. Simeon several times and demanded that he conform more to the rules of communal life and renounce the guidance of his spiritual father. Ave. Simeon, however, did not want to do this and was expelled from the monastery. It is not difficult to understand what caused this refusal: St. Simeon was convinced that God Himself had given him a spiritual father, to whom he owed everything. He again entered as a novice in the neighboring small monastery of St. Mamas, called Xirokerki, but he continued, however, to be under the spiritual guidance of Simeon the Pious, who remained in the Studite monastery. In his new monastery, St. Simeon was soon tonsured a monk and ordained a priest, and then, after a three-year stay in the monastery, at the age of about thirty-one, he was chosen by the monks of St. Mamas as abbot with the approval of Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoberges.29 This happened around the year 980. By this time, he was already beginning to become a "celebrity" in Constantinople, known for his holiness and wisdom, many revered and loved him, but others criticized and attacked him.

Such, briefly, are the external facts, as they are seen from the Life written by Nicetas Stifatus. The writings of St. Simeon himself reveal to us the inner side of these events. We learn from them that in contrast to the ease of the first steps in the spiritual life, which quickly led the young Simeon to the first vision of the Divine light, he was now forced to patiently walk a long, difficult and painful path of spiritual healing. Thus, only at the cost of great ascetic efforts was it given to him to see a ray of Divine light, but more dimly than the first time.30 In another place, St. Simeon, describing his inner path in vivid images, emphasizes the decisive role of his spiritual father, Simeon the Reverent, in this process of liberation: "And so, at Thy command, I followed, without turning back, the man whom Thou hast pointed out to me, O All-Holy Master, and he led me with great difficulty to springs and springs, blind and drawn behind by the hand of faith which Thou hast given me, and is compelled to follow him. And where he, like a seer, skilfully lifted his feet and passed without difficulty through all the stones, pits, and snares, I stumbled upon them all and fell into them, and from this I endured much suffering, labor, and sorrow. He also washed and bathed in every spring whenever he wanted, and I, not seeing, passed by most of them. If he hadn't held my hand and set me near the spring, and directed my hands of mind, I would never have been able to find the water source where it was. Often he himself pointed out to me the springs and left me to wash, but together with the clean water I grabbed with my palms the clay and mud that lay near the spring, and polluted my face with them. Often, too, when I felt the source of water to find it, I would dump earth into it and mix the mud. And, not seeing at all, I thought that I was washing cleanly, when in fact I stained my face in mud, as if in water."31

Internal difficulties are doubled by the opposition of people (Studite monks, as can be assumed) and by their lack of understanding of his spiritual path. "Why do you labor in vain," they said to him, "acting foolishly, following this mocker and deceiver, vainly and uselessly waiting to see? Yes, in our time it is impossible.. Why don't you instead go to merciful people who ask you to rest and nourish you and take good care of you? After all, it is impossible to get rid of this spiritual leprosy32.... Where did this mocker, a modern miracle worker, who promises you things that are impossible for all people of this generation?.. And you yourself, without us, do you not think about this in yourself and do you not hold the same opinion?" 33 Nothing, however, could turn St. Simeon away from the path he had chosen. Further, in the chapter on the vision of light, we point out a beautiful page from the Second Thanksgiving, where St. Simeon, with great lyricism, developing his image of the source, describes the visions, blinding and dark, light and mysterious, which he had at that time, of the Face of the Lord.34 It is very important to note the insistence with which Fr. Simeon never ceases to emphasize that, despite his many mystical illuminations, he had not yet come to know God and did not clearly and consciously understand Who was the One who appeared to him. And so, in spite of all his visions, he was deeply dissatisfied. Here we touch upon one profound feature in the spirituality of St. Simeon. It is often said, greatly simplifying things, that the mysticism of the Greek Fathers is the mysticism of light, and that the vision of light is the highest mystical phenomenon in Byzantine spirituality. In relation to St. Simeon, in any case, such an opinion can be accepted only with a certain restriction. For him, it is not the vision of light in itself, important as it is, that forms the central moment and summit of the mystical life, but the personal encounter with Christ appearing in the light and communion with Him. It is only from the moment Christ begins to speak to us in our hearts through His Holy Spirit that we gain a personal knowledge of Him. A mere vision of light does not produce it, but it can cause intense longing and mystical dissatisfaction.35 Only after many visions of light and alternating phenomena and distances does the decisive moment come when Christ begins to speak. "For the first time," says St. Simeon, "Thou didst vouchsafe me, a dissolute one, to hear Thy voice. And Thou hast so softly addressed me, amazed and amazed, and trembling, and in Thyself as if pondering and saying: "What can this glory and greatness of this brightness mean? In what way and from whence have I been vouchsafed such blessings?" "I am," You said, "God who became man for you. And since you have sought Me with all your heart, you will henceforth be My brother, My co-heir and My friend."36 And St. Simeon tells how this mystical union with Christ later became for him an enduring state.37

For St. Simeon, it was absolutely impossible to keep this great revelation secret. Out of love for his neighbors, in a burning desire to make all partakers of the same grace, he felt obliged to reveal his spiritual experience to others and to call them to follow his spiritual path. He was firmly convinced that Christ would bestow the fullness of His grace on anyone who would seek it with all his heart. "How, indeed," he asks, "can we remain silent about such a wealth of His blessings, or ungratefully, like unremembered and bad servants, bury the talent given to us?" 38 He explains his thought using the following beautiful image: "As a brotherly beggar (?????? ??????????), who has begged alms from a Christ-loving and merciful man and received a few coins from him, flees from him in joy to his fellow-poor people and informs them of this, saying to them in secret, 'Flee with diligence and you also to receive,' and at the same time he points to them with his finger and points out to them a man, who gave him a coin. And if they do not believe him, he shows it to them in the palm of his hand, drawing a coin on it, so that they would believe and show diligence, and quickly overtake that merciful man. So also I, humble, poor and naked from all good, and a servant of the holiness of all of you, who have experienced in practice the love of mankind and the compassion of God... and he who has received grace, unworthy of all grace, I cannot bear to hide it alone in the bosom of my soul, but I speak to all of you, my brothers and fathers, about the gifts of God, and I make it clear to you, as far as it is in my power, what is the talent that was given to me, and by means of my words I expose it as in the palm of my hand. And I say this not in a nook and cranny, but I shout in a loud voice: "Run, brothers, run." And not only do I shout, but I also point to the Lord who is giving it, putting forward my word instead of my finger39... That is why I do not tolerate not to speak of those miracles of God which I have seen and which I have learned in practice and experience, but I testify of them to all other people as before God."

In another place, bearing witness to this, St. Simeon returns to the Gospel image of the hidden treasure: "When the treasure hidden in the Divine Scriptures was pointed out to me by a holy man in a certain place, I did not hesitate to arise and seek it, and to see it... but abandoning all other worldly work and activity... I didn't stop digging day and night... and go deeper until the treasure begins to shine on the surface along with the earth. Having labored in this way for a long time, digging up the earth and throwing it aside, I saw all the treasure lying somewhere below, stretched out, as I think, above the whole earth, unmixed with it and clean from all dirt. And when I see it, I always cry out and thus call out to those who do not believe and do not want to work and dig: "Come, learn that not only in the future, but already now, lies before our eyes and hands, and feet an unspeakable treasure, which surpasses all principle and power. Come and make sure that this treasure is the light of the world."

Here we come to one of the most important moments in the entire mystical development of St. Simeon. He begins to feel with certainty that it is not he who is crying out, but Christ Himself, who is the treasure, who calls people through him. "And I am not of myself," he continues, "I say this, but the treasure itself has said and is saying: 'I am the resurrection and the life, I am the mustard seed that is hidden deep in the earth, I am the pearls bought by the faithful... I am the luminous source of the immortal stream and river, in which those who love Me wash themselves with their hands and are cleansed of all impurity in body and soul, and all shine like a lamp or like a ray of sunshine."

Such, in a brief depiction, is the mystical path of St. Simeon according to his writings. It begins with the gift of God, a vision of the Divine light, which suddenly shone upon him when he was still a youth, inexperienced in the spiritual life. Long years of paralyzed and distracted life in the world followed, from where he was "pulled out by the hair" by Christ Himself. Then began a long period of ascetic labors in the monastery under the guidance of the spiritual father Simeon the Pious: renunciation of his will, the search for humility, and especially ardent unceasing prayer for the restoration of his spiritual sight. Further, through inner purification and, as a consequence, a new mystical illumination by seeing light, St. Simeon at a new stage reaches the summit of everything: a personal, close, and united encounter with Christ, and Christ, conversing with him with the Holy Spirit in his heart, makes his whole being his light. After this revelation, it remains only to note its consequences: the impossibility of hiding the treasure that is Christ Himself, the need to proclaim it to others, to be that "brotherly beggar" who receives alms in order to point to its source. This striking image of the "brotherly beggar" who received from Christ the gold of grace, who received Christ Himself in his heart and calls everyone to flee and seek the only Merciful, gives a better idea of the holy and attractive personality of St. Symeon the New Theologian, as well as of his spiritual path and teaching. And, in order to make use of St. Simeon's own images, his writings are indeed those open "palms" on which he shows to all those who doubt the possibility of personal communion with Christ in this life, the golden coins of his spiritual insights. Or, as he himself calls in his Hymns: "Yes, my brethren, run to Him by actions, yes, friends, arise, yes, do not lag behind, yes, do not speak against us, deceiving yourselves. Do not say that it is impossible to receive the Divine Spirit, do not say that it is possible to be saved without Him, do not say that someone participates in Him without knowing it, do not say that God is invisible to people, do not say that people do not see the Divine light or that this is impossible in the present times! It's never impossible, friends! But it is very possible for those who will, but only for those to whom life has given purification from passions and made the eye of the mind pure."