Venerable Simon Srugi

Venerable Simon Srugi lived a life of utter simplicity and humility. His apostolate was very vast and yet very few knew of it and of those who knew even fewer knew him.

Born on 15^th April 1877, Srugi’s father had come to Nazareth as a trader in saddles. Hence, the name Srugi which means ‘manufacturer of saddles’. At the age of six Srugi had lost both his parents. He was then taken care of by his aunt and sister. He had done his elementary classes and catechism lessons under the Franciscan friars. In 1888, he was put in an orphanage of Fr. Anthony Belloni, who had founded the religious congregation ‘The Holy Family’. In 1891, when this congregation was merged with the Salesian Congregation, Srugi was among those pupils who welcomed the Salesians wholeheartedly. He was named among the Salesian aspirants of the Agricultural School of St. Joseph in Beitgemal.

Srugi has shown evident signs of a vocation and asked to be a Salesian brother. At, Beitgemal he became a teacher, assistant, tailor, porter, miller, shopkeeper, and infirmarian.  By supplying food and other knick-knacks to the local people he did many tasks simultaneously. It is said that the Muslims of the region preferred Srugi to the qualified doctors around. Farmers who came from all over trusted him so much that they’d say, “After Allah, there is Srugi.”

His service had won the praise of everyone. He never distinguished between Bedouin, farmers, and others. Sometimes people coming on camels would show the distances they’d covered to meet the brother who lived all the while in silence and obscurity trying his best not to be in the limelight. The maxim the hardworking brother kept in mind was always, “We shall rest in Heaven!”

Srugi always longed to perfect his holiness. His spiritual writing and diary noting contained many such fervent expressions of a longing g for a holy life, His writings speak of his fidelity to a reflection on the readings of the day, exactness in the practice of the rules of the house, his poverty and his watch over his passions and his senses to keep his body pure and chaste. Besides it also reflected his constancy to put up with sufferings for God’s love.

Ven. Simon Srugi was a man who was deeply rooted in prayer even amidst all the work he did. His life inspired all the local people, even the Muslims and thus showed that there could be harmony between the Christians and Muslims. He dealt with almost a hundred people daily, with goodness and godliness, many of whom were uncouth, rough, ignorant and untidy. That’s why even those whom he helped never knew him. He was a Good Samaritan to both the body and soul.

“The works of a religious, small and simple though they may be, are precious and acceptable to God when done to lease Him.”

Taking Ven. Simon Srugi as an example in the present-day context, we see the need to promote dialogue between people divided by race, creed or caste. I ask what type of Salesians for today? Well, basing myself on the life of Ven. Simon Srugi, we need to be Salesians ready to open out to all types of people irrespective of their dividing factors.