St. Mena is one of the most well-known Egyptian saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers

Life and Martyrdom

St. Mena was born in Egypt in 285 A.D., in the city of Niceous (Nakiyos or Nikiu), which lies in the vicinity of Memphis. His parents were real ascetic Christians but did not have any children for a long time. His father’s name was Eudoxius and his mother’s name was Euphemia. On the feast of the Virgin Mary, Euphemia was praying in front of an icon of Saint Mary with tears that God may give her a blessed son. A sound came from the icon saying “Amen”. A few months later, Euphemia gave birth to a boy and named him Mina.

Eudoxius, a ruler of one of the administrative divisions of Egypt, died when Mina was fourteen years old. At the age of fifteen Mina joined the Roman army, and was given a high rank due to his father’s reputation. His appointment was in Algeria. Three years later he left the army longing to devote his whole life to Christ. He headed towards the desert to live a different kind of life.

After spending five years as a hermit, Mina saw in a revelation the angels coronating the martyrs with glamorous crowns, and longed to join those martyrs. While he was thinking about it, he heard a voice saying: “Blessed are you Mina because you have been called for the pious life from your childhood. You shall be granted three immortal crowns; one for your celibacy, another for your asceticism, and a third for your martyrdom”. Mina subsequently hurried to the ruler, declaring his Christian faith. His endless sufferings and the tortures that he went through, have attracted many of the pagans, not only to Christianity, but also to martyrdom.

Relics

The soldiers who executed Mina set his body to fire for three days but the body remained unharmed. Mina’s sister then bribed the soldiers and managed to carry the body away. She embarked on a ship heading to Alexandria, where she placed the saint’s body in a church.

When the time of persecution ended, during the papacy of Pope Athanasius of Alexandria, an angel appeared to the Pope and ordered him to load Mina’s body on a camel and head towards the Western Desert. At a certain spot near a water well at the end of Lake Mariout, not far from Alexandria, the camel stopped and wouldn’t move. The Christians took this a sign from God and buried Mina’s body there.

Berbers of Pentapolis rose against the cities around Alexandria. As the people were getting ready to face the Berbers, the Roman governor decided to secretly take the body of Saint Mina with him to be his deliverer and his strong protector. Through the saint’s blessings, the governor overcame the Berbers and returned victorious. However, he decided not to return the body to its original place and wanted to take it to Alexandria. On the way back, as they passed by Lake Mariout at the same spot where the body was originally buried, the camel carrying the body knelt down and would not move. People moved the body to another camel, but the second camel would not move either. The governor finally realized that this was God’s command. He made a coffin from decay-resistant wood and placed the silver coffin in it.

During the early fifth century, the body’s location was forgotten. Years later, a shepherd was feeding his sheep in that location, and a sick lamb fell on the ground. As it struggled to get on its feet again, its scab was cured. The story spread quickly and the sick who came to this spot recovered from whatever illnesses they had just by laying on the ground. During that time, the daughter of Zeno, the Christian Byzantine emperor, was leprous. His advisers suggested that she should try that place, and she did. At night Saint Mina appeared to the girl and informed her that his body was buried in that place. The following morning, Zeno’s daughter was cured, and she related her vision about the saint to her servants.

Zeno immediately ordered Mina’s body to be dug out, and a cathedral to be built there. A large city was also built there and named after the saint. Sick people from all over the world used to visit that city and were healed through the intercessions of Saint Mina, who became known as the Wonders’ Maker. Today, numerous little clay bottles on which the saint’s name and picture are engraved are found by archeologists in diverse countries around the Mediterranean world, such as Heidelberg in Germany, Milan in Italy, Dalmatia in Croatia, Marseille in France, Dongola in Sudan, and the holy city of Jerusalem. Visitors would buy these bottles, usually containing oil or water for blessing, and take them back to their relatives.

The New Monastery and Cathedral of Saint Mina
As soon as Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria became Pope and Patriarch on Saint Mark’s Throne, he began to put the foundations for a great monastery close to the remains of the old city. Today, the Monastery of Saint Mina is one of the most famous monasteries in Egypt. The relics of Saint Mina, as well as that of Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria lie in this monastery. The cathedral of Saint Mina was destroyed during the Arab invasions of the 8th century.