Mamas of Cappadocia

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Saint Mamas (icon, 18th century)
Francesco dei Franceschi - Martyrdom of St. Mamas (15th century)

Mamas of Cappadocia or Mamas of Caesarea (Greek Μάμας , Italian Mamante or Mamete , French Mammès , Spanish Mamés ) is a legendary martyr who is said to have been executed around the year 275 at the time of Emperor Aurelian in Kaisareia in Cappadocia . His feast day is September 2nd in the Orthodox Church and August 17th in the Western Church.

Vita

The history of the life and work of the mother in Greek, also known in Syriac and Latin translations, has come down to us in several versions that differ greatly from one another. According to this, he was a shepherd on Mount Argaios (Erciyes) who was arrested for his belief in Christianity and executed after a trial in the stadium of Kaisareia. A legendary motif is that he is said to have celebrated worship on the mountain with the wild animals. Mamas owes its importance as the patron saint of shepherds, which continues to this day, to these basic motifs of his story.

An early version of the Vita, which has only survived in Latin translation, supplements a youth story according to which Mamas was an orphan and was raised by a bishop named Taumasius in Kaisareia.

Another version of the vita makes him the child of a rich family from Gangra in Paphlagonia who, after the early death of his parents, grows up with a widow named Matrona, at the age of twelve wants to convert his classmates to Christianity and therefore on orders in Aigai in Cilicia of Aurelianus is executed. This “aristocratic” Vita has only survived as the first part of a combined text in which Mamas is transferred to the mountain near Kaisareia by an angel shortly before his execution in Aigiai; it follows the already known story of the life as a shepherd and the execution in Kaisareia.

In the different versions of the Vita, the age of the mother at the time of his execution varies between 12 and 18 years.

In the late Middle Ages, Mamas was especially revered on the island of Cyprus . According to a legend first handed down by Leontios Machairas , he was murdered by the Turks in Alanya . His parents gave his coffin to the sea that swam to Cyprus. Later, Mamas was turned into a Cypriot entirely: he lived on the island as a hermit and rode a lion, a motif that has been documented in isolated cases before. The tomb of the mother in Cyprus is in the monastery of Morfou (currently Güzelyurt).

According to another legend, he was arrested as a hermit for not paying poll tax . When he arrived at the governor's palace - riding a lion and holding a lamb on his lap - he was assured lifelong tax exemption. He is therefore considered the patron saint of tax advisors (as well as tax officials, taxpayers and tax evaders). This story was partly relocated to the time of the Turkish conquest of Cyprus (1571).

relic

Mama's relic was in Kayseri until the 6th century when it was transferred to Istanbul . From there his head came to the cathedral of Langres in France in 1209 .

The city of Morfou (currently Güzelyurt) on Cyprus also claims to be home to Mama's grave.

Langres Cathedral

Adoration

The first references to his veneration can be found with Basil the Great and Gregorios of Nazianzos . 60 churches are dedicated to him in Cyprus and over 30 in Greece - mostly in the flat countryside. Two places in Western Europe bear his name: São Mamede in Portugal and Saint-Mammès in France; several churches are also dedicated to him (including the Langres Cathedral). The only German church with this patronage is located in the Finningen district of Neu-Ulm .

Mamas is considered the patron saint of cattle and shepherds, but also of tax officials.

iconography

Mamas is shown on miniature paintings from the Byzantine period as a young shepherd, on modern icons riding a lion; often he carries a shepherd's staff .

literature

Web links

Commons : Mamas  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church of St. Mammas in Finningen
personal data
SURNAME Mums
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mammas; Μάμας (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian martyr and saint
DATE OF BIRTH at 260
PLACE OF BIRTH Kayseri , Cappadocia, Turkey
DATE OF DEATH at 275
Place of death Kayseri , Cappadocia, Turkey