Menas
The holy Menas , Greek. Μηνάς, († 295 or 296 or 309) was probably in the 3rd century. Chr. In Egypt was born and executed.
background
According to an ecclesiastical tradition, he was an Egyptian soldier who later lived as a hermit in Phrygia and was interrogated, tortured and executed in the course of the persecution of Christians by Diocletian after his public confession of Christianity . His relics are said to have been brought to Egypt and buried “where the camels stop”. According to another legend, he is said to have died a martyr's death in 309 AD.
He is especially venerated as a saint in the Coptic Church . The city of Abu Mena , which was built around his grave, which is around 40 km southwest of Alexandria, in the 5th and 6th centuries, was an important place of pilgrimage until the 10th century. Since 1961 excavations have been carried out there by the German Archaeological Institute. Abu Mena has been on the UNESCO Red List since 2001 .
In the Catholic Church , Menas is venerated as the patron saint of merchants for the recovery of lost objects and in severe need. His festival is November 11th .
iconography
Menas is depicted as a soldier on horseback, as a dragon slayer, together with camels or with one hand over an open flame.
Patronage
- Koblenz-Stolzenfels : St. Menas parish church , the only church patronage north of the Alps.
- Monastery of Saint Minas of Kes , Armenia
- Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Heraklion , Crete
- St. Menas (Istanbul)
literature
- Josef Engemann : Menas of Egypt . In: Lexicon of saints and veneration of saints . Lexicon for theology and the church compact. tape 2 , Person Part I - Q. Verlag Herder , Freiburg im Breisgau 2003, ISBN 3-451-28192-9 , Sp. 1143 f .
- Wilhelm Kohl: Menas. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1247-1249.
- J. Sauer : St. Menas of Egypt . In: Michael Buchberger (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . Second, revised edition of the ecclesiastical palm dictionary. Seventh volume (Mauritania to Patrology). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1935, Sp. 77-80 .
- Vera Schauber, Hanns Michael Schindler: saints and namesake in the course of the year . Pattloch, Augsburg 1992, ISBN 3-629-00068-1 , p. 582 f .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Menas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Μηνάς (Greek) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Christian martyr and saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3rd century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Egypt |
| DATE OF DEATH | 295 or 296 or 309 |