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E07447: The late 4th to 6th century collection of Miracles of *Menas (soldier martyr of Egypt, S00073), ascribed to Timothy of Alexandria, recounts the story of the miraculous rescue from a crocodile of man who was travelling to the shrine as a pilgrim. Written in Greek in Alexandria.

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posted on 2019-03-10, 00:00 authored by erizos
Timothy of Alexandria, Miracles of Menas (CPG 2527, BHG 1256-1269)

Miracle 7. The three brothers (BHG 1263)

Summary:

Three brothers from Alexandria decide to visit the shrine and offer piglets to the saint. During their journey, they stop by the lake and take the piglets to drink water. One of the piglets is grabbed by a crocodile, and, while attempting to rescue it, its owner is grabbed by the beast and drawn into the water. The man calls upon the martyr Menas for help, who appears on horseback in the middle of the lake and rescues him. The martyr instantly heals the victim's injured belly, causes him to fall into a deep sleep, and transfers him to his shrine. The man wakes up by the saint’s sarcophagus, and is soon found by the clergy who mistake him for a thief. He is arrested by the angry crowd, but he recounts his story and the people are astonished at the miracle. In the meantime, the saint visits his brothers who weep by the lake for his death. Appearing on horseback, he encourages them to go to the shrine where they will find their brother, and disappears before their eyes. Encouraged by the apparition, they go the shrine and join their brother.

Text: Pomialovskii 1900.
Summary: E. Rizos.

History

Evidence ID

E07447

Saint Name

Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena : S00073

Saint Name in Source

Μηνᾶς

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

380

Evidence not after

700

Activity not before

380

Activity not after

700

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Alexandria Abu Mina

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Alexandria Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis Abu Mina Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Miracles

Miracle after death Healing diseases and disabilities Miraculous protection - of people and their property Apparition, vision, dream, revelation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Animals

Source

The collection is preserved, not always intact, in 69 manuscripts, on which see: https://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/9359/

Discussion

For the context of this story, see E07440.

Bibliography

Text: Pomialovskii, I., Житие преподобного Паисия Великого и Тимофея патриарха Александрийского повествование о чудесах св. великомученика Мины (St Petersburg, 1900), 61-89. Further reading: Delehaye, H., "Les recueils antiques de miracles des saints," Analecta Bollandiana 43 (1925), 5-85, 305-325. Efthymiadis, S., "Collections of Miracles (Fifth-Fifteenth Centuries)," in: S. Efthymiadis (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography II: Genres and Contexts (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), 106.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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