Great Martyr Menas (+304)

The holy Great Martyr Menas was an Egyptian. In the reign of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284–305) he served as a soldier in the city of Cotyaeum. When the co-rulers began their cruel persecution of the Christians, the saint did not wish to serve under the tormentors; he left the service, went off into the mountains and gave himself to the labour of fasting and prayer. Once, during a pagan festival, Menas came down again to Cotyaeum and, before the inhabitants of the city who had gathered to watch the festive shows, preached the faith of Christ the Saviour.

The Lord’s chosen one was seized and brought before the court of the governor Pyrrhus. Before the pagan judge he boldly declared: I have come here to expose you all in your lawlessness. The tormentor could not persuade the saint to offer sacrifice to the false gods, after which he was cruelly tortured and at last run through with the sword (+304). The godless ruler ordered the martyr’s holy remains to be burned. When the fire had burned down, the Christians gathered the relics of Christ’s valiant soldier that had remained unharmed. After the persecution of the Orthodox came to an end, this holy treasure was laid in a church built at the place of the Great Martyr Menas’s martyrdom.