Menas of Egypt | |
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Born | 285 Nikiou, Egypt, Roman Empire |
Died | c. 309 Cotyaeum, Anatolia, Roman Empire (modern-day Turkey) |
Venerated in | Oriental Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church |
Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
Major shrine | Monastery of Saint Mina Church of Saint Menas (Cairo) |
Feast |
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Attributes | Christian Martyrdom, man with his hands cut off and his eyes torn out; man with two camels; young knight with a halberd, an anachronistic depiction of his time in the Roman army |
Patronage | Heraklion |
Controversy | None |
Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; Greek: Άγιος Μηνάς, Coptic: Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲏⲛⲁ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers. Menas was a Coptic soldier in the Roman army martyred because he refused to recant his Christian faith. The common date of his commemoration is November 11, which occurs 13 days later (November 24) on the Julian calendar.
His feast day is celebrated every year on 15 Hathor in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, which corresponds to November 24 on the Gregorian Calendar. In Eastern Orthodox churches that follow the old style or Julian calendar, it is likewise celebrated on November 24. In the Eastern Orthodox churches that follow the new style or Revised Julian calendar, as well as in the Catholic Church, it is celebrated on November 11.
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