- Holy Martyr Menas (~304)
- This holy Martyr was an Egyptian and a soldier during the reigns
of Diocletian and Maximian. Though he was known for his valor in
combat, he renounced his
soldier's rank when his legion was ordered to seize Christians in north
Africa. Fleeing to the
mountains, he dwelt there for some time in silence and solitude,
devoting his days to prayer. In time, he presented himself at a pagan
festival, denounced the idols and declared himself a
Christian. For this he was handed over to the governor of the city, who
subjected him to horrible tortures and finally had him beheaded. Some
faithful retrieved part of his relics and gave them honorable burial
near Lake Mareotis, about thirty miles from Alexandria. The church
built over his tomb became a place of pilgrimage not only for countless
Egyptians but for Christians all over the world: evidence has been found
of journeys to his shrine from as far away as Ireland.
-
The Synaxarion gives an account of the
Saint's intervention in the Second World War:
"In June 1942, during the North-Africa campaign that was decisive for
the outcome of the
Second World War, the German forces under the command of General Rommel
were on their
way to Alexandria, and happened to make a halt near a place which the
Arabs call El-Alamein
after Saint Menas. An ancient ruined church there was dedicated to the
Saint; and there some
people say he is buried. Here the weaker Allied forces including some
Greeks confronted the
numerically and militarily superior German army, and the result of the
coming battle seemed
certain. During the first night of engagement, Saint Menas appeared in
the midst of the German
camp at the head of a caravan of camels, exactly as he was shown on the
walls of the ruined
church in one of the frescoes depicting his miracles. This astounding
and terrifying apparition so undermined German morale that it
contributed to the brilliant victory of the Allies. The Church of Saint
Menas was restored in thanksgiving and a small monastery was
established there."
- Our Righteous Father Theodore the Studite (826)
- "Saint Theodore the Studite was born in
Constantinople in 759; his pious parents were named Photinus and
Theoctiste. He assumed the
monastic habit in his youth, at the monastery called Sakkoudion, and
became abbot there in 794.
About the year 784 he was ordained deacon, and later presbyter by the
most holy Patriarch
Tarasius. On joining the brotherhood of the Monastery of Studium (which
was named after its
founder Studius, a Roman consul), the Saint received the surname
"Studite." He proved to be a
fervent zealot for the traditions of the Fathers and contested even unto
death for the sake of his reverence for the holy icons. He endured
three exiles because of his pious zeal. During the third one, to which
he was condemned by the Iconoclast autocrat, Leo the Armenian, he
endured courageously being beaten and bound and led from one dark
dungeon to another for seven whole years. Finally he was recalled
from exile by Michael the Stutterer. Receiving thus a small respite
from his labours of long endurance, he reposed in the Lord on November
11, 826, a Sunday, while his disciples, who stood round about him,
chanted the 118th Psalm. Some say that after receiving the immaculate
Mysteries, he himself began chanting this psalm. And on reaching the
verse, "I will never forget Thy statutes, for in them hast Thou
quickened me" (v. 93) he gave up his spirit, having lived for
sixty-seven years. In addition to his other sacred writings, he
composed, with the collaboration of his brother Joseph, almost the whole
of the compunctionate book of the Triodion." (Great Horologion)
-
St Theodore helped to establish the Studion (or Stoudion) Monastery
in Constantinople,
and was its Abbot. Under his guidance the Stoudion Monastery became the
leading center of
Orthodox piety and Byzantine culture of its time. The monks lived a
radically common life: they did not even have their own cells, but slept
in large dormitories.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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