ST. MENA, CALLED THE "WONDER - WORKER".

St. Mena is one of the most popular saints of the Coptic Church, and to this day the site of the great cathedral built in his name in Mareotis, in the desert near the city of Alexandria, is a historical spot visited by many tourists. [(5)]One of the epithets attached to his name is that of "wonder - worker" , even though the many miracles wrought in his name occurred after he died as a martyr. His fame did not remain confined to his homeland, however, but spread far Sc wide - northward to Europe and eastward to town in Asia Minor. Ampullae (or earthenware flasks) have been discovered in which pilgrims visiting his shrine had brought back holy oil or water, in places as far removed from each other as Cologne, (Germany) , and Dongola (Sudan) ; or Marseilles, (France) and Jerusalem. [(6)].

St. Mena was born of Christian parents, and his father was governor of the once thriving province that had Mareotis as its capital. Although he was orphaned at the age of eleven, his mother took great care to bring him up in the fear of the Lord & as a young man, he became noted for the honesty F: integrity of his Christian character. No sooner had he come of age than the people - by common consensus - chose him to be governor in his father's place.

When Emperor Diocletian started his persecutions, Mena renounced his governorate and retired to the desert where he spent his days in prayer & fasting_ One day while he prayed, he saw a vision in which the heavens opened and the martyrs were being crowned. Immediately he left his solitude, went to Alexandria and declared everywhere that he was a Christian. Hearing this, the Roman ruler - who knew of his lineage and had a liking for him - called him and tried first to persuade him to deny his faith, then threatened to kill him if he did not do so.

Neither means availed in making Mena change his public declaration, so orders were given to have him beheaded. And thus he won the crown of martyrdom which his vision had inspired.

Hearing of his death, some of his faithful friends came & removed his body, and took it to be interred in the desert of Mareotis, near his former abode.

For some time, very few people knew where the saint had been buried. Then, one day, a shepherded, who had been feeding his flock in the area, amazing story: one of his sheep, sick with scabies, had scratched itself against the ground and had risen whole. Everywhere he went, the shepherd related the story until some people, hearing it, remembered that this was the spot where St. Mena had been buried. The word spread, and people from all over the country started visiting his holy spot, many seeking to be healed. Numerous miracles started to happen by evoking the saint's name, and drinking water from a spring near his tomb.

Gradually, the need to have a church built in the area honoring the saint's memory was felt by many. It was erected by Abba Theophilus - 23rd Patriarch of the Coptic Church, and enlarged and embellished by several of his successors. Emperor Zeno, whose daughter had been miraculously healed by visiting St. Mena’s shrine, contributed further to the Church and succeeded in transforming it into a magnificent cathedral with roseate colored marble pillars and a mosaic pavement of matchless designs. [(7)].

The cathedral built by the Emperor continued to be an outstanding edifice in Mareotis up to the nineth century when the Abbasid Caliphs [(8)]ordered that some of its pillars be carried to Baghdad to beautify their palaces, and others to Jerusalem to be placed in thd Aqsa Mosque. The cathedral fell into ruins and was not reconstructed except in our own times - by Patriarch Kyrillos VI as has already been mentioned[(9)].

However St. Mena continued to be venerated all through the centuries, since his martyrdom in the 3rd century A. D. To this day many churches bear his name all over Egypt. One of them, built recently in a town called Manhari in the province of Minia in Upper Egypt, has an interesting story. An old man, returning from pilgrimage to the Holy Land, dreamt that Saint Mena appeared to him and showed him a site wherein he desired to have a church built in his name. The next morning the man & his friends went to inspect the site & found to their surprise the ruins of an old church that had borne the saint's name. They glorified God & built a new church in its place. [(10)].

Also in 1948 - following the consecration of another cathedral in this saint's name in a residential area of Alexandria called 'Ram'eh, a group of Coptic scholars held a meeting and decided to found an Association to be called "The Association of St. Mena in Alexandria". Giving lectures, organizing guided tours to Coptic historic sites, arousing interest in historic excavations, and publishing an annual bulletin to record their activities. The Association is still active and its accomplishments have been noteworthy.