The Life of *Melania the Younger (aristocratic ascetic in Jerusalem, ob. 439, S01134), by Gerontius, a monk at her monastery, recounts how she stayed at the martyrion of *Phokas (probably either the martyr of Antioch, S00413, or the martyr of Sinope, S00052) at Sidon (Roman province of Phoenice), in 439. Written in Greek or Latin , probably in Jerusalem, c. 450.
E02004
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives of saint
Gerontius, Life of Melania the Younger 58
Melania travels up the coast to Sidon, in order to greet the empress Eudocia who is coming to Jerusalem:
Ὅθεν ὑπήντησεν αὐτῇ ἐν Σιδῶνι, τὰς εὐχαριστίας ἀποτιννύουσα τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης αὐτῆς ἀγάπης ἧς ἐνεδείξατο εἰς αὐτὴν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει. Καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τοῦ ἁγίου Φωκᾶ, ἔνθα λέγεται τὴν οἴκησιν εἶναι τῆς μιστῆς Χαναναίας τῆς ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ εὐαγγελίῳ πρὸς τὸν Κύριον εἰπούσης · 'Ναὶ, Κύριε καὶ γὰρ τὰ κυνάρια ἐσθίει ἁπὸ τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν κυρίων αὐτῶν.'
'She then went to meet Eudocia at Sidon, repaying with gratitude the extreme love the empress had showed to her in Constantinople. She stayed in the martyrion of Saint Phocas, which is said to have been the dwelling of the faithful Canaanite woman who said in the holy Gospel of the Lord, "Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters."' (Matthew 15:27)
The Latin and Greek texts do not differ significantly.
Text: Gorce 1962, p. 242.
Translation: Clark 1984, p. 70.
Cult building - independent (church)
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Monarchs and their family
Source
The Life of Melania the Younger was composed in the middle of the 5th century, shortly after Melania’s death (439 AD). It is extant in Latin and Greek versions. There are some small differences between these texts, but, in relation to the cult of saints, nothing of great significance. Both texts contain 70 chapters. Scholars discuss the question of the Life’s original language. It is currently thought that neither of the preserved versions is original, but that the Greek Life is closer to the archetype.The author of the Life of Melania was Gerontius, a monk and a superior in her monastery on the Mount of Olives after her death. Gerontius presents his protagonist as an extraordinarily generous benefactor of the church, as a perfect (but not excessive) ascetic, and as a humane founder and superior of monasteries, while in no way playing down the high status of his subject and the contacts that this gave her. Although Melania effects a few cures (in chapters 59-61), and is described as being received into heaven at her death, the miraculous plays very little part in the text and there is no account of posthumous miracles at her grave.
Discussion
This happened in 439. It is not at all certain which saint Phokas is referred to here. The most famous was Phokas of Sinope (on the north coast of Asia Minor, S00052), and, as a saint who was known to protect mariners, it was appropriate for him to have a shrine in the port-city of Sidon. But, given the location of Sidon, it is possible that it was Phokas, a martyr of Antioch (S00413), However, it is also always possible that the reference is to an otherwise unrecorded local martyr.Bibliography
Edition, French translations and commentary:Vie de Sainte Mélanie, ed. and trans. D. Gorce, Sources Chrétiennes 90, Paris 1962. (Greek text)
La vie latine de Sainte Mélanie, ed. and trans. P. Laurence, Jerusalem 2002.
English translations:
The Life of Melania the Younger, trans. E. Clark, New York 1984. With commentary.
Lives of Roman Christian Women, trans. C. White, Penguin Classics 2010, pp. 182-230.
Katarzyna Wojtalik
11/11/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00052 | Phokas, martyr of Sinope | Φωκᾶς | Uncertain | S00413 | Phokas, martyr of Antioch | Φωκᾶς | Uncertain | S01134 | Melania the Younger, aristocratic ascetic in Jerusalem, ob. 439 | Certain |
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