The Greek Miracles of *Menas (soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena, S00073), ascribed to Timothy of Alexandria, recounts thirteen stories of prodigies performed on the way to, or at the saint’s shrine south of Alexandria (Lower Egypt), focusing on miracles of justice, such as punishment of crimes and perjury. It mentions several types of vows and donations, and provides information about the organisation of the shrine. Written in Greek in Alexandria, probably in the 5th/6th c. Overview entry.
E07440
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Timothy of Alexandria, Miracles of Menas (CPG 2527, BHG 1256-1269)
Contents (with references, where applicable, to the equivalent miracles in the Coptic collection, E01222):
Prologue (BHG 1256)
After the death of Diocletian, the first Christian emperor Constantine comes to power and ordains that churches be built in honour of the Christian martyrs. Some people from Alexandria seek and find the relics of Menas, and start building a church, in the construction of which the whole province assists.
Miracle 1: The pilgrim (BHG 1257) (E07441) [= Coptic Miracle 2]
Miracle 2. The man who promised to dedicate a plate (BHG 1258) (E07442) [= Coptic Miracle 3]
Miracle 3. The sterile woman (BHG 1259) (E07443) [= Coptic Miracle 4]
Miracle 4. The Jew and the Christian (BHG 1260) (E07444)
Miracle 5. The crippled man and the mute woman (BHG 1261) (E07445)
Miracle 6. The Samaritan woman (BHG 1262) (E07446) [= Coptic Miracle 16]
Miracle 7. The three brothers (BHG 1263) (E07447)
Miracle 8. The rich man and the widow (BHG 1264) (E07448)
Miracle 9. The camel (BHG 1265) (E07449) [= Coptic Miracle 1]
Miracle 10. The rich pagan man (BHG 1266) (E07450)
Miracle 11. The donor of timber (BHG 1267) (E07451)
Miracle 12. The demoniac (BHG 1268) (E07452) [= Coptic Miracle 15]
Miracle 13. The man who stole pigs (BHG 1269) (E07453)
Text: Pomialovskii 1900.
Summary: E. Rizos.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Oath
Vow
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Distribution of alms
Pilgrimage
Construction of cult buildings
Composing and translating saint-related texts
MiraclesMiracle after death
Punishing miracle
Miracles causing conversion
Saint denying or suspending miracles
Specialised miracle-working
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Miraculous protection - of people and their property
Exorcism
Power over life and death
Miracle with animals and plants
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Children
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Jews and Samaritans
Unbaptized Christians
Pagans
Heretics
Soldiers
Slaves/ servants
Crowds
Cult Related ObjectsPrecious material objects
Ex-votos
Source
The collection is preserved, not always intact, in 69 manuscripts, on which see:https://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/9359/
Discussion
This collection was apparently compiled and published by the great shrine of Menas, south-west of Alexandria, and provides some interesting evidence about the character of the shrine and the cult practised at it.In its most complete form, this collection comprises thirteen miracle accounts, but there are reasons to believe that its extant form only represents part of a more extensive work. The fragmentary Coptic Miracles of Menas (E01222) mentions seventeen stories, though preserving the text of only eight; most of these coincide with those of the Greek collection, but two of them do not (Coptic Miracles 14 and 17). The prologue of the Greek collection indicates that the text was a sequel to a martyrdom account of Menas, which ended by recounting the saint’s burial. This pre-Metaphrastic martyrdom has been lost, but it is likely to have recounted the legend as it is known from the Coptic version (E01222).
The precise date of the text cannot be deduced from internal evidence, even though it can be said with confidence that it is late antique and predates the 7th century. In most of the manuscripts it appears under the name of Timothy of Alexandria, which may allude to Patriarch Timothy I (381-384) or one of the later Timothies, Timothy II Aelurus (457-460), Timothy III Salophakiolos (460-475), or Timothy IV (518-536). The Coptic collection ascribes the text to Theophilus of Alexandria (385-412). Whatever the historical basis of these attributions may be, a 5th or 6th century date appears preferable.
Although the type of cult practised at the shrine was probably incubation in pursuit of healing, it does not feature prominently in the collection (it is only mentioned in miracle 12). The majority of the miracles take place outside the shrine, especially in the villages and desert between the shrine and lake Mareotis, a dangerous area which pilgrims had to cross on their way to and from the shrine. In their majority, they can be described as miracles of justice, by which the saint punishes the reckless behaviour of greedy individuals, or intervenes to protect their victims. Menas appears on horseback and rescues people from murder and rape, he punishes greedy worshippers who neglect to fulfil their vows, or who dare to commit perjury at the saint’s tomb. The focus of the miracles on the punishment of crimes and greed is reminiscent of the Miracles of Theodore the Recruit (E04625).
The text is particularly attentive to the donations made to the shrine after each miracle, and provides some information about the structure of the shrine as an institution. The main clerics of the shrine are the archipresbyteros (chief presbyter) and the oikonomos (steward, managing priest), and there is a host of individuals, both male and female, who live permanently at the shrine, offering their services in various ways. In Miracles 9 and 13, we find that the shrine owned camels and pigs, and some of its members served as herdsmen. It appears that these resident servants of the shrine had some kind of monastic status, since, in miracle 12, we read that one such person was ‘tonsured’ when he was dedicated at the shrine.
The text also contains references to the architectural formation of the shrine, such the crypt (katabasis), sarcophagus, and ciborium where the saint’s remains rested.
One of the most interesting features in this collection is the saint’s appearance in his interventions. When Menas appears in these stories (as he often does), he is generally on horseback, followed by a large entourage, and, in most cases, he does not manifest himself in dreams, but in living reality, and his interventions seem to imply a physical presence. It must have been stories like these that triggered a lively theoretical discussion in the 6th century with regard to the nature of visions, and whether the saints’ souls were actively present in them. The problem of visions of saints on horseback is explicitly discussed by Eustratius of Constantinople, but he does not mention the miracles of Menas among his hagiographic sources (E04192).
Bibliography
Text:Pomialovskii, I., Житие преподобного Паисия Великого и Тимофея патриарха Александрийского повествование о чудесах св. великомученика Мины, (Zhitie prepodobnago Paisiia velikago, i Timofeeia patriarkha Aleksandriiskago Povestovanie o chudesakh sv. Velikomuchenika Miny) (St Petersburg, 1900), 61-89.
Further reading:
Delehaye, H., "Les recueils antiques de miracles des saints," Analecta Bollandiana 43 (1925), 5-85, 305-325.
Efthymiadis, S., "Collections of Miracles (Fifth-Fifteenth Centuries)," in: S. Efthymiadis (ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography II: Genres and Contexts (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), 106.
Efthymios Rizos
13/03/2019
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00073 | Menas, soldier and martyr buried at Abu Mena | Μηνᾶς | Certain |
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