Saint
Mina
HOME
Martyrdom
of St. Mina the Wonder Worker 
From the Coptic Synaxarium
for Hatour 15…November 24
On this day we commemorate the martyrdom of St.
Mina who was called the blessed faithful. His father Eudoxius
was a native of the City of
St. Mina’s mother Euphemia
had no children. One day she went to church on the festival of Our Lady the
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, at Attrib. She saw the children in the church
wearing their beautiful apparels with their parents. She heaved a sigh and wept
before the icon of St. Mary, entreating her to intercede for her before her
beloved Son in order that He would give her a son. A voice came from the icon
saying "Amen". She rejoiced in what she had heard and realized that
the Lord had heard her prayers.
When she returned to her home and told her
husband, he replied, "May God's will be done". The Lord gave them
this saint and they called him Mina, from the word "Amen" which his
mother heard coming out of the icon. Later on, his parents got another son and
a daughter.
When he grew up, his parents taught him how to
write and they reared him in a Christian manner. When he was eleven years old,
his father departed (died) after a good old age and his mother died three years
later. St. Mina devoted his life to fasting, prayer and a Christian way of
life.
St. Mina was placed in his father's position because
of everyone's love towards him and his father, in spite of that he did not
forsake his worshipping.
When Diocletian had renounced Christianity and
issued orders to worship idols, many believers were martyred for the name of
the Lord Jesus. The Saint resigned his position and went to the desert, where
he stayed and worshipped God with all his heart.
One day he saw the heavens open and the martyrs
crowned with beautiful crowns. He heard a voice saying: "He who toils for
the name of the Lord Jesus shall receive these crowns". He returned to the
city over which he was Governor and confessed the name of the Lord Jesus.
Knowing that he belonged to a noble family, they tried to dissuade him from his
faith and promised him honor and precious gifts. When he did not change his
mind, they threatened him and the Governor ordered him to be severely tortured.
When the Governor failed to turn him away from his faith, he sent the Saint to
his brother so that he might influence him but he also failed. Finally, the
Governor ordered his head to be cut off, his body to be cast into a fire and
his ashes to be scattered in the wind.
The body remained in the fire for three days and
three nights, but it was not damaged. His sister came to the soldiers and paid
a great deal of money in exchange for the Saint’s body. She put it in a sack
and intended to take it to
When the ship arrived at the
When the time of persecution ended, the angel of
the Lord appeared to the honorable Patriarch, Abba Athanasius
the Apostolic. The Lord's command was to place the body of St. Mina on a camel
and to take it out of the city without letting anyone lead it but to follow it
from a distance until it stopped at a place that the Lord had designated.
They walked behind the camel until they arrived
at a place called
After a while, the people of Pentapolis
(the five cities) rose against the cities around
The Governor decided not to return the body of
the Saint to its original place and wanted to take it to
When the Lord wanted to disclose the location of
St. Mina's body, He did it in this manner. There was a shepherd in the desert
who had a lamb with mange. It slipped down into the water of a well near the
place of the Saint's body, then came out of the water and rolled over in the
sand of that place, and instantly the lamb was healed. When the shepherd saw
this miracle, he was amazed. He started to take from the sand, mix it with
water and smear with it every lamb with mange or any other disease, and immediately,
they were healed.
The news of these miracles spread in all the
countries until the Emperor of Constantinople heard of them. He had an only
daughter and she was leprous. Her father sent her to the place where the
Saint's body was and enquired from the shepherd how these miracles were
happening. She took from the sand, moistened it with water, smeared it on her
body and slept the night in that place. In her sleep she saw St. Mina saying to
her: "Arise early and dig in this place and you will find my body".
When she woke up, she was cured. As she began digging she found the body of the
Saint. She sent a word to her father who rejoiced greatly, thanked and
glorified God.
The Emperor then sent men and money and built a
Church in that place and it was consecrated on the fifteenth day of the Coptic
month of Baounah.
When the Roman Emperors Arcadius
and Honorees reigned, they ordered a city to be built there. Multitudes of
people came to that church asking for the intercession of the blessed St. Mina.
The Lord had honored him with many signs and wonders that appeared from his
body. When the Arabs came to
When His Holiness the late Pope Kyrillos VI was ordained Patriarch, he took interest in
building a large monastery in this area of Mariut in
the name of St. Mina. He spent a great deal of money in building it very
elaborate. There are two churches in the monastery, visited by many Coptic
worshippers for blessings and for praying. He also bought one hundred acres of
land and built a fence around it. He ordained a number of monks who had high
degrees of academic and religious education. May the intercession of St. Mina be with us
and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Also from
the Coptic Synaxarium for Paoni 15…June 24: The Consecration of the Church of Mari Mina
On this day is the commemoration of the
appearance of the body of the honorable saint, and great martyr Mari Mina, and
the consecration of his church at Mariut (Mareotis).
Now, the body of this saint was hidden, and the
Lord wished to reveal it. It came to pass that there was a shepherd, who
pastured his sheep near the place where the body of the saint was buried. One
day, one of his sheep, which was sick of a skin disease (mangy), dipped itself
in the water of a pond which was near that place. It then went out of the
water, and rolled itself in the sand of that place, and it was healed
straightway. When the shepherd saw this wonder, he marveled, and took the sand
of that place and mixed it with the water of the pond. He smeared every mangy
sheep, or any that had a deformity, and they were healed immediately.
The report of this shepherd became widespread in
all the regions of the empire, until the emperor of
When Arcadius and Honorius reigned they ordered a city to be built there
which was called Mariut. The masses came to this
church interceding with the blessed Mari Mina. God had honored him by the
miracles and wonders (1) that were manifested from his pure body, until the
Moslems occupied the city and destroyed it.
The biography of this saint is mentioned under
the 15th day of Hatour (see above).
May his intercession be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
_______________
(1) That is why the church calls him the wonder worker.