Saint Menas of Egypt

SAINT MENAS
GREAT MARTYR AND WONDERWORKER OF EGYPT

The Just Shall Be in Everlasting Remembrance.
—Communion verse.

INTRODUCTION

FROM the 4th to the 13th centuries, the Shrine of St. Menas near Alexandria was one of the major holy places of Christendom, and pilgrims journeyed there from the entire Christian world to venerate the holy Relics of the Saint. The pottery flasks in which were dispensed to the pilgrims the miraculous oil from the lamps above the Saint's Relics as well as water from the holy well at the site, both of which through the prayers of the Saint possessed extraordinary curative powers, have been found not only in Egypt and areas which once composed Byzantium, but in such distant places as Ireland and France. Indeed, the universal popularity of the Saint testifies to the exceptional number of miracles wrought through his intercession. In Byzantium many churches were erected under his heavenly patronage, and in the West churches were dedicated to him as far away as Rome and Cologne.

Although devotion to the Saint seems to have died out entirely among the heterodox Christians of the West, it remains very much alive among Orthodox people, especially the Greeks, the main church of Herakleion on Crete as well as that of Chios both being dedicated to the Saint. Relics of St. Menas are among the many holy relics treasured by the monks at St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai, and among the long-suffering and much-persecuted Greek faithful of Asia Minor (Turkey), where St. Menas spent much of his life and where his martyrdom took place, he is held in especially deep veneration, as he is also by the Greek population of Alexandria. Noted for his healing of various sicknesses and his saving of those possessed by demons, as well as for his powers of protection, especially in time of war and on the sea, his intercession is also greatly valued for the finding of lost objects. Nor is it only among the Orthodox that the Saint continues to be venerated. He remains a saint of major importance among the regrettably Monophysite Coptic Christians of Egypt and Abyssinia, where many ancient churches exist in his honor.

The Byzantine Emperor Arcadios (395-408) built a magnificent church of immense proportions at the Tomb of the Saint. Sheeted with rare marble of various colors, this ediface had 56 columns with richlycarved capitals supporting the roof. The shrine containing the holy Relics was located in the center of the building in a crypt which was entered by descending a marble staircase; above the Body of the Saint burned a number of oil lamps. Around the church a whole community, much like a small city, gradually arose, with guest-houses and innumerable shops to accommodate the constant crowds of pilgrims, as well as barracks for the large contingent of soldiers stationed there to protect the Shrine and the pilgrims from Bedouins and others.

After the Moslem conquest of Egypt, fewer and fewer Christian pilgrims came from Byzantium and the West to venerate the holy Relics of St. Menas. In 836 the church was dismantled by infidels who took the costly marble for their own use; but the holy Body of the Saint was left undisturbed. Soon after this, the church was rebuilt, although on a more modest scale than before, and sometime during the next two centuries certain Egyptian Moslems established a mosque at the site, next to the church, just as was done on Mt. Sinai, Moslem pilgrims as well as Christian coming to pray at the Shrine of the Saint.

In the 11th century, the church and pilgrim city were still flourishing, but sometime during the 13th or 14th centuries, the Shrine and the city of St. Menas were abandoned and soon fell into ruins the victim of earthquakes or of barbarians or of the black plague; no one actually knows. Before long even the ruins, ravaged by the constant and fierce winds of the region, disappeared beneath the sands. And thus they remained hidden for over 500 years, until the area was excavated in 1905, when the ruins were exposed to view.


A 6th-century icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai [Saint Mina with Christ]


The earliest surviving representations of the Saint are those on the clay flasks in which the thaumaturgic oil and water were dispensed to the pilgrims. On these he is always shown with two camels. In more recent times, however, icons of St. Menas generally represent him attired as a warrior, often on horseback, with one hand holding a Cross and the other a sword or a shield. Frequently a sun-image is represented on his shield or on his shoulder armor. Such icons of St. Menas are frequently seen in Orthodox churches, especially in Greece, Asia Minor, and the Holy Land. A large icon of the Saint, which has some offerings attached to it commemorating individual miracles, cannot but impress the pilgrim today in the church at Bethlehem, directly opposite the stairway leading down to the Cave of the Nativity of Christ.

The Feast of St. Menas, the Great Martyr and Wonderworker of Egypt, is celebrated by the Church on November 11 (24), the day of his martyrdom, which occurred in the year 296.


THE MIRACULOUS ICON OF ST. MENAS IN BOSTON


18th century icon from Procopion in Asia Minor. At the bottom are scenes from the Saint's Martyrdom. At the top, the Savior bestows His Blessing on one side, and on the other, an angel bestows the unfading martyric wreath.


THE LIFE OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR MENAS

As derived from the Greek Life by St. Simeon the Translator as well as from Egyptian Sources

ST. MENAS LIVED DURING THE THIRD CENTURY and was a native of Egypt, although most of his life was spent in the Kotyaeion region of Phrygia (the present Turkish Kutahya) where he served, from early manhood, in the Imperial Army, attaining the rank of officer. A devout Orthodox Christian and an exemplary soldier, he was known to many and his name much-praised. Not only was his handsome appearance and strength outstanding, but also his sweetness of disposition, his self-discipline, his patience, and his concern for the afflicted. Having fought bravely in many battles against various marauding barbarians, his record was one of long and outstanding military service.

But one year the Emperor Maximian issued a decree which ordered everyone to worship the false gods and commanded the soldiers serving in the Imperial legions to capture and persecute the Orthodox Christians. No sooner did he hear that ungodly command than the righteous Menas cast off his soldier's belt (at that time a sign of military rank), and went up a mountain that was above Kotyacion and made his abode there in the wilderness where he embraced the life of an ascetic and lived and worked like a peasant. Thus remaining for a long period of time in the wilderness, suffering great privations and toiling much in prayer, fasting, and the keeping of night vigils, the Blessed Menas, with the help of God, purified himself of every passion of soul and body. And when his heart had been strengthened with godly zeal and his soul inflamed with Divine Love, the Grace of God came upon him and he beheld a vision which he understood to be an indication that it was time for him to enter the arena of Martyrdom. Hence, he came down from the mountain and went into the city and into the midst of the unbelievers who were gathered together for a pagan festival.

Standing in the midst and inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Menas, who by that time was some fifty years old and had a countenance worthy of reverence, said with a loud voice: "One alone is True God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As for your gods, they are but demons and senseless wood." All those who heard his voice left off with the dances and games of the idolatrous feast and gathered around him to see who it was, marvelling at the way in which he dared to present himself before such a multitude.

Seized by the idolators, the Saint was beaten by them and then dragged before the Prefect of the city, Pyrrhos, who was sitting upon a high throne in order to watch the spectacle. When he saw the holy Menas, he asked him who he was and inquired as to why he was creating a disturbance. "I am an Egyptian, a servant of Jesus Christ the Ruler of all things, am a soldier by profession, and nearly all my life have served in the Imperial Army," answered the Saint. "But because the emperor has chosen to follow the path of idolatry and to persecute the Orthodox Christians, I have chosen to dwell with lions in the wilderness rather than carry out the impious commands of those who know not God. Now I have come to confess before all that Christ is True God, for He Himself has said: Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father Who is in heaven (St. Matthew 10:32). When the Prefect heard these things he was greatly angered and ordered the Saint imprisoned.

When the morning came the Prefect urged St. Menas to return to the Imperial Military Service, saying that then the Emperor and the gods would forgive him, and even that his former rank would be restored to him and many new honors bestowed on him. But the holy Menas refused, saying: "I am a soldier in the service of the Divine Emperor Christ Who is the Great King of all things, both seen and unseen, on the earth and in the heavens." And the Prefect ordered that he be stretched out on the earth, tied to four posts, and then beaten unmercifully with straps of rawhide. At that time the Saint showed such endurance that it seemed as though another was being tortured; indeed, he appeared to be wholly rejoicing. And all marvelled... Then they tied him, stretched high upon a post, and scraped his body with iron claws until his entrails appeared. When this terrible torture had been carried out, the Prefect mocked the Saint, but the holy Menas said: "O mindless one, do you think that with such childish games you will turn me from my Faith?" Still, Pyrrhos urged: "Leave off this obstinacy, O Menas, and submit to the gods and the great Emperor Maximian." But the Saint answered: "You exhort me to submit to false illusionary gods and to a corruptible earthly king. But I will never deny the Heavenly King and One True God Who gives breath and life to all creation, and Who both gave to and has authority over earthly kings."

Becoming more and more angered, Pyrrhos devised ever more cruel methods of torture. But still the Holy Menas rejoiced, saying: "Today I put off the fleshly tunics of sin and put on the radiant garment of the Kingdom of God. I have Christ as my Helper, Who said that we should not fear those that kill the body but cannot kill the soul" (St. Matthew 10:28). Hearing these words, the Prefect said: "Tell me, O Menas, whence has such knowledge of letters come to you, who as a soldier were accustomed to wars and slaughter, that you are able to answer thus?" And the Saint, being made wise by God, answered: "My God, the True Wisdom of the Father, has made me wise, O Prefect, so that I might confute godlessness. He has said: 'They shall lay hands on you and persecute you, and ye shall be brought before kings and rulers for My Name's sake. It shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your heart, not to meditate beforehand how ye shall answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand' (St. Luke 21:12-15).

Then the Prefect became exceedingly wroth and commanded that four-pronged iron spikes be driven into the ground and that the Saint be dragged naked upon them for a long time. Yet, suffering all these things and much more, the holy Menas ever rejoiced, and Pyrrhos ordered that he be beheaded. When this was announced, many soldiers who had been friends of the Saint approached and coaxed him, saying: "Do not disdain us, O Menas. Remember your friends and your honor. Do not choose death and disdain this most sweet life. Change your mind. It still is not too late." But the holy Martyr said: "Flee from me, enemies of Christ. You should rather advise yourselves, that you might turn yourselves from the delusions of demons." And when they saw that they could not change his mind, the soldiers took him and led him outside the city to behead him, the Saint along the way beseeching certain friends, who were secret Christians, to take his body back to Egypt, the land of his birth.

Reaching the place of execution, Saint Menas lifted up his hands to heaven, saying: "I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Master and God, that Thou hast deemed me worthy to become a partaker of Thy Sufferings and that Thou hast preserved me pure in confessing Thy Name. Receive my soul into Thy Kingdom."

Taking the holy and venerable body of the Saint, the idolators cast it into the fire. But it remained largely unconsumed by the flames, and secret Christians took it, wrapped it in winding sheets and myrrh, and kept it in a hidden place until the persecutions ceased. As for the blessed soul of the holy Menas, it was led by angels to a place of light and of peace, into the Presence of the Living God.

Some time later, the holy Relics of St. Menas were taken back to Egypt, as the Saint wished, by a batallion of soldiers under the command of one Athanasius, and on the voyage to Alexandria from Asia Minor some strange sea beasts with heads like camels and necks like serpents came up out of the sea, circled about the ship, and, stretching forth their necks into the ship, sought to snatch the terrified soldiers and seamen from the deck, one of the beasts even seeking to seize the casket-reliquary containing the holy body of St. Menas. But a holy fire came forth from the body of the Saint into the faces of the sea beasts which fled into the depths, the soldiers marvelling and glorifying God for the great holiness of St. Menas, who had saved them from so great a peril.;

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1. Such sea beasts have apparently survived into modern times. In the memoirs of Simeon Yanovsky, a spiritual son of Fr. Herman of Alaska, there is a mention of an appearance in the vicinity of Unalaska of a similar huge snake-like sea beast whose head resembled that of a horse and whose neck was roughly estimated to be more than three and a half feet in diameter. Yanovsky is a very reliable source.


Taking the Saint's holy body into battle with them, by his prayers the soldiers triumphed over the enemy troops on the shore of Lake Mareotis near Alexandria. If, to begin with, the soldiers had intended to leave the body of the Saint in Egypt as he had requested, they were apparently reluctant to do so when the actual time came for them to return to Phrygia. Thus, they contrived to take the body of the Saint back with them and to transport it to their ship at Alexandria, some 16 miles away. But when they set the Saint's holy body on the back of a camel, the animal, as though afflicted with an insupportable weight, could not rise from the ground. A second camel was brought and the holy Relics tied on its back, but it too sunk to its knees and would not rise from its place. And the soldiers knew that it was the Will of God and of His Great Saint and Martyr, Menas, that the body of the Saint remain in Egypt. Thus, they buried the Saint there and built a modest shrine over the site, the devout Athanasius having made "an icon of the Saint dressed as he had known him in the apparel of a soldier, with beasts which resembled camels shown at the feet, and they were worshiping him." And he laid the icon on the holy Relics of the Saint to obtain his prayers, and took it with him that it might be a means of deliverance and a refuge and protection on the sea and in war.

MIRACLES AND MANIFESTATIONS OF ST. MENAS

The Saint received grace from the Lord to work extraordinary miracles and help those in need. Of his many miracles, only a few are related here.

THE SAINT RESTORES A MURDERED MAN TO LIFE

A devout man from Constantinople was going to the Feast of St. Menas, and stopped to rest at an inn. The innkeeper, knowing that the stranger had money, arose at midnight and murdered him. Afterwards he dismembered the body and put the pieces in a basket which he hid inside the building. While the murderer was in agony as to how, when, and where he could dispose of the dismembered body so that no one would discover his terrible crime, behold, St. Menas appeared on horseback, dressed as a soldier, and began questioning him as to what had happened to the stranger who had come to rest there. The murderer assured him that he knew nothing of such a stranger. But the Saint got down from his horse, entered the inner part of the house, went straight to the hidden basket, and opening it up, gazed at the murderer with a fearsome and terrible gaze, asking, "Who is this?" Like one beside himself, the murderer became voiceless and threw himself at the feet of the Saint.

St. Menas carefully reassembled the dismembered body, and after fervent prayer raised up the dead man, who arose as out of a deep sleep, glorifying God and thanking and worshiping the Saint whose prayers had brought him back to life. Then, after severely chastising the trembling and repentant murderer, the Saint mounted his horse and vanished.

THE MIRACLE OF THE SILVER DISH AND THE LOST SLAVE

A certain rich Christian promised to give a silver dish to the church of the Saint, and ordered the silversmith to make him two silver dishes, with the name of the Saint inscribed on one and his own name on the other. After both had been made, seeing that the dish of the Saint was the more beautiful of the two, the rich man kept that dish for himself without considering that the name of the Saint was engraved on it. One day while the rich man was traveling on a ship, his slave brought him some food in the dish of the Saint, and that senseless and impious Christian ate from the dish without any reverence. When the table had been cleared, the slave took the silver dish to wash it in the sea, and it slipped from his hands and fell into the water. Trying to grab it, the terrified slave also fell into the sea and disappeared beneath its surface. And when his master saw what had happened, he cried: "Woe unto me, wretch that I am! Because I coveted the dish of the Saint, together with it I have also lost my slave." And he made a vow to God that if he found even a remnant of his slave, he would give to St. Menas the value of both the silver dishes.

After he disembarked from the ship, he watched the coast, waiting and hoping to find the dead body of his slave. Suddenly, to his great astonishment, he saw his slave coming out of the sea alive, holding the Saint's silver dish in his hands, whereupon he cried out with a loud voice, proclaiming the miracle of the Saint. And many persons gathered about, marveling greatly, and inquiring of the slave in what manner he had been delivered from the sea. The slave answered: "Immediately when I fell into the sea, there appeared three men of shining countenance. One of them, the eldest, was a soldier, the second was a handsome youth, and the third a deacon. They took me from the depths of the sea and walked with me yesterday and today until we arrived at this point." These three men who saved the slave from the sea were St. Menas, St. Victor, and St. Vincent the Deacon, who were all martyred on the same day, the eleventh of November – St. Victor in the year 160, St. Vincent in 235, and St. Menas in 296.

THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN AND THE DUMB WOMAN

One time, a certain lame man and a dumb woman were staying in the church of the Saint together with many other sick persons in order to receive healing from the Saint. At midnight, while all were sleeping, the Saint appeared to the lame man and said: "Now that it is quiet, go and take hold of the coat of the dumb woman and you shall be healed." And when the lame man did as the Saint had told him, the dumb woman became greatly alarmed and began shouting and accusing the lame man. In this humorous manner her tongue was loosened. The lame man, on the other hand, feeling shame because of her words, immediately rose to his feet and ran off with great speed. When they realized what a gladsome miracle had been worked for both of them by the Saint, they glorified God.

THE CONVERSION OF THE JEW

A certain Jew had a Christian friend to whom he often entrusted considerable sums of money when he was about to go to a distant place. One time he left him a purse containing 500 coins (nomismata). The Christian, tempted by the evil one, decided to deprive the Jew of his treasure. Therefore, when the Jew returned and asked for his money, the Christian did not give it to him, but said: "You did not leave anything with me this time. What are you asking of me?" Hearing this so unexpectedly, the Jew was beside himself, and when he had recovered from the shock, said to the Christian: "We must take an oath in order to dispel this doubt. Because I had confidence that you were a faithful and honest man, I had no witness present when I gave you the money." Hence the Jew requested that the one who was lying should be revealed, and they both went to the church of St. Menas. There, without hesitation, the dishonest Christian made a false oath denying that he had the money of the Jew. But after they left the church and rode off, the horse of the Christian became wild and unruly and threw him to the earth. Although he lost his kerchief and the key to his purse, he was not badly injured, and mounting the horse again, he resumed the journey together with the Jew. And when they came to a suitable place, they dismounted to eat a little bread.

When they had begun eating, behold, the Christian saw his servant coming and holding with one hand the purse of the Jew and with the other the lost key and kerchief. Seeing these things he said: "What is this?" The servant replied: "A certain fearsome man on horseback came to my mistress, gave her the key and kerchief and said: 'Send these together with the purse of the Jew in great haste.' Whereupon I came to you as ordered." And both the Christian and the Jew realized that the fearsome rider was St. Menas, the Great Martyr and Wonderworker. Then the Jew, full of joy, returned with the repentant Christian to the church of St. Menas where he asked to become an Orthodox Christian and to receive Holy Baptism. As for the Christian, he tearfully repented of his theft, dishonesty, and false oath by which he had angered God. Thus, both received that which they sought: the Jew, Holy Baptism, and the Christian, forgiveness. And together they returned to their own homes, rejoicing over the great Mercy and Wisdom of God.

THE SAINT SAVES THE PEOPLE OF HERAKLEION

In the year 1826, during that time of terror, the Turks of Herakleion, Crete, devised a plan to slaughter the Orthodox Christians on the Feast of Pascha, April 18, when they would all be gathered together, unprepared to defend themselves, in the church of St. Menas. When the Sacred Liturgy had begun and the Gospel was being read, the maniacal swarm encircled the church and were ready to rush forward and begin the abominable work of slaughter. But suddenly a white-haired old man appeared among them, circling the church on horseback and pursuing them with a naked sword. Immediately the terrified barbarians were overcome by an incomprehensible fear and were turned to flight. Thus their diabolical plan was frustrated through the protection of the Great Martyr Menas. In their confusion, the Turks who planned the attack at first took the Saint to be the chief of the city notables and surmised that he had been ordered by the Turkish governor, for the sake of law and order, to prevent the slaughter. It turned out, however, that the governor knew nothing of the whole affair, and that the chief of the city notables had not left his house that night. Hence they understood that it was the miraculous intervention of St. Menas, the Patron of the city. The Turks themselves were the ones who made the miracle known, and from that time on they possessed great awe and reverence for the Saint, certain of them annually offering various gifts to his church.

Because of this great miracle of St. Menas, a council of the bishops of Crete later decreed that on the Tuesday of Bright Week there be celebrated annually, at the church where the miracle took place, a Feast to the glory of the Saint and the memory of the miracle. During this Feast (which is considered as a second yearly feast of the Patron Saint of Herakleion, St. Menas), immediately after Vespers there is brought forth the venerable and holy relic of the Saint which is kept there.

AN APPEARANCE OF THE SAINT IN OUR TIMES:
EGYPT, 1942

Hearken to yet another most awesome miracle of the holy Great Martyr Menas, hearken that you may receive great joy. We all know what a dreadful position Greece was in during the Second World War, from the years 1939 to 1945. During that time Greece suffered the attack of incomparably stronger enemies. She fought boldly, and while she fought against the Italians, she was victorious. When, however, the Germans attacked her, Orthodox Greece yielded and was occupied. Then the remnants of the Greek military forces fled from captivity and crossed over to Egypt, the country of St. Menas, where they made up the corps of the reconstituted Greek Army and continued from there the struggle to free their motherland from the heterodox German invaders.

When the forces of Hitler with the renowned Rommel at their head, after having conquered practically all of North Africa, were heading for Alexandria and had reached El Alamein, they pitched camp there for the night and made preparations to attack the city in the morning. All the people of Alexandria and its environs were overcome with fear and awaited the horrors of bombardment, the fall of the city, and the inevitable terrors of an alien occupation. And for the Greeks, the triumph of Rommel in Egypt would have meant that Greece would lose the last remnants of her free army.

However, because St. Menas felt compassion for the suffering faithful of Orthodox Greece and for the people of his native land, Egypt, who honored his memory – Greeks and Egyptians, Orthodox, Copts, and others, – he did not allow the triumph of the Germans to come to pass. Indeed, who does not remember the famous Battle of El Alamein in 1942? The name El Alamein is an Arabic corruption of the name of St. Menas, there being found there the ruins of the great church of St. Menas in which remain, even today, many depictions of the various miracles of the Saint, including one which shows the holy Menas leading the camels of a caravan which he had saved from certain danger. Thus, at midnight, there on the desert at El Alamein, when the battle was about to begin – certain believers clearly saw St. Menas coming out of his ancient church leading camels, exactly as depicted in the aforementioned fresco, and heading together with them into the camp of the Germans!

It is impossible to describe the panic which from that time overcame the formerly invincible German troops. Overcome by unexpected weakness and confusion, the forces of Rommel were put to flight, pursued, defeated, and taken prisoner by the Allied troops with whom the legions of Free Greeks were fighting. Who worked such a great miracle? Who else but the Holy Great Martyr Menas, our Protector!

Out of reverence for this miracle, even the heterodox Allies offered that place to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in order that the church of the Saint might be rebuilt, and that there might be founded a monastery there in his name as a sign of everlasting gratitude to the Saint, and so that, because of the great miracle that was worked, God, Who is glorified in His Saints, might be hymned ceaselessly therein, together with His Holy Great Martyr St. Menas, by whose holy intercessions may we also be delivered from every occasion of affliction and be deemed worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

THE MIRACULOUS ICON OF ST. MENAS IN BOSTON (Illustrated, p. 116)

How many people know that right here in America there is a miraculous icon of St. Menas? This holy icon belonged to the family of the pilgrim grandmother Macrina of Procopion (Cappadocia), Asia Minor. The icon was much revered, and many favors were granted by the Saint to the family. On one occasion they promised to make a silver cover (riza) for the icon, but a few years passed without the promise's being fulfilled. At that time one member of the family was a small boy. One day when his parents returned from the fields, he tried to tell them in his childish words that a rider had come on a horse and told him many things. The parents immediately became disturbed and thought that Janissaries were roaming the countryside in order to kidnap Christian children and rear them in their camp as fanatic Moslems, such being a common practice in the Ottoman Empire. Therefore the parents warned the child never to speak to anyone on a horse, but to hide whenever he saw a rider coming. But the child continued to see this rider, who would tell him: "Tell your parents to fulfill their promise" Only when the child told the parents one day that the rider had come galloping in the sky, and the horse had stood on the rooftop going tak tak tak with his hoof and whinnying, did they understand that he was not a Janissary or any man of this earth, but that he was St. Menas, the Great Martyr of Egypt. Then they remembered the promise they had made. Thus they gave many silver ornaments to a silversmith, and from them he made the present cover for the icon.

The icon was once brought to Constantinople by descendents of the family. They hid it in a basket, covered with a napkin, and were going over the golden horn by ferry boat. Because of the press of the crowds, somehow it was dropped over the side of the boat. But to the amazement of all, the basket floated instead of sinking! Even the Moslems commented that the person who owned the basket must have been a just man for it not to sink, or else that there was something holy in it. What joy there was at the recovery of the basket! Later the icon was taken back to Procopion for safekeeping.

Many times the icon would knock a phenomenon often associated with icons among devout Greeks. This usually happened when the lamp would go out, or when the family was to receive news or a letter. (The icon still is heard to knock on various occasions in the Monastery where it is now kept.) At the destruction of Asia Minor in 1924, the pilgrim-grandmother Macrina took the icon as her only possession and left her village. Most people, when they became refugees, would take clothes and other goods, but many pious persons would take as their sole possession their beloved icons. After many years the pilgrim-grandmother settled in Detroit, Michigan, where her daughter was living, and the icon was kept in the icon-corner of the home. Even in Detroit, the icon continued to knock many times, and this was witnessed by many, including a child who used to vsit the pilgrim-grandmother.

Every year she and the little boy would scrub and polish the cover (riza) of the icon until it shone. After many years this young boy became a monk, and once in a far away place he was in indecision concerning a certain spiritual matter, and he prayed concerning it. He prayed especially to the Holy Mother of God to be enlightened as to what he should do. The next day would dawn as the Annunciation of the Holy Mother of God. After the Vigil, towards daybreak, the monk sat on the floor and leaned his back against the wall to take a little rest. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell into a light sleep still in that sitting position. Whereupon he found himself in a place full of much light—bright light. And there he saw the Holy Mother of God holding our Saviour as a child, both with much joyfulness. Beside them was standing the Great Martyr Menas in shining silver armor, also smiling and beaming with gladdening joy. They looked most kindly and compassionately toward the monk. He then immediately woke up. The monk began to ponder afterwards how it was that the Great Martyr Menas, whom he had not remembered for many years in his prayers, had appeared to him. Only then did he remember how as a child and a young boy he used to polish his silver cover every year. Therefore the Saint had appeared, smiling at him as with thanks, bringing joy and comfort of heart to the monk. From this appearance he came to a decision concerning the matter he was undecided about.

It was only that following summer that the pilgrim-grandmother, during a visit of the monk to her home, said to him, "Please take the icon of St. Menas, for I am very old now and I will die, and thus you will commemorate me." The monk said to her, "Wait, wait, grandmother, and after you die, then I will take the icon." "No, no," she said, "for you shall not see your grandmother again; and after I die who knows what will become of the icon?" (And true enough, she reposed some time after this, and the monk did not see her again in this world alive.) So at that time he took the icon with him. Now it is kept in the trapeza of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston, Mass.