Egyptian martyr, possibly slain at Karm Aba Mina, near Alexandria. An officer in the imperial army of Rome, he resigned when the persecutions of Christians was started. Mennas lived as a recluse in the mountains of Phrygia, but he then proclaimed his Christianity, suffering beheading as a resuIt. His remains were enshrined, and his cult as a warrior saint became popular in the Middle Ages. He is always depicted with a camel. His cult is now confined to local calendars.
Saint of the Day Quote: Saint Menas
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Strange that the description says “always depicted with a camel” when this depiction is clearly a horse.
Perhaps it is merely the dangerous nature of the word “always”…
It always makes me sad to remember how very Catholic classical Africa was before the Muslims arrived.
I found no depictions online of Saint Menas with a camel.