St Mina
St Mina, born in 285 AD in Egypt, left the army at fifteen to live as a hermit, where he received a revelation of angels crowning martyrs, prompting him to boldly confess his faith before the ruler, leading to his martyrdom and inspiring many pagans to convert to Christianity.
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Background
St Mina was born in Egypt in the year 285 AD, in the city of Niceous which lies in the vicinity of Memphis. His parents were real ascetic christians. His father's name was Audexios and his mother's was Aufimia. On the feast of St. Mary, the mother who did not have any children was praying in front of the icon of the Virgin with tears that God may give her a blessed son. A sound came to her ears saying "Amen", and thus she called her son Mina.
His father, a ruler of one of the administrative divisions of Egypt died when Mina was fourteen years old. At fifteen he joined the army, and was given a high rank because of his father's reputation and was appointed in Algeria. Three years later he left the army longing to devote his whole life for Christ. He headed towards the desert to live a different kind of life.
After he spent five years as a hermit, he saw the angels coronating the martyrs with glamorous crowns, in a revelation and longed to join them. While he was thinking about it, he heard a voice saying,
Blessed are you Abba Mina because you have been called for the pious life from your childhood. You shall be granted three immortal crowns; one because of your celibacy, the second because of your asceticism and the third because of your martyrdom.
Immediately he felt as if the earth under him was vanishing, and he was overwhelmed with great eagerness to be carried away to Heaven. In a mood of valour he hurried to the ruler, declaring his Christian faith. His endless sufferings and the tortures that he went through, have attracted many of the pagans not only to Christianity, but also to martyrdom.
St Mina
St Mina
Relic of St Mina
The assassins of St Mina tried to burn his relics but they failed. So the believers loaded his body on a camel and headed towards the western desert. At a certain spot, the camel stopped and the people could not force it to continue its trip by any means. Right there, near a water well they buried him. This is the place where the Monastery of St Mina is present, at the end of Mariout lake not far from Alexandria.
It happened that while a shepherd was feeding his sheep in that area, a sick lamb fell on the ground. As it struggled to get on its feet again, its scab was cured. The story was spread quickly and the sick who came to this spot recovered from whatever illnesses that had just by laying on the ground.
During that time, the daughter of king Zeno, the Christ lover, caught the itch. His advisors suggested that she should try that place, and she did. At night the Saint appeared to the girl and informed her that his body is buried in that place. The following morning, she bathed in the well and was healed. She related her vision about St Mina to her servants and that he cured her.
As soon as Pope Kyrillos VI was coronated on St Mark's Throne, he began to put the foundations of a great Monastery close to the remains of the old city. Thus in his blessed days God's will had permitted the old monastery of St Mina to be resurrected and the Copts to visit it and to be blessed by the Saint. What is even more interesting is that the Pope has stated in his will that his body should not be buried in the new famous Cathedral in Cairo, but in the monastery of his personal friend and intercessor St Mina the Miracle-maker.
