Memnon the Wonderworker

Venerable Memnon the Wonderworker was abbot of a monastery in Egypt, venerated as a saint in the Orthodox and the Catholic Church. He is remembered on 28 April (in the Slavic churches and in the Romanian Church, on 29 April).

It is hard to establish in which century he lived; in the Lausiac History of Palladius, written in 419-420, his name is absent, while the Menologion of Emperor Basil II, of 979-989, places his life on 28 April. From youth he strove for the life of struggle, in unceasing prayer and labour; through severe fasting he attained the victory of spirit over flesh, then was abbot of a monastery, where he guided the brothers with wisdom and care. From his struggle he received the gift of foresight. It is told that at his prayer a spring opened in the desert, locusts that were destroying the crops perished, and those suffering shipwreck who called on him for help were saved; he also healed incurable illnesses. After his death the mere calling on his name drove away locusts and scattered every scheme of the evil spirits. Because of his miracles he received the name “Wonderworker.”

The later Greek sources say that, according to a strong tradition in Cyprus, he was a Cypriot: there is the village of Agios Memnon in Famagusta, with his church, and his name is in the calendar of the Church of Cyprus. According to another local tradition he was a refugee from Palestine, who came to Cyprus after a Saracen persecution and struggled at the place called Vounarkes, west of Famagusta. In the Slavic Menaion his service is combined with that of the Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus, and his hymns are three stichera at “Lord, I have cried,” in tone 8, a canon in tone 4 and a sedalion in tone 8.