Wanas

Holy Martyr Wanas (in Coptic Abba Ioannes) was a Coptic child martyr, born to poor parents from Thebes (now Luxor) in Egypt. He is venerated as the patron saint of lost things. He was an only son and a servant in the church, in a time of persecution by the Romans. He was known as a fearless and wise speaker who helped people hold to the Christian faith. For this reason the Roman governor Arianus, ruler of Ansena (Antinoöpolis), was displeased when he heard of him and sent soldiers with orders to make him abandon his faith. The child refused, and the governor ordered his head cut off, on the sixteenth day of the Coptic month of Hathor. He was martyred in the same period as other child martyrs such as Abanoub. He is venerated in the Coptic Church.