Emmanuel Lambardos
Miracles of St. Menas of Egypt

Early 17th century
Icon, 12.6 x 15,4 in. (32 x 39 cm.)
Hellenic Institute of Venice

Lambardos was a member of the Cretan School of iconographers and this work is typical of Greek treatments of Menas's story, which differ from Coptic ones. The saint is portrayed in military dress and with no camels in evidence, and the miracles depicted are from Greek legends rather than Egyptian ones.

The miracles are as follows, with narratives translated from the blog of the Orthodox Church of Abruzzo and Molise:

• Top left: The pilgrim's resurrection
  A rich merchant from Alexandria decided to go on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of San Mena with a bag full of money to donate to the temple. Along the way he stayed at an innkeeper who decided to take possession of the bag, killing him and cutting him to pieces. While he was trying to conceal his body, the landlord saw a man on his horse arrive in military uniform. This was none other than Mena who, having discovered the body, ordered the innkeeper to repent if he wished to be forgiven. The man, grateful, accepted and sent a hundred pieces of silver to donate to the sanctuary together with the merchant, who had been resurrected by Mena in the meantime. The innkeeper died after seven years of penance that he had vowed to undertake. The merchant returned to Alexandria where, recounting the miracle, he converted a crowd of heretics and pagans.
• Middle left: Eutropius and the dishes
  Eutropius, a citizen of Alexandria, ordered two silver plates from a goldsmith who had stamped his name on one and that of San Mena on the other. The first dish was to be offered at the martyr's sanctuary while the second Eutropio wanted to keep with him as a talisman; only after his death would it also be donated. He was sailing towards his destination when a servant lost the plate dedicated to the saint in the water. He dove in to recover it but did not reemerge. Eutropius then begged the saint to provide the slave's body, so as to give him burial. In return he would donate two more dishes besides the one remaining. Once he reached the sanctuary he found the servant waiting for him with the missing dish in his hand. He said that a luminous figure had brought him to safety in the water. Eutropio understood then that the mysterious figure was San Mena and therefore he left not only the dishes but also the slave as a gift to the sanctuary.
• Bottom left: The pilgrim saved by the harassing soldier
  Sofia, a rich woman, decided to devote her life to San Mena when she discovered she could not have children. She set out on her way to the martyr's sanctuary and was at the church of Santa Tecla when she saw an armed guard on her way, who, noticing that she was alone, attacked her. The frightened woman invoked the help of San Mena who suddenly appeared on horseback and saved her. The martyr then accompanied her along with her attacker, who in the meantime had been harnessed for one foot to the horse, to the Sanctuary where the wounded soldier repented.
• Top Right: The paralytic and the mute
  A paralyzed man was taken to the Sanctuary of San Mena. Here he met a woman mute and together they implored the martyr to free them from their suffering, but to no avail. Until one night the martyr appeared in a dream to the man, convincing him that by sinning with the woman he would free both. The next morning the man ran away running and the woman started talking again.
• Middle Right: The Christian liar and the Jew
  A Jew and a Christian were neighbors and on good terms. One day the Jew left his friend a small sealed container and the key, as he had to go away. The Christian and his wife, however, decided to defraud him by denying that he had ever received anything, reassured by the fact that the accuser was Jewish. The Jew, aware of the trick, challenged the neighbor to accompany him to the Sanctuary of San Mena that was known to unveil perjuries. When the Jew was on his way, he tried to make his friend come to his senses by repeatedly invoking San Mena, but to no avail. Three miles from the church, the Christian's horse threw him and, without his noticing, the key slipped from his pocket and remained on the ground. Shortly thereafter, during a pause, a servant appeared, sent by the Christian's wife, who brought him the small container, saying that the woman had received it together with the key from a soldier on horseback, who ordered it sent to her husband. The Jew thus discovered the deception and, thanks be to God, decided to convert and offer his goods and his life to the Sanctuary dedicated to San Mena.
• Bottom right: The Martyrdom of St. Menas

The scene on the bottom right is not a miracle but the martyrdom of St. Menas.

Read more about images of St. Menas.

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Source of photograph: this page at Wikimedia Commons.