Saint Menas

Born to an aristocratic Coptic family in the Delta town of Nikiou, Menas served as a Roman soldier in Phrygia. When the Diocletianic persecutions erupted, he renounced his military rank to live as an ascetic in the wilderness before publicly declaring his faith.

Following his martyrdom, his body was returned to Egypt on camels. Where the camels halted, a miraculous spring emerged; the city of Abu Mena grew around his tomb into one of the largest pilgrimage centers in the ancient world, famous for 'Menas flasks' found from Britain to Nubia.