Martyrs Menas Hermogenes, and Eugraphus of Alexandria
Also known as Menas · Hermogenes · Eugraphus
Menas was sent to Alexandria as an imperial official but confessed Christ; Hermogenes and Eugraphus joined his witness, and they suffered martyrdom under Maximian.
Feast Day
December 10
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The Holy Martyrs Menas the Most Eloquent, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus of Alexandria
Life
Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus are three martyrs of Alexandria commemorated together in the Orthodox calendar on December 10. According to the synaxarion, they suffered for their faith in Christ under the emperor Maximian (305-313).
Their commemoration is preserved as a single feast of the three together. Menas is given the epithet "the Most Eloquent" for the gift of eloquence with which the sources credit him, while Hermogenes and Eugraphus are remembered for joining his confession of Christ.
Timeline 4 moments
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Reign of Maximian (305-313)Menas sent to AlexandriaAccording to the synaxarion, the emperor Maximian sent Menas from Athens to Alexandria as an official to suppress the riots that had arisen between Christians and pagans. Distinguished for his gift of eloquence, Menas instead openly preached the Christian Faith and converted many pagans to Christ.
Reign of Maximian (305-313)Hermogenes sent to try the saints, and convertsLearning of Menas's preaching, Maximian sent Hermogenes, a pagan official, to Alexandria to place the saints on trial. The sources relate that Hermogenes was struck by Menas's endurance under torture and by his miraculous healing after the torments, and so came to believe in Christ.
Reign of Maximian (305-313)Martyrdom of the threeThe accounts relate that Maximian himself came to Alexandria, personally stabbed Eugraphus, the secretary of Menas, and gave orders that Menas and Hermogenes be beheaded.
9th centuryRelics transferred to ConstantinopleBy tradition the relics of the martyrs, cast into the sea in an iron chest, were afterwards found and transferred to Constantinople in the ninth century. The finding of the relics is associated with February 17.
Contributions & Legacy
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The Three Martyrs
The sources identify three distinct figures commemorated together. Menas, called "the Most Eloquent," was the imperial official sent from Athens to Alexandria. Hermogenes was the pagan official dispatched to put the saints on trial, who converted after witnessing Menas's witness under torture. Eugraphus was the secretary of Menas, and according to the accounts was killed personally by Maximian.
Veneration and Legacy
The synaxarion relates that the emperor Justinian built a church in the name of the holy Martyr Menas of Alexandria, and that Saint Joseph the Hymnographer composed a canon in honor of the martyrs.
The three are commemorated together on December 10, with the finding and transfer of their relics associated with February 17.