Martyr Mamas of Caesarea

Saint Mamas was born in the prison of Caesarea in Cappadocia, where his Christian parents Theodotus and Rufina had been confined. His father died in captivity, and his mother died shortly after childbirth; the infant was raised by the pious widow Ammia.

From his youth Mamas converted his peers to Christ and was tortured for it — beaten, burned, and stoned — surviving each ordeal unharmed. Sentenced to drowning, he was saved by an angel and led to a mountain near Caesarea, where after a forty-day fast he found a Gospel in a cave, built a small church, and became known for taming wild beasts, including lions, and preaching among shepherds — hence the iconography, represented in our database by a famous silver plate, of a youth riding a lion with a cross in hand.

The regional governor, unable to break his resolve, ordered a gladiator to pierce him with a trident. Mortally wounded, Mamas managed to crawl back to his cave, where he died around 275.

His feast is kept on September 2/15; a second commemoration (July 12/25) marks the rededication of his church in Constantinople after the fire of 469.