Saint Wadamon

Martyrdom of Saint Wadamon of Egypt 

On this day, August 24, Mesra 18, St. Wadamon, of the city of Armant, was martyred. One day, he had visitors in his house, who were heathen, and they were saying to each other, 'We have heard that a lady arrived at the city of Ashmonain carrying a young Child who resembled the children of Kings.' Others asked, 'Did this Child come to the land of Egypt?' and everyone was talking about this Child. After the guests had left, Eudaemon rose up, rode his donkey and went to the city of Ashmonain. When he arrived, he saw the Child Jesus with his mother Mary, and he kneeled before Him. As the Child saw what Wadamon had done, the Child smiled and said, 'Peace be with you Wadamon, you have labored and come here in person to assert what you have heard from your guests about Me. Thence I will stay in your home, which will be a house for Me forever.' St. Wadamon marveled and said, 'O My Lord I wish that You will come and live in my house and I will be Your servant forever.' The Child replied saying, 'Your home will be a house for Me and My mother forever. When you return home and the heathen hear that you came to Me, they will be sorry and hurt, and they will shed your blood in your house. Don't be afraid because I will receive you in My heavenly kingdom forever, the place of perpetual joy, which has no end. You will be the first martyr in Upper Egypt.' Then Wadamon kneeled down before the Lord Christ, the Child, Who blessed him, then he returned to his home. Upon Wadamon's return to Armant, the heathen heard about his arrival. The news that Wadamon had visited the Child Jesus, spread in the city. They came to him in haste asking, 'Is all that they say about you true?' Wadamon replied saying, 'Yes, I went to the Lord Christ, Who blessed me and said, 'I am coming to dwell in your house with My mother, forever.'' The heathens shouted out as one person, drew their swords, and killed him. Thus, Wadamon received the crown of martyrdom on this day. When paganism was abolished, and Christianity spread in the land, the Christians converted the house of St. Wadamon into a church, and named it after St. Mary and her Son, to Whom is the everlasting Glory. This church is the one called El-Gishouna, which means 'the church of the living,' in the outskirts of Armant, which still exists now.

May God have mercy on us through the intercession of our Lady the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and the intercession of the martyr Wadamon, the pure faithful, and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.