Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/210

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MENARD


178


MENAS


»EW, Die Nachtwachc . . . iter Orth. knih. Kirrhe (Borlin, 1892); Neale, Hist, of the Hohj Eashm Church, III (Londou, 1850): Selections from the Russian lucnuia iu Euglistl are puli- Ushed by Orlofp, The General Menaion (London, 1899), and The Ferial Menaion (London, 1900).

Adrian Fortescue.

Menard, Leon, writer, b. at Tarrascon, 12 Sept., 1706; d. in Paris, 1 Oct., 1767. When ho had com- pleted his huraanitie.s under the Jesuits at Lyons, he studied jurisprudence at Toulouse and became counsellor at the -Superior Court of Nimes. From 1744 he was constantly in I'aris busied with historical research. His fii-st work concerneil the history of his native city and its bishops, and was entitled " Histoirc des Eveques de Nimes" (2 vols., The Hague, 1737). Later he enlarged this work, and between 1750 and 175S he published at Paris the "Histoire Civile, Ec- closiastique et Lit teraire de la ville de Nimes " in seven volumes with illustrations. An abridgement ap- peared at Paris in 1790, and one at Nimes in 3 vols., 1831-33. He also wrote: " Les Amours de Callisthene et de CharicMe", The Hague, 1740, Paris, 1753 (also Paris, 1765, under the title of "Callisthene ou lo modele de I'amour et de I'amitie ") ; " Moeurs et usages des Grecs" (Lyons, 1743), a widely-read work which became the model of similar productions. In adili- tion he wrote a number of articles for periodicals, especially on detached subjects of the history of France in Roman times. In 1762 the Magistracy of Avignon sent for him and contiiled to him the task of writing a history of that city. But after two years of work he was constrained by ill-health to leave it unfinished. He was a member of the Acad^mie des Inscriptions, and several other learned bodies.

Le Beau, Eloge de Menard in Mem. de VAcad. des Tnscript., XXXVI.

Patricius Schlager.

Menard, Nicolas-Hugues, of the Congregation of St. Maur, b. in Paris, 1585; d. 21 Jan., 1644. His fa- ther was private secretary to Catherine de Medici, liis mother was a native of Blois. After a liberal educa- tion Menard entered the Order of St. Benedict, 3 Feb., 1607, at St. Denis, and made his religious pro- fession 10 Sept., 1612. In the next year he joined the reform movement of St. Vannes in Verdun which some years later developed into the Congregation of St. Maur; and he became one of its main helps. After some time he was called to Paris, where he soon be- came a favourite preacher and frequently occupied the principal pulpits. For sixteen years he taught rhet- oric at the College of Clugny. By word and deed he sought to induce his fellow religious to unit* an exem- plary life with love for study especially of Church his- tory and patrology. On account of failing health he was placed by his superiors in the abbey of St. Ger- main des Pr^s, where he lived in great seclusion. In his small circle of intimate friends the Jesuit Sirmond stood foremost. Menard is much praised for his pro- found learning, his great modesty and his wonderful memory.

Works: " Martyrologium Sanctorum ordinis St. Benedict! ", to which he added several biographies and explanatory notes which greatly enhance the value of the work (Paris, 1629); "Concordia regularum, auc- tore St. Benedicto Aniana? abbate ", from a manuscript found in the Abbey of Fleury, which is supplemented by a life of St. Benedict of Aniane (Paris, 1638); "St. Gregorii I Papse Liber Sacramentorum", from a man- ♦ uscript Missal of St. Eligius (Paris, 1642). This also appears in the edition of the works of St. Gregory of the year 1705. The commentary on the book is highly praised by Muratori (Dissert, de rebus liturgicis, ch. 6), who states that Tomassi and Mabillon would have preferred the text of Pamelius, but the Maurists, when publishing the notes of Mtf'-nard had also to use his text "De unico Diony.sio Areopagita Athenarum et Parisi- orum episcopo", a defence of the identity of the Areo-


pagite and first Bishop of Paris, written (at first anonvmouslv) against Lainioy, in defence of Millet (Paris, 1643);"S.B;irnali:r Apostoli(ut I'cMurl Ivpistola Catholiea, ali anticjuis olim eeelcsia' patrilnis sub <'ju3- dem nomine laudata et usurpata" (Paris, 1645). The Greek text had been found by Sirmond at Rome, and Menard discovered a Latin translation at the ."Mibey of Corvpy.

Kirr)ienlcjriron, s. v.; Tassin, Conor, von St. Maur (Frank- fort, 177;)), I, 27; Theologisehe Quarlalschrift. XV, 391, 421; Huhteb, Nomencl. (Innsbruck, 1907), III, IHS.

Francis Mershman.

M6nard, Renk, missionary, b. at Paris, 1604; d. al)out 10 Aug., 1061, in what is now Wisconsin. After the usual course of studies he .set out from Dieppe in the beginning of May, 1640. Arriving at (Quebec he was assigned to work among the Hurons, labouring first, however, among the Nippisriens. After the destruc- tion of the Huron missions he went to Three Rivers, and on 17 May started for the Iroquois country. He was sent to the Cayugas, where for the first two months he was brutally treated, but after that he won the affection of the savages. When the Iroquois missions were interrupted, he again went to Three Rivers, but in 1659 started with 300 Ottowas for the Far West. He was then fifty-five years of age. In all probability the post he endeavoured to establish was at Kewee- naw, one hundred leagueswestof SaultSte. Marie. The story of his sufferings there forms one of the most pathetic pages of the " Relations". From Keweenaw he set out to reach the Dacotahs, who, according to a letter written by him in July, 1661, lived three hun- dred leagues farther on. With him was a single Frenchman, not Gu^rin the famous "Donn6", but an armourer or blacksmith. They became separated in the forests, and Menard was never heard of again. He was probably murdered at the first rapid of the Menom- inee.

Menard, Jesuit Relations (Cleveland): Shea, History of the Catholic Church in the United States, I (New York, s. d.) ; Roche- MONTEix. Les Jesuites et la Nouvelle France; WmsoR, Narrative and Critical History of America.

T. J. Campbell.

Menas, S.unt, martyr under Diocletian, about 295. According to the Greek Acts, published with Latin translation in "Analecta Bollandiana ", III, 258 (Surius, XI, 241), Menas, a Christian, and an Egyptian by birth, served in the Roman army under the tribune Firmilian. When the army came to Cotyaeus in Phry- gia, Menas hearing of the impious edicts issued against the Christians by the Emperors, Diocletian and Max- imian, left the army, retired to a solitude in the mountains and served God by fasting, vigils, and prayer. During the celebration of a great festival Menas appeared in the midst of the populace in the circus, and fearlessly professed his faith. He was led before the prefect Pyrrhus, cruelly scourged, put to torture, and finally beheaded. His body was brought to Egypt and the maityr was soon invoked in many needs and afflictions. The fame of the miracles wrought, spread far and wide, and thousands of pil- grims came to the grave in the desert of Mareotis be- tween Alexandria and the valley of Natron. For centuries Bumma (Karm-Abum-Abu Mina) was a national sanctuary and grew into a large city with costly temples, a holy well, and baths. A beautiful basilica was erected by the Emperor Arcadius. The cult was spread into other countries, perhaps by trav- elling merchants who honoured him as their patron. As a result of various vicissitudes, the doctrinal dis- putes and the conquest of Egypt by the Arabians under Omar in 641, the sanctuary was neglected and ultimately forgotten. During 1905 Mgr C. M. Kauf- mann of Frankfort led an expedition into Egypt which made excavations at Burama. He found in a vast field of ruins, the grave, the well and thermje, the basilica, the monastery, numerous inscriptions on the