Saint Moura, also known as Mart Moura, is a Christian martyr of the third century and is honored in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. Her feast is celebrated on 3 May and on 25 September, 5

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sk ...

and 8

Pashons Pashons ( cop, Ⲡⲁϣⲟⲛⲥ, ), also known as Pachon ( grc-gre, Παχών, ''Pakhṓn'') and Bachans. (, ''Bashans''), is the ninth month of the ancient Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It lasts between May 9 and June 7 of the Gregorian calen ...

in the Coptic church. Several churches are dedicated to her, especially in northern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, as well as a monastery in

Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as ...

Life

Father Youakim Moubarac presents the life of Mart Moura as follows:

Moura is a Christian from Upper Egypt married to a deacon called Timothy. When Diocletianus came to power and wanted to erase any trace of Christianity, the governor Urban invited Timothy and his wife to embrace paganism. They refused with courage, were crucified and died from slow death around 283. It is also supposed that this martyrdom took place under Decius. The Maronite calendar of saints mentions her feast day on the dates of October 10th and September 25th. It is also mentioned on the 3rd and the 7th of May. The Bollandists kept the date of May 3rd (WHIZZ, II, 381; cf. KUE, I, 151)...

The martyrdom of Timothy and Moura took place in Ansena, a city of

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

known as Antinoöpolis in the Roman

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...

.Kamel, Girgis (1999), ''Antinoepolis, The City of The Pharaoh’s Sorcerers'', Agape Editions. If the martyrdom of Saint Moura took place under

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procl ...

, then it should have been prior to June 251, the date of the death of this emperor. If the martyrdom's presumed date of 283 AD is correct, it should then have taken place under the reign of Carus or his sons Carinus and Numerian.

Places of worship

Several churches are dedicated to Mart Moura among the

Maronites The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larg ...

of northern Lebanon, in

Mayfouq Mayfouq ( ar, ميفوق) is a village and municipality in the Byblos District of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon. It is located 64 km north of Beirut. Mayfouq has an average elevation of 860 meters above sea level and its total land area ...

, Kfarsghab, Karm el Mohr,

Kobayat Al Qoubaiyat, Koubeiyat, Kobayat or Qoubayat ( ar, ٱلْقُبَيَّات) is the biggest Christian village in the Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. Its population is mostly composed of Maronites numbering around 12,000 persons according to the civil ...

Rachiine Rachiine, Rachaaine, ( ar, رشعين) is a village in Zgharta District, in the Northern Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group ...

, Miziara

Bnachii Bnashii (also Bnashaai, Bneshaai, Bnechaai, Bnash'i, ar, بنشعي) is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Leban ...

and Bekarzala. There is also a sanctuary in Kahf Al Malloul. Mart Moura is the patron saint of Bekarzala Akkar, where a painting of the saint is inside the village church that was created in 2007 by Nabil Antoine Chahine, an academic and film director who reside in Melbourne, Australia. The church of Kfarsghab hosted a Maronite Synod in 1598. The church of

is the object of an important devotion in the

Zgharta District Zgharta District ( ar, زغرتا) is a district (''qadaa'') of the North Governorate, northern Lebanon. Its capital is the city of Zgharta. Geography The administrative center is the city of Zgharta. The district has 101 populated areas with 30 ...

for its miraculous reputation. There is also a monastery dedicated to Saint Moura in

. It is in this monastery that the

Lebanese Maronite Order The Baladites, formally known as the Lebanese Maronite Order (; abbreviated OLM), is a monastic order among the Levant-based, Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in 16 ...

was founded in 1694 by three Maronite young men from Aleppo, Syria under the patronage of

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Estephane El Douaihy (1670–1704).

References

External links

The History of Mart Moura Church in Kfarsghab

The Mart Moura Monastery in Ehden

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moura 3rd-century births 283 deaths Saints from Roman Egypt Maronite saints 3rd-century Romans 3rd-century Christian saints Ante-Nicene Christian female saints