"Manna" in the most ancient Greek testimonies

by Fr. Gerardo Cioffari OP

Saint Nicholas is not the only Saint to whom the devotion to manna is connected. However, it is undeniable that for this aspect of popular religiosity he is the saint par excellence. The testimonies of this particularity of the cult are notably ancient and certainly much of the attraction of his figure is linked to this phenomenon. It must be said first of all that the term manna, long in use in the Western church and specifically referred to Saint Nicholas, is somewhat misleading. In fact, one thinks of that light food which rained from the sky to save the Israelites from hunger as they fled from Egypt and were headed for the Promised Land.¹  Even the original Greek term "myron" does not adequately capture the reality, as it makes one think of an oily substance, while in reality manna is pure water, which in chemical terms is said to be "almost pure" not because of the presence of oily elements, but because of the presence of other normal chemical components.²

In the writings on Saint Nicholas prior to the 8th century there are no references to manna. The first to speak about it was also the first biographer of the Saint, that is, Michael the Archimandrite (for a long time mistakenly identified with Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople). This first hagiographer of Saint Nicholas affirmed that from the moment of the burial of the Saint, an oil began to flow from the body which was a "healthy and vivifying medicine" capable of freeing from "every adverse and evil power.³ Michael's expression for this oil is "myron", the evangelical term for one of the gifts to the child Jesus from the Magi, which is also remembered as a solution of perfumed ointment brought to the tomb of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea.

Later, in his hymn in honour of Saint Nicholas, he referred to the manna (Theodore the Studite AD 826),⁴ but without bringing new elements with respect to Michael the Archimandrite.

The poetic texts of the Pseudo-Romanus (Romanus the Melodist lived between the 5th and 6th centuries) and of Joseph the Hymnographer date back to the first half of the 9th century. The first loves to play poetically with the term "myron" which recalls Myra, the city of which Saint Nicholas was bishop, and recalls the contrast between the perfume of myron and the bad smell of sin: "All that is fetid in my heart, perfume it with the myron of your prayers.⁵ Joseph the Hymnographer (+886), in ode IX of a canon in honour of the Saint, poetically summarised all these aspects of the phenomenon:

Your sacred body, which rests in holiness in Myra, emanates a perfumed myron continuously, which, sprinkled on those who approach, drives away the bad smell of passions, O Nicholas, and puts the host of demons to flight.⁶

Against this authoritative hagiographic and poetic background, around AD 900 Nicetas of Paphlagonia also touched on the subject in one of his famous eulogies, as well as the Synaxarion of Constantinople, the Vita Compilata (which merges ours with the Vita of Nicholas of Sion) and the homonymous author of the eulogy "Mneme Dikeu".⁷

Among the stories inserted around this period in the eulogy of Pseudo-Methodius, the most explicit on manna is "The priest of Mytilene Christopher". This priest, the story says, "had the habit, on the occasion of the feast of the Saint, of leaving for Myra in Lycia to venerate the holy sepulchre and draw the sacred essence that flows from the relics of the saint, to then take it with him for the protection of himself and his house". His loyalty to Saint Nicholas had a sensational manifestation in a tragic moment of his life. Captured by the Saracens during a voyage, he was soon condemned to beheading. Terrified, he invoked Saint Nicholas, who appeared to him and told him to trust him. As he bowed his head, he saw both the executioner and Saint Nicholas. As the barbarian was about to strike the mortal blow, the sword slipped from his hand and fell far away. Hearing from Christopher that Saint Nicholas had intervened, the executioner converted and took that devotee to Byzantium.⁸

Between the 9th and 11th centuries, the Italo-Greek office was also formed, which seems to follow the motifs of Romanos the Melodist and Joseph the Hymnographer (it should not be forgotten that the latter, like the patriarch Methodius, was Sicilian). However, apart from the canons and other prayers of the divine office, which practically coincide with those of the Greek Orthodox Church (due to their common Fantine origins), there are some peculiarities that it is worth mentioning here.

As an example of Italo-Greek hymnography prior to the translation to Bari, it is appropriate to mention here the work of St. Bartholomew the Younger (981-1025). This famous saint, in ode IV of his canon in honor of St. Nicholas, emphasizes both the manna that dripped from the fragrant tomb and its spiritual meaning:

being perfumed
with the ointment of virtues, oh most blessed one,
you were deemed worthy by God
to receive the government of the Myrians,
and by establishing yourself there
you perfumed the whole world
with the fragrance of your miracles.
And now pouring ointment
from your fragrant tomb
you perfume us too.⁹

In the years immediately following the translation, the monk Stephen wrote about it.¹⁰ In the first ode, in fact, he makes direct reference to the new situation of the relics of St. Nicholas: The city of Myra had you before as a port, a defense, and a deliverer from spiritual diseases; now Bari has you and openly boasts of it very much. And in the fourth: The fortunate city of Bari smells of your innumerable benefits, O Saint, and for this it rejoices and boasts, for it has received a favor never before had.

Even more explicit is the introductory part of the odes: Once the sacred urn of your remains, O Nicholas, perfumed Myra with the fragrance of your wonders, and now it hastens to make all Italy shine and enrich it together with Sicily and Calabria, spreading healing freely and abundantly. For your bones are a source of health for those who approach them and honor them.¹¹

—Fr. Gerardo Cioffari OP

1. See Exodus, XVI, 14-36; Numbers, XI, 7-9; Deuteronomy, VIII, 3, 16. back
2. See the results of the analysis of the General Chemistry Laboratory carried out in Bari in 1925. In P. Scognamiglio, La Manna di S. Nicola, Bari 1925, p. 117. back
3. Cfr. Vita per Michaelem, c. 41. In MT Bruno, S. Nicola nelle fonti narrative greche, Bari 1985, p. 43. back
4. In JB Pitra, Analecta Sacra. Spicilegio Solesmensi, t. 1, Parisiis 1876, pp. 355-358, verse 8. back
5. See R. Scognamiglio, Hymns of Romano the Melodist, Bari 1985, pp. 31, 47. back
6. See A. Kominis (ed.), Analecta Hymnica graeca, IV. Canones Decembris, Rome 1976, pp. back
7. See G. Cioffari, S. Nicola nella critica storica, Bari 1987, p. 212. back
8. See MT Bruno, S. Nicola, p. 97 back
9. See G. Giovannelli, The sacred hymns of St. Bartholomew Junior, Grottaferrata 1955, p. 325. back
10. Papas Damiano Como, in the liturgical texts of the Christian East, Palermo 1979, p. 147, says "probably Calabria". I would opt for Sicily. In fact, ode VII opens with these words: You, O Saint Nicholas, move away from Mira and perfume the earth with your wonders and sprinkle Sicily and the whole universe (ibid., p. 151). back
11. Cf. St. Nicholas. Liturgical texts of the Christian East, cit., pp. 147-153. back