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| St. Piamun the Virgin (Feast Day - March 3) |
Verses
Piamun is not clothed in dark garments,
But in the virtues as chains of gold.
By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis
(Lausiac History, Ch. 37)
There was a virgin called Piamun who lived with her mother all the days of her life, spinning flax, and eating alone with each other every evening. She had the gift of being able to foretell people's future.
It so happened that one year when the Nile flooded villages began to invade each other, quarreling about sharing the water, causing injuries and deaths. A stronger village threatened to invade hers, and a crowd of men carrying spears and pointed sticks set out, intent on destroying the village. But an angel of the Lord appeared to this blessed woman telling her of this invasion. She called the village priests and said to them, "Go out of the village and run to those who are coming out against you and ask them to desist from these evils they are preparing against you, lest you perish along with the whole village."
The terrified priests fell at her feet. "We don't dare to go out and meet them," they implored her, "for we know only too well their drunken fury. But if you have any pity for us and the village and your own house go out to meet them yourself, calm them down and turn them back."
She would not agree to do that but went back to her own little house and stood all night in prayer, hardly prostrating herself at all.
"O Lord, judge of the world," she prayed, "who hates injustice, let this prayer come to you and let your power stop them in their tracks like a column of stone wherever it finds them."
And as this holy virgin prayed so it happened. Early in the morning, about three miles away, the enemy stood transfixed, like columns of stone, unable to move. And it was revealed to them that they had been brought to a halt through the prayers of Piamun, the servant of Christ, and they made peace with her village, saying, "Thanks be to God and the prayers of Piamun that we were prevented from doing you any harm."*
Notes:
* Piamun is also known as Piama. She lived near Alexandria and reposed in peace in the year 337.
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| St Piamun and Her Mother in an Egyptian Village, C. Coypel 1747 |
