Piamun

Who they were

Piamun was an Egyptian saint of the 4th century known through a chapter Palladius devoted to her in his Historia Lausiaca. She lived with her mother, worked at weaving linen, and ate only in the evening; the holiness of her life won her the gift of prophecy.

When men of a neighbouring village, during a flooding of the Nile, prepared to attack and occupy her own village, Piamun tried to persuade the local priests to intercede, but they lacked the courage and asked her to go herself instead. She withdrew to her house and prayed all night; the next morning, while the attackers were still three miles from the village, they were mysteriously halted and could advance no further. Told that this was the effect of Piamun's prayers, they themselves came to ask for peace, and the two villages lived in peace ever after, giving thanks to God for saving them through her prayers.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Egyptian virgin whose prayers were said to have stopped an attacking village, related by Palladius in the Historia Lausiaca; feast 3 March.