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==Life==
Anianus was a cobbler who was the first person that St. Mark won to Christianity after his arrival in Alexandria. Having stopped for Anianus to repair his sandal, Mark took the opportunity to preach the [[Gospel]] of [[Introduction to Orthodox Christianity|Christianity]] to him after Anianus exclaimed "Heis ho Theos" ("God is one") when he cut himself making the repair.<ref>Atiya, Aziz S.. ''The Coptic Encyclopedia''. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991. ISBN 0-02-897025-X.</ref> Having shown himself a believer in monotheism, Anianus invited Mark to his home where he taught Anianus' family the [[Gospel]] and [[baptism|baptized]] all of them and then quickly [[conversion|converted]] a large number of the local people.
Before he temporarily left Alexandria, Mark [[ordination|ordained]] Anianus a [[bishop]] as well as three [[priest|presbyters]] and seven [[deacon]]s and charged them with overseeing the [[church]] of the area in his absence. After the [[martyr]]dom of Mark, Anianus succeeded him and led the church in Alexandria for the next fourteen years, ordaining new priests and deacons for the growing church.
