**MENOCHIO, Giovanni Stefano.** – Jesuit theologian and exegete, born at Pavia in December 1575, died at Rome on 4 February 1655. He taught biblical exegesis and moral theology at Milan; he was superior of various colleges, rector of the Roman College, provincial of Milan and Rome, and advisor to the generals Carafa and Piccolomini.
His *Brevis explicatio sensus literalis totius Sacrae Scripturae ex optimis quibusque auctoribus per epitomen collecta* (Cologne 1630), esteemed and sought after, was reproduced first on its own and later in various collections about thirty times until 1873, when it was included in *La Sainte Bible* by C. F. Drioux (8 vols., Paris 1872–73). After numerous editions full of typographical errors, the Jesuit J. R. Tournemine (d. 1739) prepared a new, corrected edition enriched with valuable dissertations on supplementary questions drawn from other authors such as J. Bonfrère, J. Mariana, J. Acosta, etc., praising Menocchio’s expertise in biblical languages, exegetical acumen, patristic learning, theological precision, careful research, and sober, clear exposition.
Other works: *Hieropoliticum, sive Institutiones politicae e S. Scripturis depromptae* (Lyon 1625); *Institutiones oeconomicae ex S. Literis depromptae* (Paris 1627), also printed in Italian (Venice 1656) with additions under the title *Economia cristiana*; *Le suore di Gio. Corona* (pseudonym of Stefano), woven from varied sacred, moral, and profane erudition (Rome 1646); *De republica Hebraeorum* (Paris 1648); *Historia sacra della vita, attioni, doctrina, miracoli, passioni, morte, risurrezione e salita al Cielo del N. Redentore, Salvatore G. C.* (Rome 1653); *Historia sacra degli Atti degli Apostoli* (ibid. 1654).
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MENOLOGION. – A Byzantine liturgical book containing extended lives of the saints, arranged by day and month, beginning from 1 September, the Byzantine New Year, to be read at their vigils.
By order of Emperor Basil II (976–1025), Simeon Metaphrastes (or Logothetes) composed his celebrated *M.*, both by collecting and reworking earlier sources and by composing new lives (*PG* 114–116); his influence was such that after him no similar collection was made, and the more complex ones from the 7th and 8th centuries were abandoned or superseded.
The term *M.* is sometimes used to designate synaxaria or abridged collections of saints’ lives; among these, the so-called *M.* of Emperor Basil II in the Vatican Library is famous for its rich miniatures (ed. Pio Franchi de’ Cavalieri, Turin 1907).
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**Mensa.** – Table of oils at the tomb of St. Cornelius. Rome, Catacomb of St. Callistus.
It is an error to confuse this *Mensa* with very brief hagiographical notices in the form of a calendar or martyrology, or even with the indices of scriptural readings assigned for each day of the Office.