SOME EARLY BISHOPS OF (I) GAZA, (II) MAYOUMAS (THE PORT OF GAZA)
Palestina Prima--Cæsarea, _Metropolis_.
_The Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_, p. 1631, mentions "Philemon
(1) Bishop of Gaza; commemorated February 14 (Basil Menol)."
_The Kalendar of the Byzantine Church_, on November 22, commemorates
"Philemon, Apostle."
The Jerusalem Archimandrite Meletius Metaxakis, (now Bishop of Kition,
Cyprus), in an article on the Madaba Mosaic Map, _Nea Sion_, May and
June 1907, p. 485, states that "according to _The Ecclesiastical
Treatise about the Seventy Disciples of the Lord_, Philemon, the
Apostle, to whom the Epistle of Paul is directed, became Bishop of
Gaza."
The legendary history of Philemon supplies nothing on which we can
rely. _The Apostolic Constitutions_ (vii. 46) relate that Philemon
became Bishop of Colosse, and died a martyr under Nero, but this is
not sustained by any other early testimony, and is expressly denied by
the author of the _Commentary on St. Paul's Epistles_, attributed to
Hillary. This tradition, therefore, which Dr. Meyer (p. 59) mentions,
apparently without hesitation, cannot, I think, be accepted.
I.--BISHOPS OF GAZA
_c_. A.D. 285. SYLVANUS. The first Christian martyr of Gaza whose name
is known. Having had his eyes put out, he was beheaded at the Copper
Mines of Phæno.
Commemorated May 4.
A.D. 325. Gaza was represented by a Bishop at the Council of Nicæa. He
is described as a Bishop "of _the Churches round Gaza_."
A.D. 341. ASCLEPAS.[21] His name occurs in the Minutes of the First
Œcumenical Council. He succeeded Sylvanus, but was deposed at a Council
of Antioch, and reinstated at a Council of Sardica.
He suffered many persecutions for the "Orthodox" faith.
A.D. 341. QUINTIANUS, an Arian usurper of the See of Asclepas.
A.D. 363. IRENÆUS (A.D. 363-393) was present at the Council of Antioch
A.D. 363. He built the Church of St. Irene in Gaza. The first church
built in Gaza itself was the work of St. Irenæus, who died _c._ A.D.
393, and whose feast is December 16.
A.D. 393. AENEIAS succeeded Irenæus. His episcopate lasted for a very
short period.
A.D. 395. PORPHYRIUS, the true restorer of Christianity in Gaza. His
life was written by his trusty deacon, Marcus. The text was published
at Leipsig in 1895. Porphyrius was born in Thessalonica, _c_. A.D. 347,
of a good family. After a Presbyterate of three years, in A.D. 395 he
was unwillingly consecrated Bishop of Gaza by John of Cæsarea.
"Porphyry sent Marcus to Constantinople, and obtained from the Emperor
a Decree closing the Temples of Gaza; Cynegius came to the city with
Christian police from Ascalon; the temples were closed, and the
consultation of their oracles was forbidden. Idolatry did not cease,
however; the oracles were still consulted, though surreptitiously, for
permitting which Cynegius was said to have received a large amount of
gold. The Christians were still persecuted, and Porphyrius therefore
determined on further measures. He went to Cæsarea, consulted with
the Archbishop John, and both of them set out for Constantinople in
A.D. 401. Through the offices of Amantius, the Chamberlain, they were
presented to the Empress Eudoxia. They prophesied for her the birth of
a son; and the Empress vowed a church for Gaza, if the prophecy should
be fulfilled. The promised son, Theodosius the younger, was born; and,
true to her word, Eudoxia interceded with the Emperor for a rescript
closing the Gazæan temples. For reasons of State, the Emperor hesitated
to grant the request: 'though the city is idolatrous, it is peaceful
and pays its taxes regularly. If it is disturbed, it is to be feared
that its inhabitants would desert it, and its trade be ruined.' He
therefore suggested mild means for winning the city to Christianity.
The rescript was obtained from the Emperor at the baptism of his infant
son, being issued as the first decree of the new prince. Before the
Bishops left Constantinople, Eudoxia provided them with funds for
building a church and a hospice in Gaza; and the Emperor added gifts on
his own accounts."[22]
St. Chrysostom was _then_ high in the Empress's favour.
St. Porphyrius is said to have been indefatigable in instructing the
people of Gaza in a simple and popular style, based entirely on Holy
Scripture. He was present at the Council of Diospolis, A.D. 415.
On one occasion, owing to a terrible drought at Gaza, the Christians
prayed with fervour to Almighty God for rain. The amount of rain which
fell in response gave St. Porphyrius much influence over the heathen,
and numbers of them were baptised. He died A.D. 420.
His name is commemorated, in the Byzantine Church Kalendar, on February
26.
A.D. 449. NATORIS was present at the Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, and
was consecrated _c._ A.D. 449. At the Council of Ephesus he supported
Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, who was accused of irregularities of
ecclesiastical practice.
Timotheus, during the reign of Anastasius I, A.D. 430-513.
A.D. 490. ENOS (ÆNAS), who had been a Platonic philosopher, and convert
to Christianity, testifies to certain persons speaking after the loss
of their tongues (See Robertson's _Church History_, p. 459, _note_).
A.D. 518. KYRILLUS, who condemned Severus of Antioch.
A.D. 540. MARCIANUS (reign of Justinius, A.D. 483-565).
He built two churches in the city, the church of St. Sergius, and that
of St. Stephen, whose beauty is praised by Chorikius of Gaza.
A.D. 540. AURELIANUS, a successor, perhaps, of Marcianus.
A.D. 553. The Bishops of Gaza and Mayoumas Gazæ each signed
synodical letters inserted in the Acts of the Second Council of
Constantinople.[23]
II.--BISHOPS OF MAYOUMAS (OR CONSTANTIA)[24]
_c_. A.D. 400. ZENO, brother of Aias, the Bishop of Botolion
(Bethulia), and personally known to the historian Sozimus.
A.D. 431. PAULINUS, mentioned in the Minutes of the Council of Ephesus.
A.D. 449. PAULUS, the supporter of Dioscorus in the Robber Council of
Ephesus, A.D. 449.
A.D. 505. PETER, the Iberian, Bishop of Gaza and Mayoumas. An
Eutychian, appointed by the Alexandrian faction.
During this Episcopate, Severus, the Monophysite Patriarch of Antioch,
had been expelled from a convent lying between Gaza and Mayoumas as an
heretical blasphemer. Coming to the Emperor Anastasius Dicorus, who was
infected with the same heresy, he was appointed a noble, and by the use
of flatteries, and false accusations, he advanced so far that by the
command of Dicorus he banished the Patriarch of Antioch, Flavian II,
from the throne, sent him into exile to Petra, and ascended the throne
by violence. He excited a great tumult in Antioch.[25]
A.D. 516. PROCOPIUS. His signature appears in the Letter of John of
Jerusalem.
A.D. 700-760. ST. COSMAS, Hymnologist, surnamed Μελωδός. He
acquired the appellation of Hagiopolites, on account of his proficiency
in polite literature. Having been captured by the Saracens, he was
carried to Damascus, and had the honour to be preceptor of St. John
Damascene, his foster-brother.
St. Cosmas, like his friend, St. John Damascene. became a monk of St.
Sabas, and against his will was consecrated Bishop of Mayoumas, by
John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the same who ordained St. John Damascene,
priest. Dr. Neale considers him the most learned of Greek Church poets.
After ministering his diocese with great holiness, he departed this
life in a good old age, and is commemorated on October 14.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Also called Asclepius. He was on the side of St. Athanasius.
[22] Meyer's _History of the City of Gaza_, p. 64.
[23] "Till A.D. 536 the names of the Bishops of Gaza were preserved in
the records of the Council of Jerusalem" (Meyer, p. 67).
According to Meyer, p. 69, from the sixth to the twelfth centuries,
Gaza was an Episcopal See of the Latin Church.
In the sixth century, reference is made by Theodosius to a Bishop
Suffragan of Gaza.
The Archimandrite Metaxakis states that in the Kalendar of the
Abyssinian Saints there is a Feast of St. John, Bishop of Gaza, on
April 6, but the Ethiopic Kalendar, according to Neale (_History of the
Holy Eastern Church_, vol. ii), does not include this name.
Conder (_Quarterly Statement_ P. E. F., July 1875, p. 10), asserts that
the Bishop of Gaza bears the additional title of Mâr Jîryîs to the
present day. Sophronius is the titular Archbishop of Gaza in 1913. He
is non-resident.
[24] Of Mayoumas, or Constantia (so called from the son of
Constantine), a city independent of Gaza, which from the time of
Constantine the Great formed an episcopal see, six Bishops are named
(_Nea Sion_, May and June 1907, p. 491). The name Mayoumas does not
appear till Christian times. Keith explored the site in 1844, and found
widespread traces of an extinct city.
[25] Neale's _The Patriarchate of Antioch_, pp. 163-4.