(A.D. 421.)
[Commemorated by Greeks and Latins on the same day. Authority:--His
life, written by Mark the Deacon, his disciple.]
Porphyrius, a native of Thessalonica, in Macedonia, was of a noble and
wealthy family. The desire of renouncing the world made him leave his
friends and country at twenty-five years of age, in 378, to pass into
Egypt, where he consecrated himself to God in a famous monastery in
the desert of Sceté. After five years spent there in the penitential
exercises of a monastic life, he went into Palestine to visit the holy
places of Jerusalem. After this he took up his abode in a cave near
the Jordan, where he passed other five years in great austerity, till
he fell sick, when a complication of disorders obliged him to return
to Jerusalem. There he never failed daily to visit all the holy
places, leaning on a staff, for he was too weak to stand upright. It
had happened that, about the same time, Mark, an Asiatic, and the
author of his life, came to Jerusalem with the same intent. He was
much edified by the devotion with which Porphyrius visited the holy
places. And seeing him, one day, labour with great pain up the stairs
in the chapel built by Constantine, he ran to him to offer his
assistance; but Porphyrius refused it, saying, "It is not right that I
who am come hither to supplicate pardon for my sins should be eased by
any one: rather let me undergo some labour and inconvenience, that
God, beholding it, may have compassion on me." He never omitted his
visits of piety to the holy places, and daily partook of the Holy
Sacrament. The only thing that afflicted him was, that his fortune had
not as yet been sold for the use of the poor. This he commissioned
Mark to do for him, who accordingly set out for Thessalonica, and in
three months' time returned to Jerusalem with money and effects, to
the value of four thousand five hundred pieces of gold. When the
blessed man saw him, he embraced him, with tears of joy. But
Porphyrius was now so completely recovered, that Mark scarcely knew
him to be the same person: for his body was erect and vigorous, and
his face looked full, fresh, and ruddy. Porphyrius perceiving his
friend's amazement, said with a smile, "Be not surprised, Mark, to see
me in perfect health and strength, but admire the unspeakable goodness
of Christ, who can easily cure what man has despaired of." Mark asked
him by what means he had recovered. He replied, "Forty days ago, being
in extreme pain, I made a shift to reach Mount Calvary, where,
fainting away, I fell into a kind of trance, during which, methought I
saw our Saviour on the cross, and the good thief hanging beside him. I
said to Christ, _Lord, Remember me, when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom_: whereupon he ordered the thief to come to my assistance, and
he, raising me off the ground on which I lay, bade me go to Christ. I
ran to Him, and He coming off His cross, said to me, _Take this wood_
(meaning the cross) _into thy custody_. In obedience to Him, methought
I laid it on my shoulders and carried it some way. I awoke soon after,
and have been free from pain ever since, and without the least
appearance of my having ever ailed any thing." Mark was so edified
with the holy man's discourse and good example, that he resolved to
live with him, for he was endued with a divine prudence, an eminent
spirit of prayer, and a complete control over his passions. He
distributed all the money and effects Mark had brought him among the
necessitous in Palestine and Egypt, so that in a very short time, he
had reduced himself to the necessity of labouring for his daily food.
He therefore learned to make shoes and dress leather, while Mark,
being well skilled in writing, obtained a handsome livelihood by
copying books. He therefore desired the saint to partake of his
earnings. But Porphyrius replied, in the words of S. Paul, _He that
doth not work, neither let him eat_. He led this laborious and
penitential life till he was forty years of age, when the bishop of
Jerusalem ordained him priest, though much against his will, and
committed to him the keeping of the holy Cross. This was in 393. The
saint changed nothing in his austere life, feeding only upon roots and
the coarsest bread, and not eating till after sunset, except on
Sundays and holy days, when he ate at noon, and added a little oil and
cheese; and a small quantity of wine in the water he drank. This was
his method of living till his death. Having been elected bishop of
Gaza without his knowledge, in 396, John, the metropolitan and
archbishop of Cæsarea, wrote to the patriarch of Jerusalem to desire
him to send over Porphyrius, that he might consult him on certain
difficult passages of Scripture. He was sent accordingly, but charged
to return in seven days. Porphyrius, receiving this order, seemed at
first disturbed, but said, "God's will be done." That evening he
called Mark, and said to him, "Brother Mark, let us go and venerate
the holy places and the sacred Cross, for it will be long before we
shall be able to do it again." Mark asked him why he said this. He
answered, "Our Saviour appeared to me the night past, and said 'Give
up the treasure of the cross which thou hast, for I will marry thee to
a wife, poor indeed, and despicable, but of great piety and virtue.
Take care to adorn her well; for, however contemptible she may appear,
she is My sister.' This," said he, "Christ signified to me last night:
and I fear, in consequence, that I am about to be charged with the
sins of others, whilst I labour to expiate my own; but the will of God
must be obeyed." When they had venerated the holy places, and the
sacred Cross, and Porphyrius had prayed long before it, with many
tears, he shut up the Cross in its golden case, and delivered the keys
to the bishop; and, having obtained his blessing, he, and his
disciple, Mark, set out, with three others. They arrived the next day,
which was Saturday, at Cæsarea. The archbishop obliged them to sup
with him. After spiritual discourse they took a little sleep, and then
rose to assist at the night service. Next morning the archbishop bid
the Gazæans lay hold on Porphyrius, and, while they held him, he
ordained him bishop. The holy man wept bitterly, and was inconsolable
at being promoted to a dignity for which he judged himself unfit. The
Gazæans, however, performed their part in endeavouring to comfort him;
and, having assisted at the Sunday office, and stayed one day more at
Cæsarea, they set out for Gaza, and, late on Wednesday night, arrived
there much harassed and fatigued. For the heathens living in the
villages near Gaza, having notice of their coming, had so damaged the
roads in several places, and clogged them with thorns and logs of
wood, that they were scarcely passable.
That year happened to be one of great drought, and this the pagans
ascribed to the coming of the new Christian bishop, saying that their
god Marnas had foretold that Porphyrius would bring public calamities
on their city. In Gaza stood a famous temple of that idol, which the
emperor Theodosius the Elder had commanded to be shut up, but not
demolished, on account of its beautiful structure. The governor
afterwards had permitted the heathens to open it again. As no rain
fell the two first months after the arrival of S. Porphyrius, the
idolaters, in great affliction, assembled in this temple to offer
sacrifices, and make supplications to their god Marnas, whom they
called the Lord of rains. These they repeated for seven days, going
also to a place of prayer outside the town. But, finding all their
endeavours ineffectual, they lost all hopes of a supply. A dearth
ensuing, the Christians, to the number of two hundred and eighty,
women and children included, after a day's fast and a night's vigil,
by the order of their bishop, went in procession to S. Timothy's
church, in which lay the relics of the holy martyr, S. Meuris, and of
the confessor, S. Theis, singing hymns. But, on their return to the
city, they found the gates shut against them, and the heathens
obstinately determined not to open them. In this situation, the
Christians addressed Almighty God with redoubled fervour, imploring
Him to send them the blessing so much wanted. Presently the clouds
gathered, and there fell such a quantity of rain, that the heathens
opened their gates, and, joining them, cried out, "Christ alone is
God: He alone has overcome." They accompanied the Christians to the
church, to thank God for the benefit received; and this miracle
resulted in the conversion of one hundred and seventy-six persons,
whom the saint instructed, baptized, and confirmed, as he did also one
hundred and five more before the end of that year. The miraculous
preservation of the life of a pagan woman in labour, who had been
despaired of, occasioned the conversion of that family and others, to
the number of sixty-four.
The heathens, perceiving their number decrease, grew very troublesome
to the Christians, whom they excluded from commerce, and all public
offices, and annoyed in various ways. S. Porphyrius, to screen himself
and his flock from their outrages, had recourse to the Emperor's
protection. On this errand he sent Mark, his disciple, to
Constantinople, and went thither, afterward, himself, in company with
John, his metropolitan, archbishop of Cæsarea. At Constantinople they
applied to S. John Chrysostom, who joyfully received them, and
recommended them to the eunuch Amantius, who had great credit with the
Empress, and was a zealous servant of God. Amantius, having introduced
them to the Empress, she received them with great distinction, assured
them of her protection, and begged their prayers for her safe
delivery, a favour she received a few days after. She desired them, in
another visit, to sign her and her new-born son, Theodosius the
Younger, with the cross, which they did. The young prince was baptized
with great solemnity, and on that occasion the Empress obtained from
the Emperor all that the bishops had requested, and in particular that
the temple of Gaza should be demolished. An imperial edict was drawn
up for this purpose, and delivered to Cynegius, a patrician full of
zeal, who was charged to see it executed. They stayed at
Constantinople during the feast of Easter, and, at their departure,
the Emperor and Empress bestowed on them great presents. When they
landed in Palestine, near Gaza, the Christians came out to meet them,
with a cross carried before them, singing hymns. In the place called
Tetramphodos, or Four-ways-end, stood a marble statue of Venus, on a
marble altar, which was in great reputation for giving oracles to
young women about the choice of husbands. As the two bishops, with the
procession of the Christians, and the cross borne before them, passed
through that square, this idol fell down of itself, and was broken to
pieces; whereupon thirty-two men and seven women were converted.
Ten days after, arrived Cynegius, having with him a duke, or general,
with a strong guard of soldiers, and the civil magistrates of the
country. He assembled the citizens, and read to them the emperor's
edict, commanding their idols and temples to be destroyed. This was
accordingly done, and no less than eight public temples in the city
were burnt; viz., those of the Sun, Venus, Apollo, Proserpine, Hecate,
the Hierion, the temple of fortune, and that of Marnas. The Marnion,
in which men had been often sacrificed, burned for many days. After
this, the private houses and courts were all searched; the idols were
every where burned or thrown into the common sewers, and all books of
magic and superstition were cast into the flames. Many idolators
desired baptism; but the saint gave them a long probation, and
prepared them for that sacrament by daily instructions. On the spot
where the temple of Marnas had stood, was built the church of Eudoxia,
in the figure of a cross. The empress sent for this purpose, precious
pillars and rich marble from Constantinople. Of the marble taken out
of the Marnion, S. Porphyrius made steps and a road to the church,
that it might be trampled upon. Before he would suffer the church to
be begun, he proclaimed a fast, and the next morning, attended by his
clergy and all the Christians in the city, they went in a body to the
place, from the church Irene, singing the _Venite exultemus Domino_,
and other psalms, and answering to every verse, Allelulia; the
procession being led by a cross. They all set to work, carrying stones
and other materials, and digging the foundations, according to the
plan marked out and directed by Rufinus, a celebrated architect,
singing psalms and saying prayers during their work. The church was
begun in 403, when thirty high pillars arrived from Constantinople,
two of which, called Carostiæ, shone like emeralds, when placed in the
church. It took five years to build, and, when finished in 408, the
bishop performed the consecration of it on Easter-day, with the
greatest pomp and solemnity. His alms to the poor on that occasion
seemed boundless. The good bishop spent the remainder of his life in
zealously instructing his flock in the doctrine of God, and in all
virtuous living.
The heathen, on one occasion, rose in sedition, attacked the house of
the bishop, and set it on fire, so that he and his deacons were
obliged to escape over the roof, and take refuge in the room of a
maiden of fourteen, an orphan, named Salaphtha, and a heathen. The
girl showed them every kindness, keeping their place of retreat
secret, and supplying them with bread and cheese and vegetables. The
bishop took the opportunity of infusing into the young mind of the
girl the first principles of Christianity, and when the tumult was
abated, and he with his companions were able to go forth in safety, he
left her earnestly desiring baptism. The maiden afterwards became a
zealous Christian, and was consecrated to a life of virginity by the
old bishop, whom she had saved from the rage of his enemies.
[Illustration]
February 27.
SS. JULIAN, CHRONION, AND BESAS, _MM. at Alexandria_, A.D. 250.
S. GELASIUS, _M. at Heliopolis, in Phoenicia_, A.D. 297.
S. HONORINA, _V. M. at Conflans, in France_.
S. THALELÆUS, _H. in Syria, circ._ A.D. 460.
S. COMGAN, _Ab. in Ireland, before_ A.D. 569.
S. LEANDER, _B. of Hispala or Seville_, A.D. 596.
S. BALDOMER, _Subd. at Lyons, circ._ A.D. 660.
S. ALNOTH, _H. M. in England, circ._ A.D. 727.
B. JOHN, _Ab. of Gorze, near Metz_, A.D. 1162.