Saint Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza

Life

This great archpastor was born in Thessalonica to wealthy parents. He spent his youth until the age of twenty-five in his native city, then forsook his parental home and worldly life and withdrew to the Egyptian desert. Under the guidance of an experienced spiritual father, young Porphyrius was tonsured there as a monk and spent five years. He then visited the Holy Land in the company of his faithful friend, the monk Mark. Near Jerusalem he pursued his ascetic struggle in a certain cave for another five years. But then his legs became enfeebled and he could not walk. Nevertheless, crawling on his knees, he continued to attend the Divine Services without fail. One night in a vision the Lord Himself appeared to him and healed him of the infirmity in his legs, and he became completely well. When he was elected bishop of Gaza, Porphyrius accepted this duty with a heavy heart. In Gaza he found only two hundred and eighty Christians; all the other inhabitants were idol-worshippers, and very fanatical ones at that. Only by his great faith and patience was Porphyrius able to bring the people of Gaza over to the Christian faith. He was obliged to travel in person to Constantinople to Emperor Arcadius and the Patriarch John Chrysostom, to seek support in the unequal struggle against the idol-worshippers. The desired support he did obtain. The idol-temples were closed, the idols demolished, and a beautiful church with thirty marble columns was built. The construction of this church was aided especially by the Empress Eudoxia. Porphyrius lived long enough to see the entire city of Gaza converted to the Christian faith, though only after many of his own labors, sufferings, and tearful prayers to God. He reposed peacefully in the year 421. He was a wonderworker both in life and after death. His holy relics rest to this day in Gaza.

From the Hymn of Praise

### SAINT PORPHYRIUS