ST. PORPHYRY OF GAZA: BISHOP AND CONFESSOR (FEB 26)

A Contemporary Icon of St. Porphyry of Gaza

Edited by Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

A RICH YOUNG MAN, CALLED TO POVERTY 

St. Porphyry was born around AD 347 in Thessalonica, a city of wealth and culture, yet one that could not satisfy the longing of his soul. Though raised amidst earthly abundance, at the age of twenty-five, he left behind his inheritance and the vanities of the world to seek the treasures of heaven. He journeyed to Egypt, where the great Desert Fathers had forged a path of asceticism, and there he became a hermit, devoting himself to prayer, fasting, and the mortification of the flesh. 

From the arid deserts of Egypt, he wandered into Palestine, drawn ever closer to the sacred places where the Lord had walked. He lived for a time near the Jordan River, then entered Jerusalem, where he spent his days in ceaseless penance and contemplation of the mystery of Christ's Passion. Though he suffered greatly from bodily infirmities, he pressed on, walking barefoot to the holy sites and spending hours in vigil, his soul aflame with divine love. 

At the age of forty, his sanctity could no longer remain hidden. The Church called him forth from solitude, and he was ordained a priest in Jerusalem. To him was entrusted the sacred relics of the True Cross, that most precious wood upon which the salvation of mankind was wrought. Holding in his hands the instrument of Christ’s victory, he was made a custodian of the faith itself. 

BISHOP OF A PAGAN STRONGHOLD 

Though he desired only a life of obscurity, God's will was otherwise. In AD 395, he was chosen, against his protests, to be the Bishop of Gaza, a city steeped in idolatry and bitterly hostile to the Gospel. The Christian flock there was small and oppressed, outnumbered by the worshippers of the old gods who clung fiercely to their temples and rites. Yet, like the Apostle Paul sent to the heathen, St. Porphyry embraced his mission, trusting not in his own strength but in the power of Christ. 

The pagans of Gaza did not welcome their new bishop. They mocked him, scorned his teachings, and sought to drive him from their city. They would not allow him to build a church and obstructed his every effort to establish the faith. But St. Porphyry, like the righteous widow in the Gospel, was relentless in seeking justice. He traveled to Constantinople, where he gained the audience of Emperor Arcadius, and there he pleaded the cause of the faithful. By divine providence, his petition was granted: imperial decrees were issued, pagan temples were dismantled, and protection was afforded to the Church. 

Upon the ruins of the chief pagan temple - the very place where demons had been honored with sacrifices - St. Porphyry laid the foundation of a great Christian church. With his own hands, he carried stones for its construction, rejoicing that the altar of the true God would be raised in the midst of what was once a stronghold of idolatry. When at last the church was consecrated, he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass upon that hallowed ground, fulfilling the Psalmist’s words: “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands... They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. But Israel trusteth in the Lord: He is their help and their shield” (Psalm 115:4, 8-9). 

MIRACLES AND TRIUMPHS OF GRACE 

St. Porphyry’s ministry was marked by miracles. By his prayers, the sick were healed, the possessed were freed, and the hearts of men were turned to Christ. Many, seeing the power of the Gospel at work, forsook their idols and received baptism. His patience and meekness won over even the hardest of hearts, and slowly, the city of Gaza, once a fortress of paganism, became a bastion of the Christian faith. 

Yet opposition never ceased entirely. Until the end of his days, the saint endured slander and persecution from those who resented the triumph of Christ. But he remained steadfast, bearing all things for the sake of his flock. His heart, conformed to the love of his Master, never wavered in its desire to see the fullness of the Gospel take root in every soul. 

At last, in AD 420, worn by his labors and consumed by his love for Christ, St. Porphyry fell asleep in the Lord. He had fought the good fight, he had finished the race, he had kept the faith. His body was laid to rest in the very city that once rejected him, now a city adorned with churches, filled with the praises of the faithful. 

LEGACY 

St. Porphyry of Gaza stands as a beacon of apostolic zeal and unwavering faith. In his life, we see the triumph of Christ over the powers of darkness, the transformation of a city by the persistence of a single soul aflame with divine love. He teaches us that the Church is not built upon human strength, but upon the Rock of Christ, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. 

Through his intercessions, may we, too, be found faithful in the trials set before us, that we may rejoice with him in the unshakable kingdom of our God. 

COLLECT

O God, who didst call thy servant Porphyry from the riches of this world unto the treasures of thy heavenly kingdom, and didst make him a faithful bishop, that he might turn the hearts of the heathen unto thee: Grant that, by his holy intercession, we may ever despise the vain idols of this life, and cleave steadfastly unto thy truth; that, being fortified by thy grace, we may boldly confess thy Name before all men, and labor for the increase of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.