Part 35

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.

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.

SS. JULIAN, CHRONION, AND BESAS, MM.

(A.D. 250.)

[Roman Martyrology; but some on Feb. 19th; by the Greeks on Oct. 30th. Authority:--The contemporary letters by Dionysius, B. of Alexandria, to Germanus, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. vi., c. 41.]

Saint Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, in a letter describing the sufferings of his church during the persecutions of Decius, after having lamented the apostacy of some, adds: "But others remained firm and blessed pillars of the Lord, confirmed by the Lord himself, and receiving of Him strength suited to their measure of faith, proved admirable witnesses of His kingdom. The first of these was Julian, a man afflicted with the gout, neither able to walk nor to stand, who, with two others that carried him, was arraigned. Of these, the one immediately denied his faith, but the other, named Chronion, surnamed Eunus, and the aged Julian himself, having confessed the Lord, were carried on camels through the whole city, a very large one, as you know, and were scourged, and finally consumed in an immense fire, in the midst of a crowd of spectators. But a soldier, named Besas, standing near, having opposed the insolence of the multitude whilst these martyrs were on the way to execution, was assailed by them with loud shouts, and this brave soldier of God, after he had excelled in the great conflict of piety, was beheaded."

Relics at Autun.

S. GELASIUS, M.

(A.D. 297.)

[Greek Menæa. Authority:--The Chronicon Alexandrinum, or Chron. Paschale, under date 269 from the Ascension, which is equivalent to 297 of the vulgar era. In this Chronicle he is called Gelasinus. Theodoret may, perhaps, allude to him, when he says that some have passed from the stage of the theatre to the ranks of the martyrs. Du curand Græc. Affect., Serm. 8. Much the same circumstances are related of S. Genesius (Aug. 25th), who suffered about 286, unless both are the same; Gelasius in the West becoming Genesius by a slight change of liquids.]

Gelasius was a comic actor, the second clown of the theatre at Heliopolis, in Phoenicia. One day, on the stage was performed a parody of Christian rites for the amusement of the heathen spectators. A large bathing tub was introduced on the stage, filled with warm water, and the clown, Gelasius, was dipped in it, the other clown pronouncing over him the sacramental words. When he rose from the bath, and was vested in white, it was observed that a change had come over him; the jesting air and laugh were gone, and a solemn expression had overspread his countenance. "I am a Christian," said he; "in the font I saw a dazzling light. Therefore, I will die as a Christian." As soon as the audience became aware that he spoke in sober earnest, the theatre became a scene of wild tumult, the people deserted their seats, and rushed on the stage, and dragged the poor actor forth, clothed in his white robe, and stoned him to death outside the theatre. His body was transported to the village of Mariamnia, near Heliopolis, of which he was a native, and an oratory was erected by the Christians over his tomb.

S. HONORINA, V. M.

(DATE UNKNOWN.)

[Some Gallican Martyrologies.]

Nothing whatever is known of this saint. The author of the history of the translation of her relics to Conflans, near Pontoise, a short distance from Paris, says that her virtues, her merits, and her mode of passion, are utterly unknown. So also is the date of her death. The relics were translated about the year A.D. 912. As an instance of the manner in which confusion has arisen in the lives and acts of martyrs of an early date, it is deserving of mention that in the church of Quimper, the Matin lections for the feast of S. Honorina are portions of the Acts of S. Dorothea, transferred to Feb. 27th, to do duty for the unrecorded S. Honorina.

S. THALELÆUS, H.

(ABOUT A.D. 460.)

[Greek Menæa. No commemoration in Western Church. Authority:--Theodoret, Philothaeus, c. xxviii.]

"Not only have I heard of this man from others," says Theodoret, "but I saw him myself." Thalelæus erected for his habitation a small hut against an idol shrine, near Gabala, to which many people resorted, and where they offered sacrifice to devils. The evil spirits, enraged at his thus assaulting them in their sanctuary, endeavoured by hideous clamours and frightful apparitions, to scare the Christian hermit away; but every effort of demons and idolaters to drive him from this shrine proved ineffectual. Thalelæus succeeded in converting many who came as votaries to the temple, and persuaded them to bend their necks to the sweet yoke of Christ's law. With many of these converts Theodoret conversed. After that Thalelæus had lived thus a while, he devised for himself a strange and horrible penance. He made two wheels, and then joined them by pieces of wood into a species of barrel, but open between the bars. He enclosed himself within this case, which was so low that his chin rested on his knees, and remained therein for many years. He had been ten years in it when Theodoret saw him. This frightful self-immolation is by no means to be regarded as deserving of imitation. But it was called forth by peculiar circumstances, and for a special purpose. The rude people of Syria could be impressed no other way. To win these souls from heathenism this phase of the ascetic life was evoked, it served its purpose, and passed away.

S. LEANDER, B. OF HISPALA.

(ABOUT A.D. 596.)

[Roman Martyrology, and those of Usuardus, Notker, Ado, and Bede; but by the Spanish Church and Mozarabic Kalendar, followed by the Bollandists, on March 13th. Authorities:--His own writings, the letters of S. Gregory the Great, and early Spanish histories.]

This illustrious friend of the great S. Gregory, this apostle of the Visigoths, was of illustrious birth. His father, Severian duke of Carthagena, and mother, Turtura, of royal Ostrogoth blood, had three sons and two daughters. The sons were, S. Leander, S. Fulgentius, B. of Ecija, and S. Isidore, who succeeded Leander as archbishop of Seville. The daughters were S. Florentina, abbess of fifty convents, and the princess Theodosia, married to king Leovigild, who became the mother of the illustrious martyr, S. Hermenigild.

From his boyhood, Leander was regarded as endowed with singular eloquence and power of fascinating others. He retired, when young, from the world, and took the religious habit in a monastery of Seville, where he gained so great a reputation that, on the archiepiscopal see becoming vacant, he was elected to it by the unanimous voice of clergy and people.

Leovigild, his brother-in-law, then reigned over the Visigoth kingdom, in Spain, and openly professed Arianism. This caused great embarrassment to Leander, who used every effort to confirm the Catholics in their faith, and to oppose the heretics at every point. He was sent on an embassy from the Catholics to the emperor Tiberius, at Constantinople, where he made the acquaintance of S. Gregory the Great, then cardinal-deacon of Pope Pelagius II., who had sent him at this time on the affairs of the church, to the imperial court. The warmest attachment sprang up between these two great men, and it was at the instance of S. Leander, that S. Gregory wrote his famous "Morals of the Book of Job." When their business was concluded, both saints returned to their country, S. Gregory to Italy, and S. Leander to Spain, where he succeeded in converting prince Hermenigild, his nephew, the eldest son of king Leovigild. This placed the Catholics in great danger. The king, in an explosion of rage, executed his son on Easter-day, 586, and began a furious persecution of the Church. S. Leander and his brother, S. Fulgentius, together with several other bishops, were exiled, and the king seized on the property and revenues of the Church, and, adding cruelty to robbery, put several nobles to death, and confiscated their lands.

S. Leander, though exiled, warred with his pen against the Arian heresy, and wrote two works confuting the errors of Arianism, and a third book answering objections which had been raised against his arguments.

The persecution did not last long, for in the following year, 587, Leovigild, finding himself about to die, recalled the Catholic bishops, and commended his son, Recared, to the care of S. Leander. Thus, to use the words of S. Gregory, Recared, following not the perfidy of his father, an Arian, but the faith of his martyred brother, was brought himself, and the whole nation of the Visigoths, to the true faith.

In the third council of Toledo, 589, the archbishop of Seville presiding, a solemn declaration of the consubstantiality of the Divine Persons was drawn up, and signed by the king, Recared, and his queen, Badda, daughter of king Arthur, of Britain. Next year another synod was held at Seville, in which he presided, to establish the complete conversion of the nation from Arianism to the true faith.

S. Leander died in 596, on March 13th, and his body was laid in the church of SS. Justus and Rufina. His relics are now preserved in a chapel of the Cathedral church.

In art, S. Leander appears with (1) a flaming heart in his hand, to represent his zeal for the conversion of the Visigoths, but this is a symbol used for a multitude of other saints; or with (2) a pen; or (3) with Recared or Hermenigild as a boy at his side.

S. BALDOMER, SUBD., C.

(ABOUT A.D. 660.)

[Roman Martyrology, and those of Bede, Usuardus, Ado, Notker, &c. Authority:--An ancient epitome of his life, pub. by the Bollandists. In French he is called _S. Garmier_ or _S. Germier_.]