Porphyry of Gaza

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'Porphyry of Gaza'

*Titles (see Hierarchy definition* above)**
Born	c. 347, Thessalonica, Macedonia
Died	26 February 420, Gaza
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	?
Canonized	?
Major shrine	?
Feast	26 February
Attributes	?
Patronage	?
Prayer to St. Porphyry

Saint Porphyry (347–420), bishop of Gaza 395 - 420, was canonized for Christianizing the recalcitrant pagan city of Gaza.

His deacon, Marcus Diaconis (Marcus the Deacon) wrote a contemporary vita of Porphyry that chronicles in some detail events which, except that they were performed under the direction of a Christian bishop, would be termed official vandalism.

Porphyry, the canonized bishop of Gaza sent Marcus, his deacon and chronicler, to Constantinople in 398, to obtain an order to close the pagan temples of Gaza. The people of Gaza were so hostile to the Christians that the Christian church had been built outside the walls, at a safe distance, and the Christian bishops of the 4th century were specifically termed "bishops of the churches about Gaza." The Christian community then scarcely numbered 200 in Gaza, according to the vita of Porphyry, and the community-at-large resisted the closing of temples and smashing of sculpture— the "idols" of Christian literature— which was under way in more Christianized regions. The contemporary treatment of the Serapion of Alexandria in 391 was followed soon after by the destruction of the temples of Heliopolis and Apameia. The decree was granted by the emperor, and the temples closed, with the exception of the Marneion, the temple sacred to Zeus Marnas, who was the local Hellenistic incarnation of Dagon, the patron of agriculture, a god who had been worshipped in the Levant since the third millennium BCE. This temple had been rebuilt under the direction of Hadrian, who visited Gaza; it was represented on the Gaza coins of Hadrian himselfTo one of Hadrian's visits, also, we may conjecturally assign the foundation of the great temple of the god Marnas, which Mark describes with a mixture of pride and abhorrence. For the temple is first represented on the coins of Hadrian himself. The ' Olympian ' Emperor who founded the great temple of Zeus on the sacred mountain Gerizim of the Samaritans would not be slow to recognize the claims of the Cretan Zeus of the Gazaeans. It is said that after the suppression of a revolt of the Jews in 119 AD, Hadrian selected Gaza as the place at which to sell his Jewish captives; the Gazaeans doubtless appreciated this privilege.

There was no great change, however, in the sentiments of the people; so bishop Porphyry decided to strike a decisive blow. He went himself to Constantinople during the winter of 401-402, accompanied by the bishop of Caesarea Palaestina, and together they convinced the Empress Eudoxia, who was the dominant force at the court of Arcadius, to prevail upon the Emperor and obtain from him a decree for the destruction of the pagan temples at Gaza. Cynegius, a special imperial envoy, executed the decree in May, 402. Eight temples, those of Aphrodite, Hecate, the Sun, Apollo, Kore (Persephone), Tyche (Tychaion), the shrine of a hero (Heroeion), and even the Marneion, were either pulled down or burnt."And there were also other very many idols in the houses and in the villages," Marcus relates, but the upper class who had such things had fled from the city in advance. Simultaneously soldiers, who were billeted in the vacated houses visited every house, seizing and burning the idols and private libraries as "books of magic". The Marneion was set afire with pitch, sulfur and fat; it continued to burn for many days; stones of the Marneion were triumphantly reused for paving the streets.

Directly upon the ruins of the Marneion was erected, at the expense of the empress, a large church called the Eudoxiana in her honor, which was dedicated April 14, 407. Thus with violence, paganism officially ceased to exist in Gaza. The Christian regime lasted over two centuries: when the forces of Islam swept through in 635, they were met with scant resistance from the local population.