26-го числа

Our Holy Father Porfiry, Bishop of Gaza St. Porphyry was from the Greek city of Thessalonica, born around 346; had rich parents, received a good education. From a young age, feeling a calling to monastic life, in the 25th year of his life he left his family and homeland and went to Egypt, where, settling in a monastery on Mount Nitria, he labored there for several years under the leadership of the great ascetic Macarius of Egypt. I also had the opportunity to benefit from the conversations of Blessed Jerome, who was visiting Egyptian monasteries at that time, and partly under their influence, Porfiry decided to go to Palestine to worship the holy places marked by traces of the earthly life of the Savior. Having satisfied this desire of his God-loving soul, he settled in one desert, in the vicinity of the Jordan; He lived here in a cave for five years, spending his time in feats of prayer and strict fasting. At this time he became seriously ill; To be healed of his illness, he wished to go to Jerusalem, where he arrived with great difficulty and settled here. Despite his illness, Porfiry did not miss a single day without visiting the Church of the Resurrection of the Savior, and tirelessly walked around places reminiscent of any of the Gospel events; When, due to illness, he could not walk, he crawled on his knees, falling with love to the shrine cherished by the Christian... One day, when he was lying in complete relaxation and oblivion at the foot of Calvary, the Lord responded to the zeal of His servant with a saving dream. Porfiry saw Jesus Christ come down from the cross and turn to him with the words: “Take this tree and keep it”... Waking up, he felt healthy; the words of the Savior soon came true: Porfiry, who had long attracted the attention of the Patriarch of Jerusalem with his ascetic life, was ordained by him to the rank of presbyter and made guardian of the Venerable Tree of the Holy Cross, acquired by Queen Helena. This dream, reported by Porfiry himself, is known from the descriptor of Porfiry’s life, Deacon Mark, who, while still a young monk and seeing Porfiry’s work during his stay in Jerusalem, became mentally attached to him and began to serve him. - The same Mark, on behalf of Porfiry, went to his home city of Thessalonica - to divide between Porphyry’s brothers the inheritance left to them after the death of their parents, and brought the part that should go to Porphyry’s share to Jerusalem. This inheritance, about 4,000 gold coins, was used by the non-covetous Porfiry for the benefit of the needy and for the decoration of churches. He made no use of it for himself personally; accustomed to earning his daily bread by his own labors, he, guided by the example and testament of St. The Apostle Paul: “If anyone does not want to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10), continued to support himself by making leather for tents. The presbytery turned out to be only a transitional stage, a preparatory step for Porfiry's higher service - in the rank of bishop. In 895, when the bishop of the few local Christians died in the city of Gaza, they went to Caesarea in Palestine to Metropolitan John, under whose jurisdiction the city of Gaza was, and asked to appoint for them a bishop who could, in word and deed, oppose the pagans who made up the majority of the population of this city and were hostile to Christians. With fasting and prayer, the Metropolitan began to elect a worthy bishop, and the Lord inspired him to call the Jerusalem priest Porfiry. With fear and trembling, the humble presbyter accepted his new appointment, sincerely recognizing himself as unworthy of such a high rank and hoping exclusively for God’s help. “With tears, he once again bowed to the Jerusalem shrine and the Life-giving Cross and, handing over to the patriarch the keys to the ark in which part of the Life-giving Tree was kept, he went to Caesarea with his disciples Mark and Baruch. They spent one night during the journey in Lydda, where the relics of St. Great Martyr George, and soon reached the city of Gaza, where they settled in the bishop's house. The inhabitants of Gaza were, for the most part, rude pagans who hated Christians. Having learned about the imminent arrival of the new bishop, they surrounded his path with all sorts of obstacles, threw thorns along the road, made holes, in a word, without even seeing him, they already declared themselves hostile. There were no more than three hundred Christians in the city. There were three churches in the city: one at the bishop’s house, another in the city and the third, in the name of St. Timofey - outside the city; meanwhile, there were many pagan public and private temples, and there were idols everywhere in the squares. A difficult field opened before St. Porfiry, but everything becomes easy and accessible for a humble worker under the guidance of God. The all-sufficient grace of God, called upon people by the prayer of a Christian shepherd, quickly began to act. The Lord wonderfully and visibly listened to her, sending down to the saint the means to enlighten and conquer the pagans. In the very year of the accession of St. Porphyry to manage the flock in Gaza, there was a drought in that area due to prolonged lack of rain, threatening crop failure and famine. The pagans at that time saw in Christians the cause of every social disaster, which they attributed to the wrath of the gods because Christians rejected them and did not honor them. No matter how, in this case, the idolaters propitiated their gods, no matter what sacrifices they made, offering prayers for an end to the drought, there was still no rain. Irritation seethed among the people and was ready to turn into an uprising against Christians and especially against their bishop. Christians were in danger. There were too few of them compared to the mass of embittered pagans. But doesn’t our mother, the holy Orthodox Church, a vigilant guardian of the destinies of her children, have provision for, and is not ready for, life-saving means for all kinds of disasters? It was to them that St. resorted. Porfiry. He commanded everyone to fast and, having gathered all the Christians with their wives and children into the church, he performed the all-night service, and in the morning, at the head of the Christians, he performed a religious procession around the city and a long public prayer service in one ancient country church. From here, with the singing of prayers, the saint led them to the tombs of the martyrs, whose relics rested there. And so, throughout the entire day until the evening, Christians fasted and prayed tirelessly. Returning to the city, they found the city gates locked: the pagans did not want to let them into the city. For some more time they stood in front of the gate, not weakening in patience, prayer and faith... And the Lord did not disgrace their hope... Suddenly a strong wind blew, clouds flew in and beneficial rain fell... “Christ has won!” - Many pagans, amazed and touched by this obvious miracle of God's help, exclaimed and hastened to open the gates, joined the Christians who entered the city, accompanied them to the church and immediately joined the community of believers. All those who believed then and were then baptized were 127 pagans, and 35 wives and 14 their children. Soon another 110 people converted to Christianity. But the rest of the pagans did not stop fighting against the Christians and the bishop. He prayed day and night for these people to turn to the true God... Resorting to God’s help, St. Porfiry did not shy away from human intercession. Taking care of protecting Christians from the pagans who insulted them, especially strong due to their superior numbers, St. Porfiry sent his deacon Mark to Constantinople to St. John Chrysostom, begging him to intercede with Emperor Arcadius to issue a decree that, while ensuring, on the one hand, greater freedom for Christians, would, on the other hand, prohibit pagans from solemnly performing their sacrifices in temples. Emperor Arcadius agreed to give a decree on the closure of the temples, but the nobleman Hilary, whom he sent to Gaza, whom the pagans managed to win over in their favor through various offerings, did not strictly adhere to the royal order, although he managed to somewhat curb the insolence of the pagans and protect the rights of Christians. Divine assistance to the saving influence of Saint Porphyry over the pagans was manifested, meanwhile, in saving and various ways. It happened that one of the noblest pagan women in Gaza, named Elijah, languished for a long time and intolerably waiting for relief from her burden. Prayers were made for her, sacrifices were made to the gods, doctors were called in, but everything was unsuccessful. Having learned about the situation of the sick woman from her nurse, a Christian woman, who attracted the attention of the merciful saint with sadness and tearful prayer for her mistress, St. Porfiry sent her to tell the sick person: Saint Porfiry says: Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, heals you; just believe in Him and you will live! - Indeed, having accepted these words with faith, Elijah was instantly relieved of her burden, and the birth of the baby and the recovery of his mother filled the house with the greatest joy, and everyone who was in it exclaimed: great is the Christian God, great is Saint Porfiry! Amazed by the miracle, Elijah and her husband, filled with gratitude and faith in the Savior, immediately received St. baptism; and together with them their relatives and other close ones turned to the faith of Christ - among 64 people. And many other healings and miracles were performed by St. Porfiry, with whom he won the hearts of the pagans, but this at the same time irritated the authorities in the pagan city even more against him; they began to oppress Christians, removed them from public positions, and burdened them with taxes. Then St. Porfiry, although always guided by the spirit of meekness and love, was unable to tolerate the triumphs of hostile pagans over innocent Christians, and decided to take stronger measures against the persecution of pagans. For this purpose, he himself went to Caesarea to see his Metropolitan John and persuaded him to go with him to Constantinople. Arriving in the capital, they appeared to Patriarch John Chrysostom and were introduced to the courtier Amantius, a devout man; he received them sympathetically and introduced them to the queen. Having asked for the blessing of the saints, having listened to their request, the empress promised to intercede for them before Emperor Arcadius, but Arcadius was again afraid to outrage the pagans by ordering the complete destruction of their temples. The Empress conveyed Arkady's refusal to the saints, but promised not to give up her assistance in favor of their sacred cause. “Work, empress, for the sake of Christ,” the saints asked her, “and the Lord for your work will give you a son who will reign before your eyes and live many years in all prosperity... The Empress was expecting relief from the burden at that time; having three daughters, she now strongly desired to have a son... And so, after a while, through the prayer of the saints, she actually had a son. The parents' joy was boundless. While performing the sacrament of St. baptism, during the procession with the baby, Emperor Arcadius, in the words of the chronicler, walked “with a face more radiant than the royal purple that was on him.” Attributing the fulfillment of her cherished desire to the prayers of the saints, the grateful empress was quite disposed to contribute to the satisfaction of their just request, but knowing that the emperor found it difficult for political reasons to irritate the pagans with decrees that violated their freedom in the matter of faith, she did not decide to ask him directly for what she could expect a refusal, but achieved success in a clever indirect way: she instructed the saints to prepare a written petition not only for the order to destroy idol temples, but also about granting Christians various benefits and about ensuring the maintenance of the very poor temples of the city of Gaza, and on the very day of the baptism of the royal baby, named Theodosius, recognized as co-ruler by the emperor, the queen ordered this petition to be conveyed to the dignitary carrying the newly baptized. She ordered the dignitary to place this petition in the arms of the baby and loudly proclaim: “His Majesty orders that everything that is asked here be fulfilled.” When the sacred ceremony was completed, the emperor-father received greetings from civil and military officials and the procession went to the royal chambers, then the empress, upon meeting her son, kissed him, turned to the sovereign and began to ask him to fulfill the first request submitted to him on this day of general joy... “This request is difficult,” said the emperor, having read the petition submitted to him, “but it would be even more difficult to refuse it, since this is the first command of our son...” and then, calling Saints John and Porphyry, he handed them a decree written on behalf of the two emperors. For the conscientious and precise execution of this decree, he sent to Gaza a man known for his piety, zealously devoted to justice - Kinegius. Empress Eudoxia, bidding farewell to the saints, instructed them to build a new church and a hospice house in Gaza, ordering them to give Porfiry 200 pounds for this. gold, to which Arkady added his generous donation. With great triumph, the Christians of Gaza greeted their bishop, who was returning from Constantinople with such success. Following him, Cynegius arrived with a detachment of troops and announced the imperial decree to the people. One can imagine the rage of the pagans at this. There was indignation among them, but the rebels were pacified by military force, and then the destruction of the churches began. On the site of the main one, it was decided to build a Christian church. After the prayer service, St. Porfiry himself began to carry the first stones for the foundation; the rest of the Christians followed his example. Thus, while singing psalms, the foundation of a new church was laid, Over time, marble columns were sent here by the empress. The temple was built over a period of five years; in 406, on the very day of Easter, consecration followed; During this time, the gracious archpastor managed to attract many pagans to the faith of Christ and, seeing his flock significantly increased on the day of the consecration of the majestic new temple, he said with inspiration: “I trust in the Lord that He will increase our flock and that this temple will eventually be insufficient for it; Christian teaching, as Divine, will grow more and more and multiply the number of believers.” And indeed Bishop Porfiry established Christianity in the city of Gaza and completely protected it from the opposition and oppression of the pagans. At the same time, he was distinguished by his love for the splendor of church services, zeal in preaching the Gospel teaching, peacefulness towards those who were hostile to his cause and to himself, non-covetousness and extreme mercy towards all those suffering and in need of help. He forever endeared himself to one of his devoted servants, Deacon Baruch, by the fact that when Baruch, once sent to a nearby pagan village to receive money for renting church land, was beaten by the pagans and thrown dead by them outside the village, Saint Porfiry himself lifted him up, lying unconscious on the ground, and he himself cared for him during his serious illness. With compassion and mercy, he aroused general love for himself, and so great was the voluntary subordination of the people to him that when pagan temples were destroyed and burned, then, in obedience to his saint, none of the people dared to touch the jewels of the pagan temples, and everyone always appeared at his call for public prayer, which the saint always appointed before any public matter, ensuring that the flock joined in their participation in all matters. church life. On February 26, 421, St. died peacefully. Porfiry from the labors of his earthly life. His holy relics rest to this day under the cover of the church he built in Gaza. In 415 St. was present. Porphyry at the Council of Antioch, which condemned the Pelagian heresy. St. Martyr John Kalfa 339 In the second half of the 16th century, the architect John Kalfa lived in Galata (a part of Constantinople inhabited by traders of all nations). He was a modest, pious man, distinguished by extreme warmth of heart. For example, he cared diligently for orphans, loved to unite them in marriage, freed prisoners in prison and helped everyone in need to the best of his ability. The blessing of God could not but rest on such a person who, in complete simplicity of heart, holyly fulfilled the majestic commandment of Christ: “love God and your neighbor,” and was rewarded by God with the highest fate of His elect... By rank, an architect, John, showing himself to be zealous in every matter, achieved great skill in his practice of architecture. Therefore, the richest dignitaries turned to him to build their houses, and he was entrusted with decorating the interior decorations of the Sultan’s palace itself. One day, one Aga, wanting his nephew, who had arrived from Anatolia, to learn the art of architecture, turned to John, who was reputed to be an excellent architect, with a request to teach his nephew. John accepted this boy as his disciple. Often coming to the palace with his teacher, the boy met and became acquainted here with his peers who lived in the palace; he saw that it was good for him to live here, and wished that he too would be allowed to live with the other boys in the palace. Aga asked John to help him fulfill the boy's wish; the good man did not refuse his petition on this matter, which turned out to be successful. Over time, this disciple of John received an honorable position in the palace and, feeling gratitude and affection for his teacher, constantly maintained good relations with him. One day he asked John the following question: “You, a well-read and learned man, please tell me what is written in your books about our prophet, for whom God created the world and everything that exists in it?” Acting at first under the impression of ordinary prudence, John was not inclined to touch on the subject of his faith in a conversation with the Mohammedan youth; as if foreseeing that he would not convince him of the truth, and therefore considering the conversation useless: “I beg you,” he answered the young man, “do not bother me with such questions; if you want to talk to me about anything else, then let's talk; Don’t just ask me about faith.”... “I swear to you by the royal bread that I eat, and by our sincere friendship, that I will not cause you the slightest harm,” the young man continued to ask. With these words, John forgot everyday caution, they touched the most living feeling in him - his Christian faith... Could reason close in silence the lips called to confess the truth... If you are already asking so insistently,” he said to the young man, “then I will reveal to you the whole truth... There is only one true God, this is our Lord Jesus Christ, and Mohammed, in whom you believe, was an ordinary person, even an unlearned one, who in his entire life did not do any particularly good deed, did not perform a single miracle, such as the prophets revered by us Christians performed. You alone call Mohammed great and recognize him as a prophet. I swear by Christ, the King of Heaven, that he is not only not a prophet, but an enemy of God. He only managed to deceive and please the simple and rude people with his inventions and captivated them, as it was predicted about him that he would come to seduce the world... The truth poured out into the open, past all worldly considerations, and it was followed by a phenomenon common in clashes between the Christian world and the Mohammedan world. Blinded by the false teaching of the prophet, which had penetrated the whole mass of humanity with such deep roots, the young Mohammedan could not accommodate the truth of Christ in his heart... It seemed alien to him and, whether under the influence of the torturing of people who were unkind to John Calf, or prompted by his own frivolity and cowardice, he treacherously betrayed his teacher, telling his fellow believers about the blasphemy against Mohammed that he had heard from John. Then John began to be tortured, beaten, imprisoned, and forced to renounce Christ. “I will not renounce my sweetest Jesus Christ,” the martyr objected unshakably, “I believe in Him, I worship Him and confess Him as a perfect God and a perfect man.”... John languished at hard labor for six months, then again suffered torture in prison, and was finally sentenced to death. He was beheaded in the trading square in Ergat Bazar, near Besestani, on February 26, 1575. Martyrdom of St. John Kalfa is described with historical authenticity by Father Andrei, the great steward, who then served in Vlankom, at the church of the venerable Theodore and Theophan the hymn-writers, and communed the martyr St. Secrets in prison. Turkish word: Kalfa means architect.