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An icon of Saint Porphyrius of Gaza as a bishop holding the Gospel book, a walled city behind him, painted by Osip Chirikov

Saint Porphyrius of Gaza

Bishop of pagan Gaza, where a church rose on the site of the temple of Marnas

Western calendar
26 February
Orthodox calendar
26 February (11 March on the old calendar)

Porphyrius came from Thessalonica and spent five years as a monk in the Egyptian desert and five more in a cave by the Jordan, and in 392 he was ordained priest at Jerusalem and given the relic of the Holy Cross to keep. In 395 he became Bishop of Gaza, a stronghold of the old gods where the Christians had only three churches, and he pleaded with the emperor until an imperial order came for the city's temples to be destroyed. A church rose on the site of the temple of Marnas, and he died at Gaza on 26 February 420.

Sources

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We began with the saints people search for most, by name, by need and by date, along with the apostles and the saints Orthodox Christians look for. Then we made sure every day of the year has at least one saint. That gives 378 so far, and we keep adding the saints readers ask for.

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