Porphyry of Gaza
bishop of Gaza and Byzantine saint
Feast: 26 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Porphyry, born at Thessalonica, lived five years in the desert of Scete and five in a cave by the Jordan, and gave all his inherited property to monasteries and the poor. Ordained in 392, he was entrusted with the relic of the Holy Cross.
In 395 he became Bishop of Gaza, a pagan stronghold with few Christians, where he endured hostility and built a church on the site of the temple of Marnas. He died at Gaza on 26 February 420.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A hermit who became the bishop of a pagan city.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Porphyrius
- Wikidata Q1283669 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Saint Porphyrius (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.