ypt, where he consecrated himself to God in a famous monastery in
the desert of Scete. 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 leave that
place and return to Jerusalem. There he never failed daily to visit
devoutly all the holy places, leaning on a staff, for he was too weak to
stand upright. It happened about the same time that Mark, an Asiatic,
and the author of his life, came to Jerusalem with the same intent,
where he made some stay. He was much edified at the devotion with which
Porphyrius continually visited the place of our Lord's resurrection, and
the other oratories. And seeing him one day labor with great pain in
getting up the stairs in the chapel built by Constantine, he ran to him
to offer him his assistance, which Porphyrius refused, saying: "It is
not just that I who am come hither to beg pardon for my sins, should be
eased by any one: rather let me undergo some labor and inconvenience
that God, beholding it, may have compassion on me." He, in this
condition, never omitted his usual visits of piety to the holy places,
and daily partook of the mystical table, that is, of the holy sacrament.
And as to his distemper, so much did he contemn it, that he seemed to be
sick in another's body and not in his own. His confidence in God always
supported him. The only thing which afflicted him was, that his fortune
had not been sold before this 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 for his
safe and speedy return. But Porphyrius was now so well recovered, that
Mark scarce knew him to be the same person; for his body had no signs of
its former decay, and his face looked full, fresh, and painted with a
healthy red. He, perceiving his friend's amazement at his healthy looks,
said to him 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 is despaired of by men." Mark asked him by what
means h