PORPHYRIUS THE ACTOR

On September 28 (15), the Church celebrates the memory of the holy martyr Porphyrius the Actor. According to his life, Porphyrius was formerly a professional court artist. When Julian the Apostate (361–363) came to power in the Roman Empire, theatrical performances began to have a clearly anti-Christian character. In his policies, Julian tried to remove Christians from the public sphere and tried to publicly mock Christianity in everything.

In one of the roles in the play on the occasion of the emperor’s birthday, Porfiry was to portray the Holy Baptism. But at the moment of pronouncing the secret formula, “the servant of God Porfirшus is baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” grace touched the actor’s heart. Coming out of the font onto the stage, he openly and with sincere conviction proclaimed himself a Christian. Indignant, Julian subjected him to torture and, for refusing to return to paganism, ordered him to be beheaded. Before the execution itself, great signs occurred through the martyr’s prayers. Just before the execution, through the prayers of the martyr, great signs occurred in the conversion of those around him to faith.

The story of the martyrdom of Saint Porphyrius has a hagiographic and also an important dogmatic component. The Saint was one of those whom we can call “last minute martyrs.” The faith of the Church teaches us that the grace of God can touch the heart of every person even at the very last moment of earthly life. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians, teaches us “to judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then will each one have praise from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

The grace of faith until the last breath, as well as the grace to believe at the last moment, is called in theology “the gift of perseverance”. In the history of the Church, this topic was first revealed in the first half of the 5th century in the teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and in the debates on grace against the error of the monk Pelagius and his disciples. The Church constantly prays for this gift of constancy, for believers and for those who are still far from faith, in her prayers.