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Life of St Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza

Mark the Deacon, tr. Hill, 1913

Chapter 43

Then saith she unto the most holy bishops: ‘Pray ye, Fathers, that according to your words by God’s will I may bring forth the male child, and if this come to pass, I promise you to do all that ye ask. And another thing which ye did not ask I purpose to do, with Christ’s will; for I will found a holy church in Gaza in the midmost of the city. Depart ye, therefore, in peace and abide quietly, praying continually for me that my travail may be happy; for this is the ninth month¹ and it is nigh to be fulfilled.’ So the bishops having taken their leave and commended her to God went forth from the palace. And prayer was made that she should bring forth a male child; for we trusted in the words of the holy Procopius, the anchorite. And we went daily to the most holy John, the archbishop,² and enjoyed his holy words, which were sweeter than honey and the honey-comb.³ And Amantius the chamberlain came continually to us, sometimes bringing us answers from the Empress, and sometimes for the sake of our conversation.

Notes

this is the ninth month. The same had been said by Procopius about October 6 (c. 34). Therefore Theodosius must have been born late in October or early in November. Eudoxia had so far borne: (1) Flaccilla, 397; (2) Saint Pulcheria, 399; (3) Arcadia, 400. The last was born on April 3, 400; therefore if Theodosius was born in October or November, it must have been, not in 400 (as has been supposed), but in 401, which entirely agrees with the rest of the chronology of Mark’s narrative. The whole question is ably worked out by Nuth, pp. 12 f.
the most holy John, the archbishop. Saint John Chrysostom is not mentioned again, probably because he went to Asia Minor to inquire into the charges against Antoninus, Bishop of Ephesus. This he must have done in the winter of 401-2, not early in 400 as generally supposed. See Nuth, pp. 14 f.
Cp. Ps. xix. 10 [xviii. 11].