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Life of St Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza

Mark the Deacon, tr. Hill, 1913

Chapter 8

But I, when I had heard these things, marvelled exceedingly, and glorified God, who ever sheweth mercy unto them that call upon him, and much more unto them that truly and sincerely pray to him.

But from thenceforth I did more diligently serve¹ the man (for I held him to be verily the servant of God). And when I had restored unto him all the things that I had brought, I abode with him, serving him and enjoying his spiritual conversation. For he was verily a blameless man, very meek, pitiful, having also, if ever any man, skill to judge the Holy Scripture and to resolve the hard questions therein (nay, neither was he lacking in outward learning),² answering and stopping the mouths of unbelievers and heretics, a lover of the poor, compassionate, easily moved to tears, honouring old men as fathers,³ and young men as brethren, and little ones as his own children, behaving himself gently, and lowly in spirit and in speech,⁴ not for a pretence but in truth (for there was no guile ⁵ in him), exceeding temperate, so that he was delivered utterly from all passions,⁶ knowing not anger, remembering not evil, letting not the sun go down upon his wrath,⁷ having all his passions dead, save only that indignation which he stirred up against the enemies of the faith.

Notes

did more diligently serve. περισσότερον οἰκονομήθην εἰς. This seems to be the sense (through οἰκονόμος in the sense of a steward); Mark became his ‘familiar’.
outward learning, τῆς ἔξωθεν παιδείας, the learning of this world.
Cp. 1 Tim. v. 1.
in spirit and in speech, τὸ ἦθος (character) καὶ τὸν λόγον (its expression in language), οὐκ ἐν προσποιήσει ἀλλ᾽ ἀληθείᾳ (the reading of H).
Cp. John i. 47.
from all passions. See the note on c. 101.
Cp. Eph. iv. 26.