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Life of St Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza
Mark the Deacon, tr. Hill, 1913
Chapter 49
But when the child came into the Palace, the Lady met him and received and kissed him, and taking him up greeted the Emperor also, saying: ‘Blessed art thou, my Lord, because of the things that thine eyes have seen in thy lifetime.’ And the Emperor rejoiced when he heard her. And the Empress, seeing that he was glad, said: ‘If it please thee, let us learn what is contained in the petition, that the things that are therein may be fulfilled.’ And the Emperor bade read the paper, and when it was read, he said: ‘Hard indeed is the request to perform, but harder to refuse,1 since it is even the first command of our son.’ And the Lady saith unto him: ‘Not his first command only, but arrayed in this holy garment2 hath he given it, and the petition is made for the sake of piety and of holy men.’ But the Emperor consented hardly, though the lady was very instant with him. All these things did Amantius, beloved of God, report unto us.
Notes
- harder to refuse. Reading βαρυτέρα δὲ ἡ παραίτησις with H and the Paris Epitome.
- this holy garment. The white baptismal dress worn by the baptized for a week (cp. c. 101, p. 109, and see Usener, Legenden der Pelagia, p. 48).