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Life of St Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza

Mark the Deacon, tr. Hill, 1913

Chapter 57

When he heard these things our holy Porphyry awoke, and calling us related the things that he had seen in his sleep. And straightway calling the owner of the ship we said unto him: ‘Dost thou wish that thy ship should be saved, and all we and before all things thine own soul? ‘And he saith, ‘Of this there is no question.’ And the bishops said unto him: ‘Deny thine evil faith and believe on the true faith, and be saved, thou and thy ship and all of us.’ The owner of the ship saith unto them: ‘Since I see that ye have foreknowledge (for ye have understood that which is in my heart although no man hath informed you), behold I say unto you: I believe as ye believe and I deny the heresy of Arius and Arius himself. But I beseech you that when there is time ye show me the light out of the Holy Scriptures unto the true faith.’ And the holy bishops took and sealed him again, making a prayer over him, and made him also to partake of the divine mysteries.¹ And in the meanwhile also the tempest ceased and toward evening the wind turned, and we sailed fairly, and having spent on the sea other four days, on the fifth² at dawn we came unto the seaport of the land of the Gazaeans, which they call Maiumas.

Notes

the divine mysteries. That the materials for the Eucharist were carried on board ship by the faithful is shown by Saint Ambrose (de excessu fratris sui Satyri, i. 43); Gregor. Magn. Dial. iii. 36, and cp. the note in Migne on the former. Since the converted Arian was allowed to communicate, the first stage of signing with the Cross was evidently allowed, in this emergency, to qualify him, although under ordinary circumstances he would have had to wait until he had been fully baptized. Or is Mark using ἀνασφραγίζειν here in the sense of ‘re-baptize’?
on the fifth. i.e. May 1, 402.