Latest / William Blake / Life of St. Hilarion-Saint Jerome

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Life of St. Hilarion-Saint Jerome · William Blake

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  Speaker 1: The Life of Saint Hilarian, Chapters one through fifteen by
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  Speaker 1: Saint Jerome, translated by Philip Shave. This is a lirivox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or a volunteer, please visit lirivox dot org. Before
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  Speaker 1: I begin to write the Life of the Blessed Hilarian,
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  Speaker 1: I invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit, who dwelt
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  Speaker 1: in him, that he who bestowed upon the Saint his virtues,
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  Speaker 1: may grant me such powers as speech to relate them,
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  Speaker 1: that my words may be adequate to his deeds. For
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  Speaker 1: the virtue of those who have done great deeds is
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  Speaker 1: esteemed in proportion to the ability with which it has
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  Speaker 1: been praised by men of genius. Alexander the Great of Macedon,
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  Speaker 1: who was spoken of by Daniel as the ram or
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  Speaker 1: the panther, or the he goat, on reaching the grave
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  Speaker 1: of Achilles, exclaimed, happy youth, to have the privilege of
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  Speaker 1: a great herald of your worth. Meaning, of course, Homer, I, however,
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  Speaker 1: have to tell the story of the life and conversation
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  Speaker 1: of a man so renowned that even Homer, were he here,
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  Speaker 1: would either envy me. The theme or prove unequal to it.
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  Speaker 1: It is true that the holy man Epiphianius, Bishop of
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  Speaker 1: Salamus in Cyprus, who had much intercourse with Hilarian, set
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  Speaker 1: forth his praises in a short but widely circulated letter.
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  Speaker 1: Yet it is one thing to praise the dead in
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  Speaker 1: general terms, another to relate their characteristic virtues. And so we,
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  Speaker 1: in taking up the work begun by him, do him
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  Speaker 1: service rather than wrong. We despise the abuse of some, who,
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  Speaker 1: as they once disparaged my hero Paulus, will now perhaps
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  Speaker 1: disparage Hilarian. The former they censured for his solitary life,
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  Speaker 1: they might find faults with the latter for his discourse
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  Speaker 1: with the world. The one was always out of sight,
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  Speaker 1: therefore they think he had no existence. The other was
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  Speaker 1: seen by many. Therefore he is deemed of no account.
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  Speaker 1: It is just what their ancestors, the Pharisees, did of old.
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  Speaker 1: They were not pleased with John fasting in the desert,
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  Speaker 1: nor with our Lord and Savior in the busy throng,
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  Speaker 1: eating and drinking. But I put my hand to the
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  Speaker 1: work on which I had resolved, and go on my way,
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  Speaker 1: closing my ears to the barking of Scyllah's hounds. The
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  Speaker 1: birthplace of Hillarian was the village the Batha, situated about
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  Speaker 1: five miles to the south of Gaza, a city of Palestine.
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  Speaker 1: His parents were idolaters, and therefore, as the saying is,
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  Speaker 1: the rose blossomed on the thorn by them. He was
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  Speaker 1: committed to the charge of a grammarian at Alexandria, where
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  Speaker 1: so far as his age allowed, he gave proofs of
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  Speaker 1: remarkable ability and character, and in a short time endeared
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  Speaker 1: himself to all and became an accomplished speaker. More important
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  Speaker 1: than all this, he was a believer in the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: and took no delight in the madness of the circus,
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  Speaker 1: the blood of the arena, the excess of the theater.
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  Speaker 1: His whole pleasure was in the assemblies of the church.
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  Speaker 1: At that time he heard of the famous name Antony,
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  Speaker 1: which was in the mouth of all the races of Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: He was fired with a desire to see him, and
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  Speaker 1: set out for the desert. He no sooner saw him
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  Speaker 1: than he changed his former mode of life, and abode
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  Speaker 1: with him about two months, studying the method of his life,
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  Speaker 1: than the gravity of his conduct. His assuidity in prayer,
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  Speaker 1: his humility in his dealings with his brethren, his severity
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  Speaker 1: in rebuke, his earnestness and exhortation. He noted too that
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  Speaker 1: the Saint would never, on account of bodily weakness, break
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  Speaker 1: his rule of abstinence, or deviate from the plainness of
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  Speaker 1: his food. At last, unable to endure any longer the
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  Speaker 1: crowds of those who visited the Saint because of various
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  Speaker 1: afflictions or the assaults of demons, and deeming it a
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  Speaker 1: strange anomaly that he should have to bear in the
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  Speaker 1: desert the crowds of the cities, he thought it was
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  Speaker 1: better for him to begin as Antony had begun. He said,
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  Speaker 1: Anthony is reapening the reward of victory, like a hero
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  Speaker 1: who has proved his bravery. I have not entered on
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  Speaker 1: the soldier's career. He therefore returned with certain monks to
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  Speaker 1: his country and his parents, being now dead, give part
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  Speaker 1: of his property to his brothers, part to the poor,
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  Speaker 1: keeping nothing at all for himself. For he remembered with
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  Speaker 1: awe the passage and the acts of the Apostles, and
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  Speaker 1: dreaded the example and punishment of Anonius and Sephira. Above all,
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  Speaker 1: he was mindful of the Lord's words. Whosoever he be
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  Speaker 1: of you, that renounceth not all he hath, he cannot
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  Speaker 1: be my disciple. At this time he was about fifteen
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  Speaker 1: years old. Accordingly, stripped bare and armed with the weapons
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, he entered the wilderness which stretches to the
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  Speaker 1: left seven miles from Majormain the ports of Gaza as
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  Speaker 1: you go along the coast to Egypt. And though the
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  Speaker 1: locality had a record of robbery and of blood, and
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  Speaker 1: his relatives and friends warmed him of the danger he
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  Speaker 1: was incurring, he despised death. That he might escape death.
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  Speaker 1: His courage in his tender years would have been a
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  Speaker 1: marvel to all, were it not that his heart was
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  Speaker 1: on fire, and his eyes bright with the gleams and
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  Speaker 1: sparks of faith. His cheeks were smooth, his body thin
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  Speaker 1: and delicate, unfit to bear the slightest injury which colder
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  Speaker 1: heat could inflict. What then, with no other covering for
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  Speaker 1: his limbs but a shirt of sackcloth and a cloak
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  Speaker 1: of skins, which the blessed Antony had given him when
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  Speaker 1: he set out, and a blanket of the course's sort,
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  Speaker 1: he found pleasure in the vast, terrible wilderness, with the
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  Speaker 1: sea on one side and the marsh land on the other.
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  Speaker 1: His food was only fifteen dried figs after sunset, and
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  Speaker 1: because the district was notorious for brigandage, it was his
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  Speaker 1: practice never to abide long in the same place. What
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  Speaker 1: was the devil to do? Whither could he turn? He
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  Speaker 1: who once boasted and said, I will ascend into heaven.
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  Speaker 1: I will set my throne above the stars of the sky.
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  Speaker 1: I will be like the most high, saw himself conquered
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  Speaker 1: and trodden underfoot by a boy whose years did not
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  Speaker 1: allow of sin. Satan therefore tickled his senses, and, as
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  Speaker 1: is his wont lighted in his maturing body the fires
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  Speaker 1: of lust. This mere beginner in Christ's school was forced
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  Speaker 1: to think of what he knew not, and to revolve
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  Speaker 1: whole trains of thought concerning that of which he had
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  Speaker 1: no experience. Angry with himself and beating his bosom, as
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  Speaker 1: if with the blow of his hand he could shut
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  Speaker 1: out his thoughts, as he exclaimed, stop your kicking. I
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  Speaker 1: will not feed you with barley, but with chaff. I
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  Speaker 1: will weaken you with hunger and thirst. I will laid
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  Speaker 1: you with heavy burdens. I will drive you through heat
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  Speaker 1: and cold, that you may think more of food than wantonness.
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  Speaker 1: So for three or four days afterwards he sustained his
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  Speaker 1: sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and a few
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  Speaker 1: dried figs, praying frequently and singing and hoeing the ground
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  Speaker 1: that the suffering of fasting might be doubled by the
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  Speaker 1: pain of toil. At the same time, he rowed baskets
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  Speaker 1: of rushes, and emulated the disciple of the Egyptian monks,
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  Speaker 1: and put into practice the apostles precipt. If any will
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  Speaker 1: not work, neither let him eat. By these practices he
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  Speaker 1: became so enfeebled and his frame so wasted, that his
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  Speaker 1: bones scarcely held together. One night he began to hear
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  Speaker 1: the wailing of infants, the bleeding of flocks, the lowing
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  Speaker 1: of oxen, the laments of what seemed to be women,
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  Speaker 1: the roaring of lions, the noise of an army, and moreover,
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  Speaker 1: various portentous cries, which made him an alarm shrink from
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  Speaker 1: the sound. Ere he had the sight he understood that
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  Speaker 1: the demons were disporting themselves, and falling on his knees,
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  Speaker 1: he made the sign of the cross on his forehead.
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  Speaker 1: Thus armed, as he lay he fought the more bravely,
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  Speaker 1: half longing to see those whom he shuddered to hear,
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  Speaker 1: and anxiously looking in every day. Meanwhile, all at once,
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  Speaker 1: in the bright moonlight, he saw a chariot with dashing steeds,
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  Speaker 1: rushing upon him. He called upon Jesus, and suddenly before
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  Speaker 1: his eyes the earth was opened, and the whole array
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  Speaker 1: was swallowed up. Then he said, the horse and his
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  Speaker 1: rider hath he thrown into the sea. And some trust
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  Speaker 1: in chariots and some in horses, but we will triumph
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  Speaker 1: in the name of the Lord, our God. So many
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  Speaker 1: were his temptations, and so various the snares of demons
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  Speaker 1: night and day, that if I wish to relate them,
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  Speaker 1: a volume would not suffice. How often when he lay
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  Speaker 1: down did naked women appear to him? How often sumptuous
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  Speaker 1: feasts when he was hungry. Sometimes as he prayed, a
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  Speaker 1: howling wolf sprang past or snarling fox, And when he sang,
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  Speaker 1: a gladiatorial show was before him, and a man newly
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  Speaker 1: slain would seem to fall at his feet and ask
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  Speaker 1: him for burial. Once upon a time he was praying
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  Speaker 1: with his head upon the ground, as in the way
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  Speaker 1: with men. His attention was withdrawn from his devotions, and
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  Speaker 1: he was thinking of something else when a tormentor sprang
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  Speaker 1: upon his back, and driving his heels into his sides,
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  Speaker 1: and beating him across the neck with a horse whip, cried.
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  Speaker 2: Out, come, why are you asleep?
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  Speaker 1: Then, with a loud laugh, asked if he was tired
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  Speaker 1: and would like to have some barley. From his sixteenth
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  Speaker 1: to his twentieth year, he shielded himself from heat and rain,
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  Speaker 1: and the little hut which he had constructed of reeds
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  Speaker 1: and sedge. Afterwards he built himself a small cell, which
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  Speaker 1: remains to the present day, five feet in height, that
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  Speaker 1: is less than his own height, and only a little
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  Speaker 1: more in length. One might suppose it a tomb rather
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  Speaker 1: than a house. He shaved his hair once a year
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  Speaker 1: on Easter Day, and until his death was accustomed to
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  Speaker 1: lie on the bare ground or on a bed of rushes.
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  Speaker 1: The sackcloth which he had once put on he never washed,
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  Speaker 1: and he used to say that it was going to
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  Speaker 1: too far to look for cleanness in goat's hair cloth.
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  Speaker 1: Nor did he change his shirts unless the one he
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  Speaker 1: wore was almost in rags. He had committed the sacred
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  Speaker 1: writings to memory, and after prayer and singing, was wont
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  Speaker 1: to recite them, as if in the presence of God
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  Speaker 1: it would be tedious to narrate singly the successive steps
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  Speaker 1: of his spiritual ascent. I will therefore set them in
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  Speaker 1: a summary way before my reader, and describe his mode
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  Speaker 1: of life at each stage, and will afterwards return to
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  Speaker 1: proper historical sequence. From his twentieth to his twenty seventh year,
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  Speaker 1: for three years his food was half a pint of lentils,
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  Speaker 1: moistened with cold water, and for the next three dry
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  Speaker 1: bread with salt and water. From his twenty seventh year
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  Speaker 1: onward to the thirtieth he supported himself on wild herbs
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  Speaker 1: and raw roots of certain shrubs. From his thirty first
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  Speaker 1: to his thirty fifth year, he had for food six
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  Speaker 1: ounces of barley, bread and vegetables slightly cooked without oil. But,
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  Speaker 1: finding his eyes growing dim and his whole body shriveled
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  Speaker 1: with a scabby eruption in dry range, he added oil
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  Speaker 1: to his former food, and up to the sixty third
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  Speaker 1: year of his life followed this tempered course, tasting neither
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  Speaker 1: fruit nor pulse, nor anything whatsoever. Besides, then, when he
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  Speaker 1: saw his bodily health was broken down and thought death
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  Speaker 1: was near. From his sixty fourth year to his eightieth
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  Speaker 1: he abstained from bread. The fervor of his spirit was
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  Speaker 1: so wonderful that at times when others are wont to
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  Speaker 1: allow themselves some laxity of living, he appeared to be
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  Speaker 1: entering like a novice on the service of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: He made a sort of broth from meal and bruised herbs,
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  Speaker 1: food and drink together scarcely weighing six ounces. And while
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  Speaker 1: obeying this rule of diet, he never broke his fast
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  Speaker 1: before sunset, not even on festivals, nor in severe sickness.
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  Speaker 1: But it is now time to return to the course
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  Speaker 1: of event. While still living in the huts at the
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  Speaker 1: age of eighteen, robbers came to him by night, either
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  Speaker 1: supposing that he had something which they might carry off,
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  Speaker 1: or considering that they would be brought into contempt if
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  Speaker 1: a solitary boy felt no dread of their attacks. They
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  Speaker 1: searched up and down between the sea and the marsh
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  Speaker 1: from evening until daybreak, without being able to find his
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  Speaker 1: resting place. Then, having discovered the boy by the light
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  Speaker 1: of day, they asked him half in jest. What would
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  Speaker 1: you do if robbers came to you, he replied, He
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  Speaker 1: that has nothing does not fear robbers, said they at
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  Speaker 1: all events, you might be killed. I might, he said,
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  Speaker 1: I might, And therefore I do not fear robbers, because
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  Speaker 1: I am prepared to die. Then they marveled at his
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  Speaker 1: firmness and faith, confessed how they had wandered about in
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  Speaker 1: the night, and how their eyes had been blinded, and
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  Speaker 1: promised to lead a stricter life in the future. He
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  Speaker 1: had now spent twenty two years in the wilderness, and
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  Speaker 1: was the common theme in all all the cities of Palestine,
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  Speaker 1: though everywhere known by repute only the first person bold
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  Speaker 1: enough to break into the presence of the blessed. Hilarian
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  Speaker 1: was a certain woman of a lutheropolis, who found that
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  Speaker 1: she was despised by her husband on account of her sterility,
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  Speaker 1: for in fifteen years she had bore no fruit of wedlock.
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  Speaker 1: He had no expectation of her coming, when suddenly she
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  Speaker 1: threw herself at his feet. Forgive my boldness, she said,
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  Speaker 1: take pity on my necessity. Why do you turn away
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  Speaker 1: your eyes, Why shun my entreaties? Do not think of
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  Speaker 1: me as a woman, But as an object of compassion.
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  Speaker 1: It was my sex that bore the savior. They that
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  Speaker 1: are whole have no need of a physician, but they
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  Speaker 1: that are sick. At length, after a long time, he
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  Speaker 1: no longer turned away, but looked at the woman and
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  Speaker 1: asked the cause of her coming and of her tears.
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  Speaker 1: On learning this, he raised his eyes to heaven and
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  Speaker 1: bade her have faith. Then wept over her as she departed.
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  Speaker 1: Within a year he saw her with the son. This
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  Speaker 1: his first miracle, was succeeded by another, still greater and
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  Speaker 1: more notable, Aristinet, the wife of Ilpitius, who was afterwards
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  Speaker 1: Praetorian perfect, a woman well known among her people, still
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  Speaker 1: better known among the Christians. On her return with her
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  Speaker 1: husband from visiting the Blessed Antony was delayed at Gaza
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  Speaker 1: by the sickness of her three children. For there, whether
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  Speaker 1: it was owing to the vitiated atmosphere, whether it was
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  Speaker 1: as afterwards became clear for the glory of God's servant Hilarian,
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  Speaker 1: They were all alike seized by a semi tertian aegiu,
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  Speaker 1: and despaired of by the physicians. The mother lay wailing,
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  Speaker 1: or as one might say, walked up and down between
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  Speaker 1: the corpses of her three sons, not knowing which she
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  Speaker 1: should first have to mourn. For when, however, she knew
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  Speaker 1: that there was a certain monk in the neighboring wilderness
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  Speaker 1: forgetting her matronoli state, she only remembered she was a mother.
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  Speaker 1: She set out, accompanied by her handmaid, aides and eunuchs,
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  Speaker 1: and was hardly persuaded by her husband to take an
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  Speaker 1: ass to write.
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  Speaker 2: Upon.
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  Speaker 1: On reaching the saint, she said, I pray you by Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: our most merciful God. I beseech you, by His cross
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  Speaker 1: and blood, to restore to me my three sons, so
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  Speaker 1: that the name of our Lord and Savior may be
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  Speaker 1: glorified in the city of the Gentiles. Then shall his
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  Speaker 1: servants enter Gaza, and the idle Marnarius shall fall to
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  Speaker 1: the ground. At first he refused and said he never
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  Speaker 1: left to sell and was not accustomed to enter a house,
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  Speaker 1: much less the city. But she threw herself upon the
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  Speaker 1: ground and cried repeatedly, Hilarian, servant of Christ, give me
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  Speaker 1: back my children. Anthony kept them safe in Egypt, Do
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  Speaker 1: you save them in Syria? All present were weeping, and
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  Speaker 1: the Saint himself wept as he denied her. What need
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  Speaker 1: I to say more? The woman did not leave till
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  Speaker 1: he promised that he would enter Gaza after sunset. On
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  Speaker 1: coming thither, he made the sign of the Cross over
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  Speaker 1: the bed and the fevered limbs of each, and called
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  Speaker 1: upon the name of Jesus, marvelous efficacy of the name,
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  Speaker 1: As if from three fountains, the suite burst forth at
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  Speaker 1: the same time. In that very hour, they took food,
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  Speaker 1: recognized their mourning mother, and with thanks to God, warmly
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  Speaker 1: kissed the Saint's hands. When the matter was noised abroad,
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  Speaker 1: and the fame of it spread far and wide, the
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  Speaker 1: people flocked to him from Syria and Egypt, so that
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  Speaker 1: many believed in Christ and professed themselves monks. For as
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  Speaker 1: yet there were no monasteries in Palestine, nor had any
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  Speaker 1: one known a monk in Syria before the saintly Hilarian.
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  Speaker 1: It was he who had originated this mode of life
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  Speaker 1: and devotion, and who first trained men to it in
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  Speaker 1: that province. The Lord Jesus had in Egypt the aged Antony.
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  Speaker 1: In Palestine he had the youthful Hilarian. Fassidia is a
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  Speaker 1: hamlet belonging to Rhino Coruria, a city of Egypt. From
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  Speaker 1: this village, a woman who who had been blind for
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  Speaker 1: ten years, was brought to the Blessed Hilarian, and, on
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  Speaker 1: being presented to him by the brethren, for there were
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  Speaker 1: now many monks with him, affirmed that she had spent
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  Speaker 1: all her substance on physicians. The saint replied, if you
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  Speaker 1: had given to the poor what you have wasted on physicians,
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  Speaker 1: the true physician Jesus would have cured you. But when
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  Speaker 1: she cried aloud and entreated pity, he spat into her
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  Speaker 1: eyes in imitation of the Savior and with similar instant effect.
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  Speaker 1: End of chapters one through fifteen The Life of Saint Hilarian,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen through thirty by Saint Jerome. This LibriVox recording
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  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. A charioteer, also of Gaza,
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  Speaker 1: stricken by a demon in his chariot, became perfectly stiff,
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  Speaker 1: so that he could neither move his hand nor bend
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  Speaker 1: his neck. He was brought on a litter, but could
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  Speaker 1: only signify his petition by moving his tongue, and was
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  Speaker 1: told that he could not be healed unless he first
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  Speaker 1: believed in Christ and promised to forsake his former occupation.
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  Speaker 1: He believed, he promised, and he was healed, and rejoiced
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  Speaker 1: more in the saving of the soul than in that
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  Speaker 1: of the body. Again, a very powerful youth called Marcitus,
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  Speaker 1: from the neighborhood of Jerusalem plumed himself so highly on
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  Speaker 1: his strength that he carried fifteen bushels of grain for
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  Speaker 1: a long time over a considerable distance, and considered it
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  Speaker 1: his highest glory that he could beat the asses in endurance.
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  Speaker 1: This man was afflicted with a grievous demon and could
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  Speaker 1: not endure chains or fetters, but broke even the bolts
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  Speaker 1: and bars of the doors. He had bitten off the
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  Speaker 1: noses and ears of many, and had broken the feet
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: of some the legs of others. He had struck such
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: terror of himself into everybody that he was laden with
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: chains and dragged by ropes on all sides like a
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: wire bull to the monastery. As soon as the brethren
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: saw him, they were greatly alarmed, for the man was
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: of a gigantic size, and told the father he seated
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: as he was, commanded him to be brought to him
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: and released. When he was free, bow your head, said he,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: and come. The man began to tremble. He twisted his
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: neck round and did not dare to look him in
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the face, but laid aside all his fierceness, and began
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: to lick his feet as he sat. At last, the
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: demon which had possessed the young man, being tortured by
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the saint's adjurations, came forth on the seventh day. Nor
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: must we omant to tell that Orion, a leading man
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and wealthy citizen of Riah on the coast of the
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Red Sea, being possessed by a legion of demons, was
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: brought to him hands, neck, sides, feet were laden with iron,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: and his glaring eyes pretended an axis of raging madness.
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: As the Saint was walking with the brethren and expounding
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: some passage of scripture, the man broke from the hands
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: of his keepers, clasped him from behind, and raised him aloft.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: There was a shout from all, for they feared lest
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: he might crush his limbs, wasted as they were with fasting.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: The Saints smiled and said, be quiet, and let me
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: have my rival in the wrestling match to myself. Then
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: he bent back his hand over his shoulder till he
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: touched the man's head, seized his hair, and drew him
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: round so as to be foot to foot with him.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: He then stretched both his hands in a straight line
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: and trod on his two feet with both his own,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: while he cried out again and again to torments, with you, ye,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: crowd of demons, to torments. The sufferer shouted aloud and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: bent back his neck till his head touched the ground,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: while the saints said, Lord Jesus, release this wretched man,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Release this captive. Thine it is to conquer many, no
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: less than one. What I now relate is unparalleled. For
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: one man's lips were heard different voices, and as it were,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the confused shouts of a malta to it.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: He too was cured, and not long after came with
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: his wife and children to the monastery, bringing many gifts
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: expressive of his gratitude. The saint thus addressed him, have
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: you not read what befell Gahesi and Simon, one of
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: whom took a reward, the other offered it, the former
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: in order to sell grace, the latter to buy it.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: And when Orion said, with tears, take it and give
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: it to the poor, he replied, you can best distribute
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: your own gifts. For you tread the streets of the
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: cities and know the poor. Why should I, who have
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: forsaken my own, seek another man's. To many, the name
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: of the poor is a pretext for their avarice. But
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: compassion knows no artifices. No one better spends than he
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: who keeps nothing toward himself. The man was sad and
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: lay upon the ground. Be not sad, my son, He said,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: what I do for my own good, I do also
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: for yours. If I were to take these gifts, I
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: should myself offend God, and moreover the legion would re
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: turned to you. There is a story relating to Magamites
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: of Gaza, which it is impossible to pass over in silence.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: While quarrying building stones on the shore not far from
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the monastery, he was helplessly paralyzed, and, after being carried
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to the saints by his fellow workmen, immediately returned to
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: his work in perfect health. I ought to explain that
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the shore of Palestine in Egypt naturally consists of a
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: soft sand and gravel, which gradually becomes consolidated and hardens
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: into rock. And thus though to the eye it remains
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the same, it is no longer the same.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: To the touch.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Another story relates to Atlicus, a citizen of the same town.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: He was a Christian and kept horses for the circus
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: to contend against those of the duumver of Gaza, who
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: was a votary of the idle god Marnas. This custom,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: at least in Roman cities, was as old as the
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: days of Romulus, and was instituted in commemoration of the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: successful seas measure of the Sabine women. The chariots raced
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: seven times round the circus in honor of Consus, in
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: his character of the god of counsel. Victory lay with
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the team which tired out the horses opposed to them.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Now the rival of Itelicus had in his pay a
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: magician to incite his horses by certain demonical incantations and
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: keep back those of his opponents. Italicus therefore came to
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: the blessed Hilarian and besought his aid, not so much
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: for the injury of his adversary as for the protection
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: of himself. It seemed absurd for the venerable old man
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: to waste prayers on trifles of this sort. He therefore
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: smiled and said, why do you not rather give the
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: price of the horses to the poor for the salvation
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: of your soul. His visitor replied that his office was
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: a public duty, and that he acted not so much
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: from choice as from compulsion. That no Christian man could
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: employ magic, but would rather seek aid from a servant
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: of God, especially against the people of Gaza, who are
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: enemies of God, and who would exalt over the Church
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: of Christ more than over him. At the request therefore
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: of the brethren who were present, he ordered an earthenware cup,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: out of which he was wont to drink, to be
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: filled with water and given to Italicus. The latter took
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: it and sprinkled it over his stable and horses, his charioteers,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: and his chariot, and the barriers of the course. The
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: crowd was in a marvelous state of excitement, for the
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: enemy in Derision had published the news of what was
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: going to be done, and the backers of Italicus were
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: in high spirits at the victory which they promised themselves.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: The signal was given. The one team flies towards the goal,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: the other sticks fast. The wheels are glowing hot beneath
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: the chariot of the one, while the other scarce catches
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: a glimpse of their opponent's backs as they flit past.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: The shouts of the crowd swell to a roar, and
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the Heathens themselves with one voice declare, Marnas is conquered
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: by Christ. After this, the opponent, in their rage, demanded
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: that Hilarian, as a Christian magician, should be dragged to
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: the execution. This decisive victory, and several others which followed
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: in successive games of the circus, caused many to turn
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: to the faith. There was a youth in the neighborhood
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: of the same market town of Gaza, who was desperately
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: in love with one of God's virgins. After he had
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: tried it again and again those touches, jests, nods, and
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: whispers which so commonly lead to the destruction of virginity,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: but made no progress by these means, he went to
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: a magician at Memphis, to whom he proposed to make
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: known his wretched state, and then, fortified with his arts,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: to return to his assault upon the virgin. Accordingly, after
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: a year's instruction by the priest of Esculapius, who does
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: not heal souls but destroys them, he came full of lust,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: which he had previously allowed his mind to entertain, and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: buried beneath the threshold of the girl's house certain magical
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: formulae and revolting figures engraven on a plate of Cyprian brass.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Thereupon the maid began to show signs of insanity, to
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: throw away the covering of her head, tear her hair,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: gnash her teeth, and loudly call the youth by name.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Her intense affection had become a frenzy. Her parents therefore
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: brought her to the monastery and delivered her to the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: age Saint. No sooner was this done than the devil
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: began to howl and confess I.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Was compelled, I was carried off against my will? How
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: happy I was when I used to beguile the men
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: at Memphis in their dreams. What crosses? What torture I suffer?
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: You force me to go out? And I am kept
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: bound under the threshold. I cannot go out unless the
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: young man who keeps me there lets me go. The
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: old man answered, your strength must be great. Indeed, if
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: a bit of thread and a plate can keep you bound,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: tell me how is it that you dared to enter
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: into this maid who belongs to God? That I might
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: preserve her as a virgin, said he, you preserve her
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: betray of chastity. Why did you not rather enter into
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: him who sent you?
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: For what purpose? He answers, should I enter into the
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: one who was in alliance with the comrade of my own,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: the demon of love? But the Saint would not command
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: search to be made for either the young man or
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the charms till the maiden had undergone the process of purgation.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: For fear, it might be thought that the demon had
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: been realized by means of incantations, or that he himself
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: had attached credit to what he said. He declared that
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: demons are deceitful and well versed in dissimulation, and sharply
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: rebuked the virgin, when she recovered her health, for having,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: by her conduct, given an opportunity for the demon to enter.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: It was not only in Palestine and the neighboring cities
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: of Egypt or Syria that he was in high repute,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: but his frame had reached distant provinces. An officer of
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the Emperor Constantius, whose golden hair in personal beauty revealed
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: his country between the Saxons and the Almani was of
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: no great extent but powerful, and known to historians as
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Germany but is now called France, had long, that is
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: to say, from infancy, been pursued by a devil who
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: forced him in the night to howl, groan, and gnash
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: his teeth. He therefore secretly asked the Emperor for a
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: post warrant, plainly telling him why he wanted it, and
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: having also obtained letters to the lee Gate at Palestine,
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: came with great pomp and a large retinue to Gaza.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: On his inquiring of the local senators, where Hilarian the
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Monk dwelt. The people of Gaza were much alarmed, and,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: supposing that he had been sent by the Emperor, brought
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: him to the monastery, that they might show respect to
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: one so highly accredited, and that if any guilt had
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: been incurred by them by injuries previously done by them too, Hilarian,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: it might be obliterated by their present dutifulness. The old man,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: at the same time, was taking a walk on the
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: soft sand, and was humming some passenger or other from
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: the psalms. Seeing so great a company approaching, he stopped, and,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: having returned the salutes of all while he raised his
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: hand and gave them his blessing. After an hour's interval,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: he bade the rest withdraw and would have his visitor,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: together with servants and officers, remain, for by the man's
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: eyes and countenance, he knew the cause of his coming.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Immediately on being questioned by the servant of God, the
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: man sprang up on tiptoe so as scarcely to touch
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the ground with his feet, and with a wild roar
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: repride in Syriac, in which language he had been interrogated.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Pure Syriac was heard flowing from the lips of a
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: barbarian who knew only French and Latin, and that without
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the absence of a syllibant or an aspirant or an
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: idiom of the speech of Palestine. The demon, then, confused
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: by what means he had entered into him, further that
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: his interpreters, who knew only Greek and Latin, might understand riant,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: questioned him also in Greek, and when he gave the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: same answer in the same words, and alleged in excuse
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: many occasions on which spells had been laid upon him,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: and how he was bound to yield to magic arts,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I care not said the saints, how you came to enter,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: But I command you, in the name of our Lord
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, to come out. The man, as soon as
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: he was healed, with a rough simplicity, offered him ten
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: pounds of gold, But the Saint took from him only bread,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: and told him that they who were nourished on such
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: food regarded gold as mere. It is not enough to
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: speak of men. Brute beasts also were daily brought to
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: him in a state of madness, and among them Abruchtian
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: camel of enormous size. Amidst the shouts of thirty men
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: or more, who held him tight with stout ropes, he
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: had already injured many. His eyes were bloodshot, his mouth
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: filled with foam, his rolling tongue swollen, and above every
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: other source of terror was his last and hideous roar. Well,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the old man ordered him to be let go at once.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Those who brought him, as well as the attendants of
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: the saint, fled away without exception. The Saint went by
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: himself to meet him, and, addressing him in syriac, said,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: you do not alarm me, devil.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: Huge though your.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Present body is, whether in a fox or a camel,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: you are just the same. Meanwhile, he stood with outstretched hand.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: The brute, raging and looking as if he would devour Hilarian,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: came up to him, but immediately fell down, laid its
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: head on the ground, and, to the amazement of all present,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: showed suddenly no less tameness than it had exhibited ferocity before.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: But the old man declared to them, how the devil,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: for men's sake seizes even beasts of burden, that he
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: is inflamed by such intense hatred for men, that he
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: desires to destroy not only them, but what belongs to them.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: As an illustration of this, he added the fact that
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: before he was permitted to try the saintly job, he
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: made an end of all his substance. Nor ought it
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: to disturb anyone that, by the Lord's command two thousand
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: swine were slain by the agency of demons, since those
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: who witnessed the miracle could not have believed that so
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: great a multitude of demons had gone out of the
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: man unless an equally vast number of swine had rushed
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: to ruin, showing that it was a legion that impelled them.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Time would fail me if I wished to relate all
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: the miracles which were wrought by him, For to such
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: a pitch of glory was he raised by the Lord
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: that the blessed Antony, among the rest hearing of his life,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: wrote to him and gladly received his letters. And if
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: ever the sick from Syria came to him, he would
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: say to them, why have you taken the trouble to
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: come so far when you have my son Hilarian. Following
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: his example, however, innumerable monasteries sprang up throughout the whole
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: of Palestine, and all the monks flocked to him. When
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: he saw this, he praised the Lord for his grace
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: and exhorted them individually to the profit of their souls,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: telling them that the fashion of this world passes away,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: and that the true life is that which is purchased
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: by suffering in the present. Wishing to set the monks
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: an example of humility and of zeal, he was accustomed
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: on fixed days before the vintage to visit their cells.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: When the brethren knew this, they would come altogether to
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: meet him, and, in company with their distinguished leader, go
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: the round of the monasteries, taking with them provisions. Because
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: sometimes as many as two thousand men were assembled. But
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: as time went on, all the settlements round gladly give
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: food to the neighboring monks for the entertainment of the saints. Moreover,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: the care he took to prevent any brother, however humble
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: or poor, being passed over, as evidenced by the journey
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: he once took into the desert of Cads to visit
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: one of his disciples. With a great company tent of monks,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: he reached Alusa, as it happened, on the day when
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: the annual festival had brought all the people together to
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: the temple of Venus. This goddess is worshiped on account
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: of Lucifer, to whom the Sacrian nation is devoted. The
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: very town, too, is to a great extent semi barbarius,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: owing to its situation. When therefore it was heard that
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Saint Hilarian was passing through, he had frequently healed many
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Sacrians possessed by demons. He went to meet in the
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: crowds with their wives and children, bending their heads and
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: crying in the Syriac tongue barak, that is bless. He
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: received them with courtesy and humility, and pray that they
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: might worship God rather than stones. At the same time,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: weeping copiously, he looked up to heaven and promised that
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: if they would believe in Christ, he would visit them often.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: By the marvelous grace of God, they did not suffer
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: him to depart before he had drawn the outline of
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: a church, and the priests, with his garland upon his head,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: had been signed with the sign of Christ. Another year again,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: when he was setting out to visit the monasteries, and
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: was drawing up a list of those with whom he
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: must stay and whom he must see in passing, the monks,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: knowing that one of their number was niggard, and being
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: at the same time desirous to cure his complaint, asked
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: the saint to stay with him. He replied, do you
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: wish me to inflict injury on you an annoyance on
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: the brother? The niggardly brother, on hearing of this, was ashamed, and,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: with the strenuous support of all his brethren, at length
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: obtained from the Saint a reluctant promise to put his
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: monastery on the roll of his resting places. Ten days
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: after they came to him and found the keepers already
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: on guard in the vineyard through which their course lay,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: to keep off all comers with stones and clods and slings.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: In the morning, they all departed without having eaten a grape,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: while the old man smiled and pretended not to know
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: what had happened. Once, when they were being entertained by
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: another monk, whose name was Sabas, we must not, of
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: course give the name of the Niggard. We may tell
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: that of this generous man, because it was the Lord's
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: day when they were all invited by him into the vineyard,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: so that before the hour for food came, they might
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: relieve the toil of the journey by the respet of grapes,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: said the saint cursed be he who looks for the
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: refreshment of the body before that of the soul. Let
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: us pray, let us sing, Let us do our duty
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: to God, and then we will hasten to the vineyard.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: When the service was over, he stood on an eminence
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: and blessed the vineyard, and let his own sheep go
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: to their pasture. Now those who partook were not less
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: than three thousand, and whereas the whole vineyard had been
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: estimated at a hundred flagons, within thirty days he made
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: it worth three hundred. The niggardly brother gathered much less
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: than usual, and he was grieved to find that even
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: what he had turned to vinegar. The Old Man had
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: predicted this to many brethren before it happened. He particularly
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: abhorred such monks as were led by their lack of
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: faith to hoard for the future, and were careful about
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: expense or raiment, or some other of those things which
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: pass away with the world. Lastly, he would not even
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: look at one of the brethren who lived about five
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: miles off, because he ascertained that he very jealously guarded
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: his bit of ground and had a little money. The offender,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: wishing to be reconciled to the old man, often came
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: to the brethren, and in particular to Hezekias, who was
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: especially dear to Hilarian. One day, accordingly, he brought a
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: bundle of green chickpea just as it had been gathered.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Hezekiahs placed it on the table against the evening, whereupon
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: the old man cried out that he could not bear
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: the stench, and asked where it came from. Hezekiahs replied
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: that a certain brother had sent the brethren the first
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: fruits of his ground. Don't you notice, said he The
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: horrible stench, and detect the foul odor of avarice, and
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: the peas send it to the cattle, Send it to
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: the brute beasts, and see whether they can eat it.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: No sooner was it in obedience to his command laid
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: in the manger, than the cattle in the wildest alarm
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: and bellowing loudly, broke their fastenings and fled in different directions.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: For the old Man was enabled by grace to tell
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: from the odor of bodies and garments and the things
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: which any one had touched, by what damon or with
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: what vice the individual was distressed. His sixty third year
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: found the old Man at the head of a grand
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: monastery and a multitude of resident brethren. There were such
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: crowds of persons constantly bringing those who suffered from various
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: kinds of sicknesses or were possessed of unclean spirits, that
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the whole circuit of the wilderness was full of all
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: sorts of people. And as the Saint saw all this,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: he wept daily and called to mind with incredible regret
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: his former mode of life. When one of the brethren
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: asked him why he was so dejected, he replied, I
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: have returned again to the world, and have received my
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: reward in my lifetime. The people of Palestine and the
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: adjoining province think of me of some importance, and under
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: pretense of a monastery for the well ordering of the brethren,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I have all the apparatus of a paltry life about me.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: The brethren, however, kept watch over him, and in particular Heseychius,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: who had a marvelous devoted affection and veneration for the
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: old man. After he had spent two years in these lamentations, Aristanete,
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: the lady of whom we made mentioned before as being
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: then the wife of a prefect, though without any of
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: the prefect's ostentation, came to him, intending to pay a
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: visit to Antony.
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: Also.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: He said to her, I should like to go myself too,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: if I were not kept a prisoner in this monastery,
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: and if my going could be fruitful, for it is
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: now two days since mankind was bereaved of him who
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: was so truly a father to them all. She believed
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: his word and stayed where she was, And after a
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: few days the news came that Antony had fallen asleep.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Some may wonder at the miracles he worked, or his
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: incredible fasting, knowledge and humility. Nothing so astonishes me as
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: his power to tread underfoot honor and glory. Bishops, presbyters,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: crowds of clergymen and monks, or Christian matrons, even a
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: great temptation and a great rabble from all quarters in
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: town and country were congregating about him, and even judges
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: and others holding high positions, that they might receive at
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: his hands the bread or oil which he had blessed.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: But he thought of nothing but solitude, so much so
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: that one day he determined to be gone, and having
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: procured an ass, he was almost exhausted with fasting and
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: could scarcely walk, endeavored to steal away. The news spread
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: far and wide, and just as if a public mourning
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: for the desolation of Palestine were decreed, ten thousand people
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: of various ages and both sects came together to prevent
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: his departure. He was unmoved by entreaties, and, striking the
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: sand with his stick, kept saying, I will not make
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: my lord a deceiver. I cannot look upon churches overthrown,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Christ's altars, trodden down, the blood of my sons poured
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: out all who were present, began to understand that some
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: secret had been revealed to him, which he was unwilling
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: to confess, but they, none the less kept guard over
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: him that he might not go. He therefore determined and
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: publicly called all to witness that he would take neither
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: food nor drink unless he were released. Only after seven
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: days was he relieved from his fasting. When, having bidden
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: farewell to numerous friends, he came to Bertillium, attended by
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: a countless multitude. There he prevailed upon the crowd to
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: return and choose as his companions forty monks who had
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: resources for the journey and were capable of traveling during
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: fasting time, that is, after sunsets. He then visited the brethren,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: who were in the neighboring desert and sojourning at a
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: place called Niknos, and after three days, came to the
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: castle of Thebatus to see Dracontius, Bishop and Confessor, who
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: was in exile.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: There.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: The bishop was beyond measure cheered by the presence of
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: so distinguished demand. At the end of another three days,
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: he set out for Babylon and arrived there after a
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: hard journey. Then he visited Philo, the bishop, who was
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: also a confessor for the Emperor Constantius, who favored the
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Aryan heresy, had transported both of them to those parts, departing.
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: Thence he came in three days to the town of Evtordton.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: There he met with the deacon Bracins, who kept dromedaries,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: which were hired on account of the scarcity of water
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: in the desert, to carry travelers who wished to visit Antony.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: He then made known to the brethren that the anniversary
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: of the Blessed Antony's decease was at hand, and then
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: he must spend a whole night in vigil in the
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: very place where the saint had died. So then, after
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: three days journey through the waste and terrible desert, they
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: at length came to a very high mountain, and there
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: found two monks, Isaac and Pelucianos, the former of whom
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: had been one of Antony's attendants. End of chapters sixteen
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: through thirty Chapters thirty one through forty seven of the
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Life of Saint Hilarian by Saint Jerome. This LibriVox recording
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. The occasion seems a fitting one,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: since we are on the spot itself to describe the
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: abode of this great man. There is a high and
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: rocky mountain extending for about a mile, with gushing springs
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: amongst its spurs, the waters of which are partly absorbed
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: by the sand, partly flow towards the plain, and gradually
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: form a stream, shaded on either side by countless palms,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: which land much pleasantness and charm to the place. Here
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: the old man might be seen pacing to and fro
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: with the disciples of Blessed Anthony. Here, so they said,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Anthony himself used to sing, pray, work, and rest when wary.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: Those vines and shrubs were planted by his own hand.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: That garden bed was his own design. This pool for
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: watering the garden was made by him after much toil.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: That hole was handled by him for many years. Hilarian
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: would lie upon the Saint's bed, and, as though were
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: still warm, would affectionately kiss it. The cell was square,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: its sides measuring no more than the length of a
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: sleeping man. Moreover, on the lofty mountain top, the ascent
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: of which was by a zigzag path, very difficult or
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: to be seen, two cells of the same dimensions in
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: which he stayed. When he escaped from the crowds of
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: visitors or the company of his disciples. These were cut
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: out of the live rock, and were only furnished with
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: doors when they came to the garden you see, said Isaac,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: this garden with the shrubs and green vegetables. About three
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: years ago it was ravaged by a troop of wild asses.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: One of their leaders was hidden by Anthony to stand
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: still while he thrashed the animal's sides with a stick,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: and wanted to know why they devoured what they had
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: not sown. And ever afterwards, excepting the water, which they
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: were accustomed to come and drink, they never touched anything,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: not a bush nor a vegetable. The old man further
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: asked to be shown his burial place, and they thereupon
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: took him aside. But whether they showed him the tomb
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: or not is unknown. It is related that the motive
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: for secrecy was compliance with Anthony's orders and to prevent Pergemius,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: a very wealthy man of the district, from removing the
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: saint's body to his house and erecting a shrine to
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: his memory. Having returned to Ephroditun and keeping with them
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: only two of the brethren, he stayed in the neighboring desert,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: and practiced such rigid abstinence and silence that he felt
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: that then, for the first time he had begun to
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: serve Christ. Three years had now elapsed, since the heavens
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: had been closed, and the land had suffered from drought,
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: and it was commonly said that even the elements were
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: lamenting the death of Antony. Hilarian did not remain unknown
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: to the inhabitants of that place any more than to others.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: But men and women, with ghastly faces and wasted by hunger,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: earnestly entreated the servant of Christ as being the blessed
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Antony's successor, to give them rain. Hilarian, when he saw them,
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: was strangely affected with compassion, and raising his eyes to
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: heaven and lifting up both his hands. He had once
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: obtained their petition, but strange to say that parched in
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: sandy district after the rain had fallen unexpectedly produced such
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: vast numbers of serpents and poisonous animals that many who
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: were bitten would have died at once if they had
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: not run to Hilarian. He therefore blessed some oil with
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: which all the husbandmen and shepherds touched their wounds and
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: found an infallible cure. Seeing that even there surprising respect
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: was paid to him, he went to Alexandria, intending to
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: cross from thence to the farther oasis of the desert.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: And because he had never stayed in cities since he
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: entered on the monk's life, he turned aside to some
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: brethren at Bruchium, not far from Alexandria, whom he knew,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: and who welcomed the old man with the greatest pleasure.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: It was now nights when all at once they heard
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: his disciples saddling the ass and making ready for the journey.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: They therefore threw themselves at his feet and besought him
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: not to leave them. They fell prostrate before the door
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: and declared they would rather die than lose such a guest.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: He answered, my reason for hastening away is not that
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: I may give you trouble. You will, no doubt afterwards
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: discover that I have not suddenly left with a good cause.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Next day, the authorities of Gaza, with the lictors of
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: the Prefect, having heard of his arrival on the previous day,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: entered the monastery, and when they failed to find him, anywhere.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: They began to say to one another, what we heard
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: is true. He is a magician and knows the future.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: The fact was that the city of Gaza and Julian's
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: ascent to the throne, after the departure of Hilarian from
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: Palestine and the destruction of his monastery, had presented a
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: petition to the emperor requesting that both Hilarian and Hezekias
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: might be put to death, and a proclamation had been
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: published everywhere that search should be made for them. Having
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: then left Bruchium, he entered the oasis through the trackless desert,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: and there abode for a year more or less. But
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: inasmuch as his fame had traveled thither, also he felt
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: that he could not be hidden in the east, where
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: he was known to many by report and by sight,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: and began to think of taking a ship for some
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: solitary island, so that, having been exposed to public view
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: by land, he might at least find concealment in the sea.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: Just about that time, Hadrian, his disciple, arrived from Palestine
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: with information that Julian was slain and that a Christian
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: emperor had commenced his reign. He ought, therefore it was
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: said to return to the relics of his monastery, but he,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: when he heard this, solemnly refused to return, and, hiring
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: a camel, crossed the desert waste and reached Partonium, a
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: city on the coast of Libya. There the ill starred Hadrian,
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: wishing to return to Palestine, and unwilling to part with
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: the renown so long attaching to his master's name, heaped
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: reproaches upon him, and at last, having packed up the
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: presence which he had brought him from the brethren, set
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: out without the knowledge of Hilarian. As I shall have
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: no further opportunity of referring to this man, I would
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: only record for the terror of those who despised their masters,
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: that after a little while he was attacked by the
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: king's evil and turned to a mass of corruption. The
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: old man, accompanied by Gazanias, went on board a ship
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: which was sailing to Sicily, half way across the Adriatic.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: He was preparing to pay his fare by selling a
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: copy of the Gospels, which he had written with his
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: own hand in his youth, when the son of the
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: master of the ship, seized by a demon, began to
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: cry out and say Hilarian servant of God, Why is
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: it that through you we cannot be safe even on
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the sea. Spare me a little until I reached the land.
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: Let me not be cast out here and thrown out
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: into the deep. The saint replied, if my God permit
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: you to remain, remain, But if he casts you out,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: why bring odium upon me a sinner and a beggar.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: This he said that the sailors and merchants on board
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: might not betray him. On reaching Sore, not long after
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: the boy was cleansed, his father and the rest who
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: were present, having given their word that they would not
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: reveal the name of the saint to anyone. On approaching
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: paquinas a promontory of Sicily, he offered the master the
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: Gospel for the passage of himself and Gazinas. The man
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: was unwilling to take it, all the more because he
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: saw that excepting that volume and the clothes they wore,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: they had nothing, and at last he swore he would
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: not take it. But the aged saint, ardent and confident
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: consciousness of his poverty, rejoiced exceedingly that he had no
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: worldly possessions, and was accounted a beggar by the people
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: of the place. Once more, on, thinking the matter over,
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: and fearing that merchants coming from the east might make
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: him known, he fled to the interior, some twenty miles
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: from the sea, and there on an abandoned piece of ground.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: Every day bied up a bundle of firewood, which he
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: laid upon the back of his disciple and sold at
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: some neighboring mansion. They thus supported themselves and were able
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: to purchase a morsel of bread for any chance visitors.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: But that came exactly to pass which is written, a
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: city set on a hill cannot be hid. It happened
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: that one of the Shield's men, who was vexed by
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: a demon, was in the basilica of the Blessed Peter
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: at Rome when the unclean spirit within him cried out.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: A few days ago, Christ's servant, Hilarion, entered Sicily, and
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: no one knew him. And he thinks he is hidden.
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: I will go and betray him. Immediately he embarked with
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: his attendants in the ship lying in the harbor, sailed
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: to Piquinas, and led by the demon to that old
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: man's hut. There, prostrated himself and was cured on the spot.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: This his first miracle in Sicily brought the sick to
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: him in countless numbers, but it brought also a multitude
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: of religious persons, insomuch that one of the leading men,
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: who was swollen with the dropsy, was cured the same
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: day that he came. He afterwards offered the saints gifts
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: without end, but those saint replied to him, in the
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: words of the Savior, to his disciples, freely ye received,
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: freely give. While this was going on in Sicily, Hisechius,
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: his disciple, was searching the world over for them, the
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: old man traversing the coast, penetrating deserts, clinging all the
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: while to the belief that wherever he was, he could
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: not long be hidden. At the end of three years,
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: he heard at Methona from a certain Jew who dealt
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: in old clothes, that a Christian prophet had appeared in
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: Sicily and was working such miracles and signs one might
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: think him one of the ancient saints. So he asked
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: about his dress, gait, and speech, and in particular his age,
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: but could learn nothing. His informant merely declared that he
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: had heard of the man by report. He therefore crossed
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: the Adriatic, and after a prosperous journey, came to Pequinas,
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: where he took his abode in a cottage on the
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: shore of the bay, and, on inquiring for tidings of
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: the old man, discovered by the tale which everyone told
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: him where he was and what he was doing. Nothing
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: about him surprised them also much as the fact that
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: after such great signs and wonders he had not accepted
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: even a crust of bread from anyone in the district.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: And to cut my story short, the holy man Hesekius
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: fell down at his master's knees and bedewed his feet
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: with tears. At length he was gently raised by him,
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: and when two or three days had been spent in
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: talking over manners, he learned from Gazanas that Hilarian no
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: longer felt himself able to live in those parts, but
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: wanted to go to certain barbarous races where his name
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: and fame were unknown. He therefore brought him to Epidurus,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: a town of Dalmatia, where he stayed for a few days.
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: In a country near but could not be hid an
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: enormous serpent of the sort which the people of those
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: parts called BoA's, because they are so large that they
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: often swallow. Oxen was ravaging the whole province far and wide,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: and was devouring not only flocks and herds, but husbandmen
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: and shepherds who were drawn in by the force of
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: its breathing. He ordered a pyrate to be prepared for it,
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: then sent up a prayer to Christ, called forth the reptile,
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: bade it climb the pile of wood, and then applied
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: the fire. He burnt the savage beast to ashes. But
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: now he began anxiously to ask what he was to do,
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: whether to betake himself once more, He prepared for flight,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: and in thought ranged through solitary lands, grieving that his
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: miracles could speak of him, though his tongue was silent.
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: At that time, there was.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: An earthquake over the whole world following on the death
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: of Julian, which caused the sea to burst its bounds
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: and left ships hanging on the edge of mountain steeps.
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: It seemed as though God were threatening a second deluge,
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: or all things were returning to original chaos. When the
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: people of Epidaurus saw this, I mean the roaring waves
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: and heaving waters, and the swirling billows mountain high dashing
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: on the shore. Fearing that what they saw had happened
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: elsewhere might befall them and their town be utterly destroyed.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: They made their way to the old Man, and, as
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: if preparing for a battle, placed them on the shore.
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: After making the sign of the ross three times in
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: the sand, he faced the sea, stretched out his hands,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: and no one would believe to what a height the
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: swelling sea stood like a wall before him. It roared
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: for a long time, as if indignant at the barrier,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: then little by little sank to its level. Epidaurus and
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: all the region round about tell the story to this day,
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: and mothers teach their children to hand down the remembrance
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: of it to posterity. Verily, what was said to the apostles,
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: if ye have faith, ye shall say to this mountain,
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: remove into the sea, and it shall be done, may
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: be even literally fulfilled, provided one has such faith as
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: the Lord commanded the apostles to have. For what difference
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: does it make whether a mountain descends into the sea
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: or huge mountains of water everywhere else fluid suddenly become
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: hard as rock at the old Man's feet. The whole
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: country marveled, and the fame of the great miracle was
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: in every one's mouth, even at Solone. The old man
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: knew this was the case. He escaped secretly by night
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: in a small cutter, finding a merchant ship. After two
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: days came to Cyprus, between Malia and Cytheryra. The pirates,
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: who had left on the shore that part of their fleet,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: which is worked by poles instead of sails, bore down
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: on them with two light vessels of considerable size. And
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: besides this they were buffeted by the waves on every side.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: All the rowers began to be alarmed, to weep, to
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: leave their places, to get out their poles, and as
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: though one message was not enough, again and again told
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: the old man that pirates were at hand. Looking at
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: them in the distance, he gently smiled, then turned to
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: his disciples and said, O, ye of little faith, wherefore
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: do ye doubt are these more than the army of Pharaoh?
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: Yet they were all drowned by the will of God.
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: Thus he spake, and none the less. The enemy, with
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: foaming prows, kept drawing nearer, and were now now only
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: a stone's throat distant. He stood upon the prow of
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: the vessel, facing them with outstretched hand, and said, thus far,
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: and no further marvelous to relate. The boats at once
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: bounced back, and, though urged forward by the oars, fell
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: farther and farther astern. The pirates were astonished to find
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: themselves going back, and labored with all their strength to
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: reach the vessel, but were carried to the shore faster
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: by far than they came. I passed by the rest,
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: for fear I should seem in my history to be
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: publishing a volume of miracles, I will only say this that,
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: when sailing with a fair wind among the Cichlides, he
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: heard the voices of unclean spirits shouting in all directions
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: from towns and villages, and running in crowds to the shore.
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: Having then entered Paphos, the city of Cyprus, renowned in
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: the songs of the poets, the ruins of whose temples
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: after frequent earthquakes are the only evidences at the present
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: day of its former grins, he began to live in
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: obscurity about two miles from the city, and rejoiced in
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: having a few days rest, but not quite twenty days
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: passed before throughout the whole island, whoever had unclean spirits
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: began to cry out that Hilarian, Christ's servant, had come,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: and that they must go to him with all speed. Selamus, Curium,
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: Leapetha and other cities joined in the cry, while many
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: declared that they knew Hilarian, and that he was indeed
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: the servant of Christ, but where he was they could
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: not tell. So within a little trifle more than thirty days,
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: about two hundred people, both men and women, came together
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: to him. When he saw them, he lamented that they
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: would not suffer him to be quiet, and thirsting in
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: a kind of manner to avenge himself, he lashed them
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: with such urgency of prayer that some immediately, others after
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: two or three days, all within a week, were cured.
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: Here he stayed two years, always thinking of flight, and
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: in the meantime sent Heseychius, who was to return in
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: the spring to Palestine to salute the brethren and visit
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: the ashes of his monastery. When the latter returned, he
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: found Hilarian longing to sail again to Egypt, that is,
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: to the locality called Bucolia. But he persuaded him that
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: since there were no Christians there, but only a fierce
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: and barbarous people, he should rather go to a spot
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: in Cyprus itself which was higher up.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 2: And more retired.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: After long and diligent search, he found such a place,
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: twelve miles from the sea, far from among the recesses
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: of rugged mountains, the ascent to which could hardly be
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: accomplished by creeping on hands and knees. Thither he conducted him.
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: The old man entered and gazed around. It was indeed
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: a lonely and terrible place, for though surrounded by trees
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: on every side, with water streaming from the brow of
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: the hill, a delightful bit of garden and fruit trees
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: in abundance of which, however.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 2: He never ate.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: Yet it had close by the ruins of an ancient temple,
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: from which as he himself was wont to relate, and
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: his disciples testify, the voices of such countless demons re
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: echoed night and day that you might have thought there
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: was an army of them.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: He was highly.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: Pleased at the idea of having his opponents in the neighborhood,
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: and abode there five years. Cheered in these his last
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: days by the frequent visits of Hezekius, for owing to
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: the steep and rugged ascent, and the numerous ghosts, So
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: the story ran nobody, or scarcely anybody either could or
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: dared to go up to him. One day, however, as
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: he was leaving his garden, he saw a man completely
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: paralyzed lying in front of the gates. He asked Ezekieus
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: who he was or how he had been brought. Ezekius
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: replied that he was an agent at the country house
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: to which the garden belonged, in which they were located.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: Weeping much, and stretching out his hand to the prostrate man,
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: he said, I bid you, in the name aim of
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus Christ, arise and walk. The words were
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: still on the lips of the speaker, when, with miraculous speed,
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: the limbs were strengthened, and the man arose and stood firm.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: Once this was noised abroad, the need of many overcame
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: even the pathless journey in the dangers of the place.
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: The occupants of all the houses roundabout had nothing so
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: much in their thoughts as to prevent the possibility of
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: his escape, a rumour having spread concerning him, to the
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: effect that he could not stay long in the same place.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: This habit of his was not due to levity or childishness,
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: but to the fact that he shunned the worry of
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: publicity and praise, and always longed for silence and a
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: life of obscurity. In his eighteenth year, during the absence
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: of Heysechius, he wrote, by way of a will, a
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: short letter with his own hand, and left him all
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: his riches, that is to say, a copy of the
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: Gospels in his sackcloth, tunic cowl, and cloak, for his
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: servant had died a few days before. Many devout men
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: therefore came to the invalid from Paphos, and specially because
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: they had heard of his saying that he must soon
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: migrate to the Lord and must be liberated from the
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: bonds of the body. There came also Constantia, a holy woman,
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: whose son in law and daughter he had anointed with
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: oil and saved from death. He earnestly entreated them all
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: not to let him be kept even a moment of
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: time after death, but to bury him immediately in the
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: same garden, just as he was clad in his goat hair,
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: tunic cowl, and his peasant's cloak. His body was now
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: all but cold, and naught was left of life but reason.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: Yet with eyes wide open, he kept repeating, go forth,
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: what do you fear? Go forth, my soul? Why do
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: you hesitate? You have served Christ nearly seventy years, and
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: do you fear death? Thus saying, he breathed his last.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: He was immediately buried before the city heard of his death.
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: The holy man Hezichius heard of his decease, he went
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: to Cyprus, and to lull the suspicions of the natives
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: who were keeping strict guard, pretended that he wished to
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: live in the same garden. And then, in the course
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: of about ten months, though a great pearl to his life,
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: stole the saint's body. He carried it to Majuma, and
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: there all the monks and crowds of townsfolk, going in procession,
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: laid it to rest in the ancient monastery. His tunic, cowl,
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: and cloak were uninjured, the whole body as perfect as
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: if alive, and so fragrant with sweet odors, that one
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: might suppose it to have been embalmed. In bringing my
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: book to an end, I think I ought not to
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: omit to mention the devotion of the holy woman Constantia, who,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: when a message was brought her, that Hilarian's body was
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: in Palestine immediately died, proving even by death the sincerity
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: of her love for the servant of God, for she
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: was accustomed to spend whole nights in vigil at his tomb,
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: and to converse with him as if he present, in
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: order to stimulate her prayers. Even at the present day,
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: one may see a strange dispute between the people of
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: Palestine and the Cypriots, the one contending that they have
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: the body, the other the spirit of Hilarium. And yet
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: in both places great miracles are wrought daily, but to
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: a greater extent in the garden of Cyprus, perhaps because
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: that spot was dearest to him. End of chapters thirty
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: one through forty seven, End of the Life of Saint
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: Hilarium by Saint Jerome, translated by Philip Shaf