A Collection of the Works of Blessed Jerome.

History of Christianity, Apocrypha, Apologetics ru Tatyana Trushova If you found an error - write to e-mail saphyana@inbox.ru ExportToFB21, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6 27.04.2011 OOoFBTools-2011-4-27-13-39-38-1299 1.0 Ascetics. Selected Lives and Works. Book Two Agni Publishing House Samara 1999

Compositions

The Life of Our Venerable Father Hilarion the Great

1. As I begin to write about the life of Blessed Hilarion, I invoke the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, that He, Who had generously endowed him with virtues, would grant me, for the narration of them, a (skilful) speech, so that the deeds might be equal to the words. For, as Crispus says, the valour of those who have performed feats is valued as much as it could be extolled in words by excellent talents.

The great Alexander the Great, whom Daniel[2] calls a ram, a pard, a goat's goat, came to the grave of Achilles and said: "Happy are you, young man, having received a great herald of your feats!" – he was alluding to Homer. In addition, I have to relate the life and life of such and such a man that, if Homer had existed, he too would have either envied the material, or would have fallen under its weight.

True, St. Epiphanius,[3] bishop of Cyprus,[4] who saw Hilarion very often, wrote his praise in a short epistle, which is read even now,[5] but it is one thing to praise the deceased in public places, and another to narrate his virtues. Wherefore we, too, guided more by love for him (i.e., Epiphanius) than by a desire to offend him, and as we proceed to the work which he has begun, despise the words of those who slander, who, having formerly humiliated my Paul,[6] will perhaps now humiliate Hilarion also: they have slandered the former on account of his solitude, and they will reproach the latter for his sociability; the first was considered non-existent, because he was always hidden, the second would be considered vulgar, because he was seen by many. The same was once done by their ancestors, the Pharisees, who did not approve of the wilderness, nor of John's fasting, nor of the disciples, nor of the food and drink of the Lord the Savior. However, I will have a hand in the proposed work and, plugging my ears, will pass by the dogs of Scylla[7].

2. Hilarion was born in the village of Fawaf, lying about five miles [8] south of the Palestinian city of Gaza [9]; Since his parents were [3] devoted to idolatry, then, as they say, the rose blossomed with thorns. Being sent by them to Alexandria, he was given over to grammarian, where, as far as his age permitted, he presented great proofs of talent and morality: in a short time he became dear to all, and a connoisseur of eloquence. But what is above all this, he, believing in the Lord Jesus, found no pleasure in the wild passions of the circus, nor in the blood of the arena, nor in the unbridled theater, but all his pleasure was in the church assembly.

3. Hearing of the then glorious name of Antony,10 which had spread throughout all the nations of Egypt, and burning with a desire to see him, he set out into the wilderness. And as soon as he saw him, he changed his former clothes, and remained with him for about two months, contemplating his way of life and the severity of his morals: how frequent he was in prayer, how humble he was in his dealings with the brethren, how strict he was in his rebuke, how quick he was in exhortation, and how never could any weakness overwhelm his abstinence and the severity of his food.

Then, unable to endure any longer the multitude of those who flocked to him on account of various sufferings or attacks of demons, and not deeming it fit to endure in the wilderness (the sojourn) of the crowds of the townspeople, and (reasoning) that he should begin with what Anthony had begun, that the latter, as a brave man, received the reward of victory, while he had not yet begun to fight, he returned with some monks to his native land. Since his parents were already dead, he left part of his possessions to his brothers, and distributed part to the poor, leaving nothing for himself, fearing the example mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles or the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, and, especially, remembering the Lord, who says: "Whosoever shall not renounce all his possessions, my disciple cannot be" (Luke 2:11). XIV, 33). He was fifteen years old then. Thus, stripped naked and (at the same time) armed in Christ, he entered the wilderness, which turns to the left, on the seventh miliary [11] from Mayoma, the harbor of Gaza [12], along the coastal route to Egypt. And since these regions were bloodied by robbers, and his relatives and friends warned him of the impending danger, he despised death in order to avoid death.

4. Everyone was amazed at his firmness, surprised at his age: in his eyes shone a certain inner flame and sparks of faith. His cheeks were smooth, his body thin and delicate, which could not endure any exhaustion and was exposed to the influence of even a slight cold or heat. And so, covering his limbs with a tunic, and having a leather girdle, given to him at departure by Blessed Anthony, and a village cloak, he enjoyed the vast and terrible [5] wilderness, between the sea and the marsh, eating only fifteen figs after sunset. And since the country was notorious for robbery, he was never accustomed to live in one place. What was the devil to do?

Where to apply? He, who had previously boasted, saying: "I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah XIV:14), saw that the lad was overcoming him and trampling on him before he could, according to his age, sin.

5. And so his senses began to awaken and inflame his maturing body with the usual fire (of passion). The young soldier of Christ was urged to think about what he did not know, and to dream of the charm of what he had not become acquainted with by experience. So, in anger at himself, striking his chest with his hands, as if he were able to banish thoughts with blows of his hands, he said: "I will make it, donkey, that you will not kick; I will not feed you with barley, but with straw; I will wear you down with hunger and thirst, I will burden you with a heavy burden, I will persecute you with heat and cold, so that you will think more about food than about voluptuousness." And so, supporting the weakening life after three or four days with the juice of herbs and a few figs, often praying and singing, digging the ground with a rake, so that the burden of labor would aggravate the burden of fasting. At the same time, weaving baskets from reeds, he imitated the feats of the Egyptian monks and the saying of the Apostle, who says: [6] "Whoever does not want to do lower let him eat" (II Thessalonica 3:10); he was so thin and his body was so exhausted that it could hardly stand on his bones.