Eucherius: EVCHERI ARELATIS DE LAVDE EREMI

1. Magno tu quidem animo egressus dudum de domo tua et de cognatione tua usque in mare magnum recedentia penetraveras, maiore tamen virtute eremus a te repetita est. Siquidem, cum hanc primum hospes ingressus es, [habuisti] ducem et velut itineris tui praevium, quem deinde militiae caelestis magistrum, eumque tunc secutus et parentes relinquens parentem tamen sequebaris; nunc vero, cum eundem ascitum ad pontificale fastigium prosequendum putaveris, ad familiare secretum eremi te amor rettulit. Ergo nunc es nobilior et maior exemplo: prius enim, cum desertum peteres, comitatus etiam fratrem videbaris; nunc, cum desertum repeteres, etiam fratrem reliquisti.

1. Indeed with great spirit you had long since gone forth from your house and your kin and had penetrated retreats receding as far as the great sea; with greater virtue, however, the desert was sought again by you. For when you first entered it as a guest, you [had] a leader and, as it were, a forerunner of your journey—whom thereafter you had as a master of the heavenly militia; and then, following him and leaving your parents, you were nevertheless following a parent. But now, when you judged that the same man, summoned to the pontifical pinnacle, was to be accompanied, love has borne you back to the familiar seclusion of the desert. Therefore now you are nobler and greater by example: for before, when you sought the desert, you seemed to be accompanied even by a brother; now, when you have sought the desert again, you have even left your brother.

At qualem illum quantumque! Quanto tibi semper dilectionis cultu observatum! Quam singulari tibi affectione devinctum!

But what a man he was, and how great! With how great a cult of dilection was he always regarded by you! How bound to you by singular affection!

Ut cuius caritati praeferre nihil possis, nisi forte solam eremi caritatem! Quam cum illi iusto praeponis examine, [approbasti] diligere te non illum parum sed hanc amplius aliquid. Ostendisti etiam ille in te secreti amor quam magnus esset, cui etiam maximus cederet.

So that to whose charity you could prefer nothing, unless perhaps the eremitic charity alone! And when by a just examination you set this before that, [you approved] that you love not him too little but this somewhat more. You have shown, too, how great in you that love of seclusion was, to which even the greatest would yield.

Qui quidem eremi amor, quid in te nisi Dei amor appellandus est! [Servasti] ergo caritatis ordinem lege [praescriptum] primo Deum tuum, exin proximum diligendo.

And this love of the desert—what in you should it be called except the love of God! [You have kept] therefore the order of charity [prescribed] by the law, by loving first your God, then your neighbor.

2. Quem tamen ego sola profectus tui contemplatione, ut animo conicio, nec adversatum itineri consilioque tuo [existimo], sed inusitato inter devinctas sibi personas modo [dimittere] te ille, ut puto, non minus voluit quam tu [discedere]. Diligit enim et ille te multum vicissim; in amore tamen tuo [commodum] tuum consulit, cumque affluentissima eius et summa in te sit caritas, fastigium tamen illius tendit usque ad utilitatem. 3. Et tu licet omnem iamdudum censum in Christi pauperes Christo dives effuderis, tum et praeferas licet annis iuvenem, moribus senem, sis etiam ingenio clarus, clarus eloquio, nihil in te tamen primore loco magis suspexerim dilexerimque quam quod solitudinis sedem sic concupisti; unde quia me respondere copiosius spatiosissimis ac facundissimis litteris tuis saepe postulas, sufferas paulisper necesse est, cum sis sapiens, insipientiam meam, dum recolo multimodam Domini gratiam erga hanc ipsam eremum dilectam tuam. Eremum ergo recte incircumscriptum Dei nostri templum dixerim; etenim quem certum est habitare in silentio, credendum est gaudere secreto.

2. Whom, however, I, from the mere contemplation of your departure, as I conjecture in mind, do not [existimo] to have opposed your journey and your counsel, but, in an unusual mode among persons bound to himself, he, as I think, wished to [dimittere] you no less than you to [discedere]. For he too loves you much in return; yet in his love for you he consults your [commodum], and although his charity toward you is most overflowing and highest, the summit of it nevertheless reaches toward utility. 3. And you, although long since you have poured out your whole estate upon the poor of Christ, rich in Christ, and although you may be young in years, old in morals, and be renowned for ingenuity, renowned for eloquence, yet nothing in you in the first rank have I more looked up to and loved than that you have so coveted the seat of solitude; whence, because you often beg me to respond more copiously to your very expansive and most eloquent letters, it is necessary that you, since you are wise, suffer for a little while my folly, while I recollect the manifold grace of the Lord toward this very desert, your beloved. The desert therefore I would rightly call the uncircumscribed temple of our God; for indeed Him whom it is certain dwells in silence, it is to be believed that he rejoices in secrecy.

Saepius se illic videndum sanctis suis praebuit et conciliante loco congressum non est aspernatus humanum; in deserto quippe Moyses glorificato vulta Deum conspicit, in deserto Helias vultum pavens, ne Deum conspiciat, obvolvit; et quamvis omnia ipse tamquam sua revisitet neque uspiam desit, tamen, ut aestimare licet peculiarius visitationem dignatur eremi et caeli secretum.

More often there he offered himself to be seen by his saints, and, the place conciliating, he did not spurn human congress; for in the desert Moses beholds God with a glorified face, in the desert Elijah, fearing lest he behold God, veiled his face; and although he himself revisits all things as his own and is nowhere absent, nevertheless, as one may estimate, he deigns in a more particular way the visitation of the desert and the secrecy of heaven.

4. Ferunt quendam alio quaerenti quali inesse loco Deum crederet respondisse, ut, quo se duceret, impiger sequeretur; tunc comitante eodem, ad late patentis eremi secreta venisse et ostendens solitudinis vastae recessum: "En," inquit, "ubi Deus est." Nec immerito ibi esse promptius creditur, ubi facilius invenitur.

4. They report that a certain man, when another was asking in what sort of place he believed God to be present, answered that he should, wherever he would lead him, follow eagerly; then, with the same man accompanying, he came to the secrets of a wide-spreading desert and, pointing out a recess of the vast solitude: "Behold," he said, "where God is." Nor without good reason is He believed to be more readily there, where He is more easily found.

5. Nam et in primordiis rerum, cum omnia Deus in sapientia faceret et singula quaeque futuris usibus apta distingueret, non utique hanc terrae partem inutilem et inhonoratam reliquit, sed cuncta [non magis praesenti magnificentia quam futuri praescientia creans, venturis, ut arbitror, eremum sanctis paravit]. Credo, his illam locupletem in fructibus voluit et pro indulgentioris naturae vice hanc sanctorum dare fecundam, ut sic pinguescerent fines deserti et, cum rigaret de superioribus suis montes, abundarent quoque multiplicata fruge convalles, locorumque damna suppleret, cum habitationem sterilem habitatore ditaret.

5. For also in the primordia of things, when God was making all things in wisdom and was distinguishing each and every thing apt for future uses, he surely did not leave this part of the earth useless and dishonored, but all things [creating not so much by present magnificence as by foreknowledge of the future, he prepared, for those to come, as I judge, the desert for the saints]. I believe he willed that one to be rich in fruits for these, and, in place of a more indulgent nature, to give this one fecund for saints, so that thus the borders of the desert might grow fat and, when he watered the mountains from his upper heights, the valleys also might abound with multiplied fruit, and he might make up the losses of the places, since he enriched a sterile habitation with an inhabitant.

6. Possessor ille paradisi et transgressor praecepti, cum locum voluptatis habitaret, [fixam sibi a Deo legem] servare non potuit; quanto enim [iocundior] ille amoenitatibus locus, tanto hic in lapsum pronior fuit. Unde non solum hunc legibus suis subdidit, sed etiam in nos [usque suum illum stimulum mors] tetendit. Proinde eremum colat qui vitam cupit; quia amoeni incola mortem paravit.

6. That possessor of Paradise and transgressor of the precept, when he inhabited the place of delight, was not able to keep [a law fixed for him by God]; for the [more jocund] that place was in its amenities, the more prone was he here to a fall. Whence He not only subjected him to His laws, but also against us [Death, even to the utmost, its very goad] extended. Accordingly, let him cultivate the desert who desires life; because the dweller of the pleasant place prepared death.

Sed iam ad posteriora eremi Deo semper acceptae exempla veniamus.

But now let us come to the latter examples of the desert, ever acceptable to God.

7. Moyses, cum egisset pecus ad interiora deserti, tunc resplendente eminus Deum igne vidit innocuo; nec solum vidit, verum etiam audivit loquentem. Nempe tunc Dominus, cum [abici pedum vincula commoneret], sanctam eremi terram pronuntiavit dicens: Locus in quo tu stas terra sancta est; manifesto tunc iudicio meritum occulti honoris expressit. Confirmata quippe est [a Deo sanctitas loci sanctitate etiam testimonii], in quo, ut reor, etiam illud pariter et latenter enuntiat, ut accedens ad eremum pristinis curarum obligationibus vitae gressus absolvat et anterioribus vinculis expeditus incedat, ne locum polluat.

7. Moses, when he had driven the flock to the inner parts of the desert, then saw God from afar resplendent with a harmless fire; nor did he only see, but also heard him speaking. Indeed then the Lord, when he [was admonishing that the bonds of the feet be cast off], declared the land of the desert holy, saying: “The place on which you stand is holy ground;” by evident judgment he then expressed the merit of hidden honor. For indeed [by God the sanctity of the place, even by the sanctity of the testimony], was confirmed, in which, as I think, he also at once and covertly enunciates this: that the one approaching the desert should release his steps from the former obligations of life’s cares and, unencumbered from earlier bonds, should go forward, lest he pollute the place.

Ibi primum Moyses divini colloquii familiaris adhibetur interpres, accipit verba ac vicissim refert, dicenda [agendave] et percunctatur pariter et docetur ac mutuo confabulationis [usitatoque commercio] cum caeli Domino sermocinatur; ibi virgam resumit [in opera signorum potentem] ingressusque eremum pastor ovium, pastor ab eremo remittitur populorum.

There for the first time Moses is employed as the familiar interpreter of divine colloquy: he receives words and in turn reports them, things to be said [or to be done], and he both inquires and is taught alike, and in mutual conversing [and with customary commerce] he holds discourse with the Lord of heaven; there he takes up again the rod [powerful for the work of signs], and having entered the desert a shepherd of sheep, from the desert he is sent back a shepherd of peoples.

8. Quid deinde plebs Dei ab Aegypto liberanda et operibus absolvenda terrenis, numquid non avia petiit ad solitudinesque confugit appropinquatura in eremo utique Deo, a quo fuerat exempta servitio? Tendebat igitur ad desertum longa vastitate terribile, Moyse duce. Quam magna multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine!

8. What then of the people of God, to be freed from Egypt and to be absolved from earthly works—did it not seek the trackless places and flee to the solitudes, about to draw near in the desert, assuredly, to God, by whom it had been exempted from servitude? It therefore was stretching toward the desert, terrible by long vastitude, Moses as leader. How great the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord!

Eremum ingressus Moyses, Deum viderat; en redit rursus ut videat. Ipse plane dux itineris populum suum Dominus ad deserta ducebat, [in usum utriusque temporis viantibus] trahens columnam nunc rubentem flamma, nunc nube candentem. Dabat ita tunc promerentibus e caelo signum, quod lactea mole porrectum alternis irradiabat ardoribus.

Moses, having entered the desert, had seen God; lo, he returns again to see. The Lord himself, plainly the guide of the journey, was leading his people to the deserts, [for the use of both times of day to the wayfarers] drawing along a column now reddening with flame, now glowing white with cloud. Thus he was giving then to the deserving a sign from heaven, which, stretched out in a milky mass, irradiated with alternating ardors.

Intento Israhel lumine sequebatur radium corusco eminus igne rutilantem, [ut in eremi secreta tendentibus digne Dominus,] cum iter ostenderet, lumen praeferret.

With an intent gaze Israel followed the ray, rutilant from afar with coruscant fire, [as, for those who were making for the desert’s secret places, the Lord worthily,] when he showed the way, he carried the light before them.

9. Huic identidem populo nonne ad deserta tendenti obiecta invii maris claustra patuerunt, cum inter praeruptos gurgites iter carpens, pulverulenta vestigiis agmine rubris litoribus ingessit minantesque undarum pendentium montes de profunda valle suspiciens sic custos gentis freti stagna transivit.

9. For this people, again and again, as it was tending toward the deserts, did not the barriers of the pathless sea, set before them, lie open, when, carving a way between precipitous surges, it brought onto the red shores, by its column, dusty footprints, and, looking up from the deep valley at the threatening mountains of the overhanging waves, thus the guardian of the nation crossed the still waters of the strait.

10. Neque in hoc tantum divini operis virtus stetit; nudata namque rersum refluo aequore operiens, iter eorum cum hoste delevit, totumque in sedibus suis mare, credo ne ab eremo Israhel reverteretur, opposuit. Aperuit inter aquas viam et circumfusis deinde aquis texit, ut desertum expetentibus patefaceret itum, clauderet reditum.

10. Nor did the virtue of the divine work stand in this only; for, laying it bare again by the receding sea and then covering it, He erased their path together with the enemy, and He opposed the whole sea in its own seats, I believe lest Israel should return from the desert. He opened a way between the waters and, the waters then poured around, He covered it, so that for those seeking the desert He might lay open the going, and close the return.

11. Hac ergo [gratiae virtute] donata est gens illa, cum ad solitudinem tenderet; plura tamen promeruit, cum possideret. Illic namque eandem insperato Dominus miraculo refecit, cum percussa silice exundantes aquas sitientibus praebuit, et abhorrentibus saxis rivos nativo fonte depromens, [occulta manu imposuit subitam latentibus venis naturam]. Nec solum illic ingesto flumine viscera siccae rupis infudit, verum etiam dulcedine super indita amaros tristibus aquis haustus repressit. Illas elicuit, has placavit; nec maiore miraculo e saxis aquas quam ex aquis alias aquas reddidit.

11. Therefore by this [grace’s virtue] that nation was endowed, when it was tending toward the solitude; yet it earned more, when it possessed. For there the Lord refreshed the same by an unlooked-for miracle, when, the flint having been struck, he furnished billowing waters to the thirsty, and, from rocks abhorring it, drawing forth rills from a native fount, [with a hidden hand he imposed a sudden nature upon the latent veins]. Nor there did he only, with a river brought in, pour into the inwards of the dry crag, but also, with sweetness superadded, he checked the bitter draughts for the grim waters. Those he drew out, these he placated; nor by a greater miracle did he render waters from stones than from waters other waters.

Obstupuit plebs cuncta caelestis auxilii illic opem sentiens non minus in his aquis quae erant quam in illis quae nondum fuerant.

The entire plebs stood astonished, sensing there the aid of celestial help no less in these waters which were than in those which had not yet been.

12. Illic etiam idem populus demissum caelitus cibum [albenti] solo legit, cum in nubibus Dominus panem pluvium sicco imbre deiecit. In tabernacula et in circumiecta castrorum manna ninguido aere [illapsum cecidit], ubi panem angelorum manducavit homo. Et quia sufficit diei malitia sua, cotidianum divina indulgentia victum contulit iam tunc lege praemissa, ne in crastinum cogitaret.

12. There also the same people gathered food sent down from heaven upon the [whitening] soil, when the Lord cast down pluvial bread with a dry shower from the clouds. Into the tabernacles and into the surroundings of the camp manna, in a snowy air, [having glided down fell], where man ate the bread of angels. And because sufficient for the day is its own trouble, divine indulgence conferred quotidian sustenance already then, with a premised law, that he should not think about the morrow.

Sic quondam in eremo [constitutis], quia [praestare] victum terrena non poterant, caelum ministrabat.

Thus once in the desert [for those established], since earthly things could not [provide] victual, heaven ministered.

13. [Legem] etiam et caelestia edicta Hebraeus idem numquid non eremi inhabitator accepit, tum cum propius admotus inspicere divino digito impressa tabulis signa meruit? Eductus castris in occursum Domini, ad radicem montis obvius institit; vidit equidem pavore perculsus illum Sinai verticem, quem terrore multo conspicuae maiestatis [insederat]; aspexit attonitus montem [procul] [interfluenti] igne fumantem, quem deinde totum late nubes densissima obtectum operiebat; expavit hinc [micantia] expressis ignibus fulgura et tonitrua crebris fragoribus [mixto] buccinarum clangore reboantia. Ita filii Israhel, dum in solitudinibus [degerent], Dei sedem videre, vocem audire [meruerunt].

13. Did not that same Hebrew, an inhabitant of the desert, receive [the Law] also and the celestial edicts, at that time when, having been brought nearer, he deserved to inspect the signs impressed upon the tablets by the divine finger? Led forth from the camp to meet the Lord, he stood to meet at the foot of the mountain; indeed, stricken with fear, he saw that summit of Sinai, upon which the conspicuous majesty of God had [sat upon] with much terror; astonished, he beheld the mountain smoking with fire [from afar] [streaming between], which then a most dense cloud was covering, the whole widely overlaid; from this he grew afraid at the lightnings [glittering] with fires forced forth, and at the thunders resounding with frequent crashes, with the clangor of trumpets [mingled]. Thus the sons of Israel, while they [spent time] in the solitudes, deserved to see the seat of God, to hear the voice [they deserved].

14. Talibus olim similibusque usa est ac sustentata miraculis natio illa, cum deserti incola fuit, cum eam inusitatus cibus, repentinus potus, [incomsummabilisque] vestitus aleret, cum etiam illorum quae extrinsecus corpus ambiebant infatigabili habitu permanerent. Quicquid eorum [necessitati] locorum [ingenium] non [obtulerat], manifesta Dei magnificentia suggerebat. Vix in haec caelestis gratiae dona [pervenit] sanctorum unus, qui de hoc populo ait: Non fecit taliter Dominus omni nationi; [specialia] contulit, [inaudita concessit], cum divinis [muneribus] populum refecit in eremo.

14. That nation once was accustomed to and sustained by such and similar miracles, when it was an inhabitant of the desert, when an unusual food, a sudden drink, and an [inconsumable] clothing nourished it, when even those things which surrounded the body from without remained in an indefatigable condition. Whatever the [nature] of the places had not [offered] to their [necessity], the manifest magnificence of God supplied. Scarcely did even one among the saints attain unto these gifts of celestial grace, who says about this people: “The Lord has not done thus for every nation”; he bestowed [special] things, he [granted unheard-of] things, when with divine [gifts] he refreshed the people in the desert.

15. Et haec quamvis in figuram nostri facta tradantur et facies illa rerum mysteriis flagret occultis, omnesque in Moyse baptizati in nube et in mari escam spiritalem manducasse, potum spiritalem bibisse referantur, tamen omnia haec ita [futurorum] continent fidem, ut gestorum custodiant veritatem. Quamquam nec sic quidem eremi minor laus est, etiam si ea quae illic gesta sunt in sacramentorum sint altitudinem referenda; nihil gratiae derogatur, [etiam si ille tunc status corporis et vestimentorum non secuta corruptio] venturae vitae specimen detulerunt. Magna namque loci gratia est, si quales illos beatissimi saeculi felicitas habebit, tales in hoc iam istos eremus habeat.

15. And although these things are handed down to have been done in a figure of us and that appearance of affairs blaze with hidden mysteries, and all are reported to have been baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, to have eaten spiritual food, to have drunk spiritual drink, nevertheless all these things so contain the faith [of things to come], that they preserve the truth of the deeds done. And yet, not even thus is the desert’s praise lesser, even if those things which were done there are to be referred to the loftiness of the sacraments; nothing is derogated from grace, [even if that then condition of the body and the non-ensuing corruption of the garments] brought a specimen of the life to come. For great is the grace of the place, if such as those whom the felicity of the most blessed age will have, such the desert already has here.

16. Quid, quod filii Israhel ad illam desiderabilem terram non nisi habitatione eremi pervenerunt? Et ut gens eadem postea possideret illam lacte et melle manantem, prius hanc aridam incultamque posssedit. Totum semper ad veram patriam eremi mansionibus iter panditur.

16. What of the fact that the sons of Israel reached that desirable land only by a habitation of the desert? And that the same nation might afterward possess that land flowing with milk and honey, first it possessed this dry and uncultivated one. The whole journey to the true fatherland is always opened by the dwellings of the desert.

Habitet inhabitabilem terram, qui vult videre bona Domini in regione vivorum, sit hospes huius, qui civis esse contendit illius.

Let him inhabit the uninhabitable land, who wishes to see the good things of the Lord in the region of the living; let him be a guest of this one, who strives to be a citizen of that one.

17. Sed ut haec relinquam, David ipse insidias regis infesti [non nisi] cum desertum expeteret evasit, qui in Idumaeae ariditatibus commoratus toto Dominum corde sitiebat, ut sitiens in deserto et in invio et inaquoso tum demum appareret Deo in sancto, ac deinceps Dei virtutem pariter et gloriam sanctus videret.

17. But to leave these things aside, David himself escaped the ambushes of the hostile king [only when] he sought out the desert, who, abiding in the aridities of Idumaea, was thirsting for the Lord with his whole heart, so that, thirsting in the desert and in the trackless and waterless place, then at length he might appear to God in the holy place, and thereafter the holy man might see alike the power and the glory of God.

18. Helias vero, maximus secretorum colonus, caelum imbribus clausit, ignibus reseravit, ministra alite cibum sumpsit, fixa mortis iura revocavit, Iordanem dividuum interrupto amne transivit, caelum ardenti curru raptus ascendit. Truly, Elijah, the most distinguished husbandman, closed the sky of showers, reserved enemies for the fires, received nourishment from a bird, revoked the fixed laws of death, by the Jordan being divided, he crossed the broken stream, being carried away in a flaming chariot, he ascended into heaven. 19. Quid deinde Helisaeus, consectator vitae huius atque virtutis?

18. Indeed, Elijah, the greatest cultivator of the secret places, shut the sky to rains, unlocked it to fires, took food with a ministering bird, revoked the fixed laws of Death, crossed the Jordan divided, the stream being broken, and, snatched up, ascended to heaven in a burning chariot. 19. What then of Elisha, a pursuer of this life and virtue?

Nonne perinde divinorum miraculorum opere claruit, quem insignem nunc scissus torrens, nunc innatans ferrum, nunc redivivi, nunc olei incrementa fecerunt, quique postremo post alia quam plurima duplicatam in se virtutem magistri hoc etiam comprobavit, quod ille superstes defunctum, hic defunctum exsuscitat iam defunctus?

Did he not equally become illustrious by the operation of divine miracles, whom now a cleft torrent, now a floating iron, now the revived, now the increases of oil made distinguished; and who at last, after very many other things, proved this too—that the power of his master was duplicated in himself—in that the former, being alive, raised a dead man, while this man, now dead, revives a dead man?

20. Filii quoque prophetarum relictis urbibus expetebant gemino defluentem fonte Iordanem exstruebantque in abditis tabernacula remoto iuncta torrenti. Excubabat cohors sancta secreti fluminis ripis, velut quibusdam sparsa tentoriis et habitationibus congruis: egregia indoles spiritum custodiebat paternum.

20. The sons also of the prophets, the cities having been left behind, were seeking the Jordan, flowing down from a twin spring, and were building in hidden places tabernacles joined to the remote torrent. A holy cohort kept vigil on the banks of the secluded river, as if scattered with certain tents and with habitations suitable; an excellent disposition guarded the paternal spirit.

21. Quid? Ille, quo maior inter mulierum natos non surrexit, nonne in deserto clamans in deserto vivebat? In deserto ab hoc baptismus traditur, in deserto paenitentia praedicatur, in deserto primum mentio regni caelestis infertur; ibi haec ille audientibus primus ingessit, ubi haec citius ambiens quisque promeruit.

21. What then? That one, than whom a greater has not arisen among those born of women—did he not live in the desert, crying out in the desert? In the desert by this man baptism is handed down, in the desert penitence is preached, in the desert first the mention of the heavenly kingdom is introduced; there he first pressed these things upon those listening, where each one seeking them more quickly merited them.

Nec immerito futurus hic arduus habitator deserti ante faciem Domini angelus mittitur, viam reserat in caeleste regnum, Christi et praecursor et testis dignum qui Patrem e caelo loquentem audiret, Filium baptizando contingeret, Spiritum sanctum descendentem videret.

Nor without merit is this future lofty inhabitant of the desert sent as an angel before the face of the Lord, he unbars the way into the celestial kingdom, both precursor and witness of Christ, worthy to hear the Father speaking from heaven, to touch the Son by baptizing, to see the Holy Spirit descending.

22. Ipse quoque Dominus ac Salvator noster baptizatus confestim, ut Scriptura ait, a Spiritu in desertum ducitur. Quis hic igitur est Spiritus? [Cunctatio nulla subest, quin Sanctus.

22. The Lord himself also, and our Savior, having been baptized immediately, as Scripture says, is led by the Spirit into the desert. Who then is this Spirit? [No hesitation is present, but that it is the Holy Spirit.

Quod deinde Spiritus sanctus pertrahit in desertum, nimirum istud ille dictat, ille istud tacitus inspirat, fitque eremus Spiritu sancto suggerente digna suggestio. Mystico ergo flumine infusus nihil sibi prius agendum putat, quam ut ad secreta contendat. Et tamen ille sanctificantes semper aquas tunc sanctificaverat nec peccati hominem purgatus abluerat]; peccatum enim ille neque fecerat neque metuebat.

What next the Holy Spirit draws into the desert, assuredly he dictates that, he silently inspires that, and the desert, with the Holy Spirit suggesting, becomes a worthy suggestion. Therefore, infused by the mystical river, he thought that nothing ought first to be done, than that he should hasten to the secret places. And yet he who always sanctifies the waters had then sanctified them, nor, being purged, had he washed a man of sin]; for he had neither done sin nor feared it.

[Eremi tamen ardore flagrabat atque in onmibus salutaris auctor exempli hanc sibi non dignam nobis desiderabat. Quae si votiva Deo ab erroribus libero, quanto magis necessaria homini erroribus obnoxio? Si petita non delinquenti, quanto magis exoptanda peccanti]?

[Nevertheless he was burning with the ardor of the desert, and, being in all things the salutary author of example, he desired this for himself—not as befitting himself, but for us. Which, if it be votive for God, free from errors, how much more necessary for man subject to errors? If sought by the non-delinquent, how much more to be most desired by the sinner]?

23. Ibi etiam in famulatum Domini remotis circumstrepentium turbis tacita divini vigoris ministeria succedunt, et in eremo constitutus, tamquam in caelum revectus, [occurrentium] excipitur officiis angelorum; ibi tunc temptantem notae artis insidiis hostem illum antiqui temporis confutavit supplantatoremque veteris Adam novus Adam reppulit. O laus magna deserti, ut diabolus qui vicerat in paradiso, in eremo vinceretur!

23. There too, for the servitude of the Lord, when the clamoring surrounding throngs have been removed, the silent ministries of divine vigor succeed; and, established in the desert, as though borne back into heaven, [meeting him] he is received by the offices of angels; there then he confuted the enemy of ancient time, tempting with the ambushes of his well-known art, and the new Adam repelled the supplanter of the old Adam. O great praise of the desert, that the devil who had conquered in paradise should be conquered in the desert!

24. Desertus etiam locus ille erat, in quo Salvator noster quinque virorum milia panibus quinque et piscibus tantum duobus pavit, satiavit, explevit. Semper in deserto [suos] pane Iesus pascit; suis praetulerat olim manna divini muneris fidem, nunc fragmina praetulerunt, eodemque miraculo victus, ut tunc esurientibus decidit, ita nunc vescentibus crevit; cunctis dono suo epulae auctioribus maiores fuerunt cibis quam fuerant latae conviviis. Desertis, inquam, desertis tantorum nunc signorum causas demus: virtus potentiam declarasset, si habuisset locus copiam?

24. That place too was a desert, in which our Savior fed, satisfied, filled five thousand men with five loaves and only two fish. Always in the desert Jesus feeds [his own] with bread; to his own he had once set before the manna as a pledge of a divine gift, now the fragments were brought forth, and by the same miracle the sustenance, as then it fell to the hungry, so now grew for those eating; for all, by his gift, the banquets, being augmented, were greater in foods than what had been brought to the feasts. To deserts, I say, to deserts let us now assign the causes of such great signs: would the virtue have declared its potency, if the place had possessed abundance?

25. Et tunc Dominus Iesus ad excelsi montis remotiora secessit, cum tribus tantum sibi adhibitis electis insolita claritate vultus effulsit; qui, cum assumptum palam hominem praeferret, declarandae maiestatis indicium secretis credidit. Ibi tunc ille apostolorum maximus: Bonum erat, inquit, nos hic esse, adamans scilicet magnitudinem signi in remotione deserti.

25. And then the Lord Jesus withdrew to the more remote parts of a lofty mountain, and, with only three chosen admitted to him, he flashed forth with an unusual brightness of countenance; who, although he openly displayed the assumed humanity, entrusted to secret places the token for declaring his majesty. There then that greatest of the apostles: It was good, he says, for us to be here, loving, namely, the greatness of the sign in the remoteness of the desert.

26. Idem quoque Dominus Iesus, ut scribitur in desertum locum ibat ibique orabat. Locus ergo iam ille vocetur orationis locus, quem exerando Deum idoneum Deus auctor ostendit docuitque unde facilius nubes humiliantis se oratio penetraret, adiuta loco, quia honorata secreto, atque ipse illic orando cum peteret, demonstravit, ubi orare nos velle competeret.

26. Likewise the same Lord Jesus, as it is written, used to go into a desert place and there he prayed. Therefore let that place now be called a place of prayer, which, by beseeching God, God the author showed to be suitable, and he taught whence the prayer of one humbling himself might more easily penetrate the clouds, aided by the place, since honored by secrecy; and he himself there, by praying as he petitioned, demonstrated where it would be fitting for us to wish to pray.

27. Quid nunc ergo Iohannem, Macariumque commemorem, aliosque quam plures, quorum conversatio dum in desertis est, in caelis facta est? Appropinquaverunt illi tantum Domino quantum appropinquare Deo hominem fas sinebat admissique sunt in divinarum opera rerum quantum carne [circumdatos] licebat admitti. Fixam in superna mentem caelestibus inseruerunt secretis; hinc comitantem gratiam aut revelationibus tacitis aut clamantibus signis protulerunt, et suffragante secreto usque in id provecti sunt, ut terram quidem corpore tunc contingerent, caelum vero spiritu iam possiderent.

27. What then should I now commemorate—John and Macarius, and many others besides—whose way of life, while it is in deserts, has been made in the heavens? They approached the Lord as much as it was lawful for a man to approach God, and were admitted into the works of divine things as far as it was permitted that, being [surrounded] with flesh, they be admitted. They fixed a mind on supernal things and inserted it into celestial secrets; from this they brought forth accompanying grace, either by silent revelations or by signs that cry aloud, and, the secrecy giving its suffrage, they were advanced even to this point: that they then touched the earth indeed with the body, but already possessed heaven with the spirit.

28. Hoc igitur eremi habitaculum dicam non immerito quamdam fidei sedem, virtutis arcam, caritatis sacrarium, pietatis thesaurum, iustitiae promptuarium. Nam sicut in magna domo pretiosa quaeque claustris obsignata in remotis habentur, ita magnificentia illa sanctorum abditorum eremo, quam [dificultatibus suis] natura observavit; deponiturque in terra quoddam conclave deserti, ne conversationis humanae usu obsolescat. Apteque a mundi Domino haec pretiosior divitiarum suppellex in illa mundanae domus [parte non solum] conditur, verum etiam, cum usus est, ex reconditis promitur.

28. Therefore I will not unjustly call this dwelling of the desert a certain seat of faith, an ark of virtue, a sacrarium of charity, a treasury of piety, a storehouse of justice. For just as in a great house each precious thing, sealed with bars, is kept in remote places, so that magnificence of the hidden saints is in the desert, which nature has guarded by its [dificultatibus suis]; and a certain conclave of the desert is set down on earth, lest it grow worn by the use of human conversation. And fittingly by the Lord of the world this more precious furnishing of riches is laid up in that [parte non solum] of the worldly house, but also, when there is need, it is brought forth out of the hidden stores.

29. Fuit olim erga eremum cura divinae Providentiae summa et maxima, sed ne nunc quidem parva est. Nam et nunc, cum eremi incolis victus divinitus insperata supervenit largitate, quid aliud quam e caelo lapsus defluit? Habent et isti in hac caelesti munificentia suum manna, nec minus his Dominus brachii sui opere secreto alimoniam spargit ex abdito.

29. Once upon a time the care of Divine Providence toward the desert was highest and greatest; but not even now is it small. For even now, when sustenance comes upon the desert-inhabitants by a divinely unhoped-for largess, what else is it than that it flows down, fallen from heaven? They too have, in this celestial munificence, their own manna; and the Lord no less for them scatters aliment from the hidden place by the secret operation of his arm.

Et cum silicibus perfossis tandem divino munere respondentes e saxis aquae profluunt, quid aliud quam velut Moysi virgae ictu percussa rupe emerguntur? Vestimentorum perinde habitus in eremi vastitate degentibus; nunc quoque ecce non deficit, qui, dum iugiter gratuito divina provisione succedit, utique succedendo manet. Aluit Dominus in deserto suos quondam, sed et nunc alit; et illos quidem quadraginta annis, hos vero quousque anni erunt.

And when, the flints having been pierced, at length by a divine gift waters flow forth responding from the rocks, what else is it than that, as by the stroke of Moses’s rod, they emerge from the smitten rock? The condition of garments likewise for those dwelling in the vastness of the desert; even now, behold, does not fail, which, while it continually succeeds by gratuitous divine Providence, surely by succeeding remains. The Lord nourished his own in the desert once upon a time, but even now he nourishes; and those indeed for 40 years, these truly for as long as years shall be.

30. Merito hanc Sanctus divino igne succensus relicta sede propria sedem legat; merito propinquis, filiis parentibusque praeponat, suorumque omnium commercio emat; merito haec genitalem deserentibus patriam temporariae patriae nomen obtineat, a qua non metus, non desiderium, non gaudium, non maeror evocet; merito plane universorum affectuum sola sit pretium.

30. Deservedly let the Saint, kindled with divine fire, having left his own seat, choose this as his seat; deservedly let him prefer it to kinsfolk, to sons and parents, and purchase it at the price of commerce with all his own; deservedly let this obtain for those deserting their native fatherland the name of a temporary fatherland, from which neither fear, nor longing, nor joy, nor sorrow may call them forth; deservedly, plainly, let it be the sole price of all affections.

31. Quis enim enumerare beneficia eremi digne queat, virtutisque commoda habitantium in ea? In mundo positi, quodammodo extra mundum recedunt, in solitudinibus, ut ait Apostolus, errantes, in montibus et in speluncis et in cavernis terrae. Nec immerito dignum talibus Apostolus negat esse mundum, qui alieni sunt ab illo rei publicae humanae tumultu, sepositi, quieti, silentes, nec magis absunt a voluntate peccandi quam a facultate.

31. For who indeed could enumerate worthily the benefits of the desert, and the advantages of virtue for those dwelling in it? Placed in the world, they withdraw, as it were, outside the world, wandering in solitudes, as the Apostle says, on mountains and in caves and in the caverns of the earth. Nor without cause does the Apostle deny that the world is worthy of such men, who are alien from that tumult of the human commonwealth, set apart, quiet, silent, and no more absent from the will to sin than from the ability.

32. Clari apud veteres saeculi huius viri, defatigati laboribus negotiorum suorum, in philosophiam se tamquam in domum suam recipiebant. Quanto pulchrius ad haec manifestissimae sapientiae studia divertunt magnificentiusque ad solitudinum libertatem et desertorum secreta secedunt, ut, philosophiae tantum vacantes, in illius eremi deambulacris tamquam in suis gymnasiis, exerceantur! Ubi, quaeso, liberius quam in deserti habitatione servetur Pascha?

32. Renowned among the ancients, men of this world, wearied by the labors of their affairs, used to withdraw into philosophy as into their own home. How much more beautifully do they turn aside to these studies of most manifest wisdom, and how much more magnificently do they retire to the liberty of solitudes and the seclusions of deserts, so that, being free for philosophy alone, in the ambulatories of that wilderness, as in their own gymnasia, they may be exercised! Where, I ask, is the Pasch more freely kept than in the habitation of the desert?

Sed virtutibus et continentia: continentia, inquam, quae velut alia quaedam est cordis eremus. Nam et Moyses quadraginta continuos se in eremo dies, totidemque et post se illic Helias ieiunio dedit, et uterque ibi inediam ultra humani effectus vires extendit; deinde et Dominus idem, sed in deserto, abstinentiae tempus exegit. Nec praeterea usquam legimus spatia eadem exacta ieiunio, ut putandum sit aliquem tribui per Dominum locis illis etiam vigorem.

But by virtues and by continence: continence, I say, which is as it were a certain other eremus of the heart. For Moses devoted himself in the desert to forty continuous days, and after him Elijah there likewise for just as many in fasting, and each there extended abstinence beyond the powers of human achievement; then the Lord also, but in the wilderness, spent a season of abstinence. Nor, moreover, do we read anywhere else that the same spans were accomplished in fasting, so that it is to be thought that some vigor, too, is granted by the Lord to those places.

33. Ubi, quaeso, magis vacare et quam dulcis sit Dominus, videre contingit? Ubi promptior ad perfectionem tendentibus via panditur? Ubi maior virtutibus campus aperitur?

33. Where, I ask, does it more befall to be at leisure, and to see how sweet the Lord is? Where is a readier way opened for those tending toward perfection? Where is a greater field for virtues opened?

Ubi facilius mentis, ut possit circumspicere, custodia? Ubi liberior cordis, ut deo inhaerere certet, intentio, quam illis utique secretis, in quibus Deum non solum invenire promptum est, verum etiam custodire?

Where is the custody of the mind easier, that it may be able to look around? Where is the intention of the heart freer, to strive to adhere to God, than in those assuredly secret places, in which it is not only prompt to find God, but even to keep him?

34. Et quamvis saepe in eremo tenuis soli pulvis occurrat, nusquam tamen firmius Evangelicae illius domus fundamenta iaciuntur. In illis licet aliquis consistere harenis velit, nequaquam tamen super harenas domum construit, nusquam magis quam illic supra petram praedictum illud aedificium collocatur, quod immobili stabilitate fundatum, inconcussa mole durabit, ut tempore ingruentium procellarum non flantibus ventis, non immissis torrentibus subruatur. Itaque habitatores deserti talia sibi aedificia, sed in cordibus, fabricant, [illi qui summa imis appetunt, excelsa humilitate sectantur], desides atque immemores terrenorum, ob spem votumque caelestium; qui abiciunt divitias, dum egere malunt; non egere festinant, dum esse divites concupiscunt; die ac nocte labore vigilisque decertant, ut apprehendant vitae illius principium, cuius non invenietur extremum.

34. And although in the desert the thin dust of the soil often occurs, nowhere, however, are the foundations of that Evangelical house more firmly laid. Although in those sands someone may wish to stand, nevertheless he by no means builds a house upon sands; nowhere more than there is that aforesaid building placed upon the rock, which, founded with immovable stability, will endure with an unshaken mass, so that in the time of onrushing storms it may not be undermined by blowing winds nor by torrents sent in. And so the dwellers of the desert fashion for themselves such buildings, but in their hearts, [those who aim at the highest from the lowest, pursue lofty things by humility], inactive and unmindful of earthly things, on account of the hope and vow of heavenly things; who throw away riches, since they prefer to be in want; they hasten not to be in want, since they long to be rich; day and night they contend by labor and vigils, that they may apprehend the beginning of that life, of which no end will be found.

Sic materno eremus sinu continet illos aeternitatis rectissime avaros, [bene prodigos brevitatis], incuriosos praesentis temporis, [certos futuri], et per haec assequuntur, ut in quos saeculorum fines decurrerunt, his saecula sine fine contingant.

Thus the desert with a maternal bosom contains them, most rightly avaricious of eternity, [well prodigal of brevity], incurious of the present time, [certain of the future], and through these things they attain this: that for those upon whom the ends of the ages have run their course, to these ages without end befall.

35. Fervent ibi conscriptae interioris hominis salubriter leges et aeterni saeculi iura subtilius. Non illic humana criminum facinorumque praescripta vim suam resonant, nec se ultricia capitalium delictorum iura exserunt: cor nisi purissimum indignae leges faciunt reum; atque ipse omni studio mentis motus interior intra iustitiae terminos coercetur eodemque se iudice vel levium cogitationum principia plectuntur. Apud alios malum sit malum fecisse, apud hos vero malum est bonum non fecisse.

35. There the salubrious laws of the inner man and the statutes of the eternal age are set aflame more subtly. There the human prescriptions of crimes and misdeeds do not resound with their force, nor do the avenging rights of capital crimes put themselves forth: unless the heart is most pure, the laws against what is unworthy make it guilty; and the inner motion of the mind itself is, with every zeal, confined within the termini of justice, and by that same judge even the first beginnings of light thoughts are punished. Among others it may be evil to have done evil; among these, however, it is evil not to have done good.

36. Sed quo modo ego possim commemoratione digna interiora eremi [instituta] venerari? Nunc vero [illud tacitus] praeterire non possum, quod in habitatoribus eius vis illa virtutis quam abscondita cunctis paene tam nota est. Nam cum se utique in remota abigunt mundum, humanumque consortium repudiantes, occuli quidem gestiunt, meritum tamen occulere non posunt; quantum se eorum introrsum agit vita, tantum se foras proripit gloria Deo, ut arbitror, ita [inter utrumque] moderante, ut [incola eremi suae] lateat saeculo et non lateat exemplo.

36. But how could I be able to venerate with a worthy commemoration the inner [institutions] of the desert? Now indeed I cannot pass over [that silently], namely that in its inhabitants that force of virtue, though hidden, is to almost all so well known. For although they certainly drive themselves into remote places, repudiating the world and human fellowship, they long to be concealed, yet they cannot conceal merit; by as much as their life drives itself inward, by so much does glory spring forth outward for God—God, as I think, thus moderating [between the two]—so that [the inhabitant of his desert] may lie hidden to the world and not lie hidden as an example.

Haec lucerna est, quae per universum mundum resplendet supra eremi candelabrum locata; hinc se flagrantissimum lumen per tenebrosa mundi membra diffundit; haec est civitas quae abscondi non potest in deserti monte constructa, quae imagine sua caelestem Hierusalem terris dedit. Proinde si quis in tenebris est, huic lumini appropinquet, ut videat, si quis discrimini patet, ad hanc civitatem tendat, ut tutus sit.

This is the lamp, which shines resplendent through the universal world, set upon the candelabrum of the desert; from here the most flaming light diffuses itself through the tenebrous members of the world; this is the city which cannot be hidden, constructed on the mountain of the desert, which by its image has given the Heavenly Jerusalem to the earth. Therefore, if anyone is in darkness, let him approach this light, that he may see; if anyone stands exposed to peril, let him tend toward this city, that he may be safe.

37. O quam iocundae sunt sitientibus Deum etiam deviae illis saltibus solitudines! Quam amoena sunt quaerentibus Christum illa secreta, quae longe lateque natura excubante porrecta sunt! Silent omnia: tunc in Deum suum laeta mens quibusdam silentii stimulis excitatur, tunc ineffabilibus vegetatur excessibus, nullus interstrepens illic sonus, nulla nisi forte cum Deo vox est; solus ille animo, dum sonitus silentium secretae stationis intervenit interpolatque illum placidae quietis statum, strepitus quiete dulcior, et sanctus modestissimae conversationis tumultus; tunc hymnis suave resonantibus excelsa ipsa ferventes [chori] pulsant, atque in caelum non minus [paene vocibus quam orationibus] pervenitur.

37. O how joyous to those thirsting for God are even those out-of-the-way woodland solitudes! How lovely to those seeking Christ are those retreats, which, with nature keeping watch, are stretched far and wide! All things are silent: then into its God the glad mind is roused by certain goads of silence, then it is quickened by ineffable ecstasies; no clattering sound there, no voice unless perhaps with God; He alone is with the soul, while the sound of the silence of the secret watch comes between and interlaces that state of placid rest—a din sweeter than quiet, and the holy tumult of most modest conversation; then, with hymns sweetly resounding, the fervent [choirs] smite the very heights, and unto heaven one arrives no less [almost by voices than by prayers].

38. Fremit frustra tunc circuiens adversarius tamquam intra caulas ovibus septis lupus, et tamquam [munorum] obiectu [ita eremi ambitu]. Hostes [suos] submovet ac, ne in vanum vigilent qui custodiunt civitatem, peculiarius Christo propugnatore munitur, ut adoptiva Deo gens quantum secreti spatiis exposita, tantum hostibus suis clausa sit. Invisit sane speciosa deserti laetantium angelorum chorus, et per illam Iacob scalam commeantes, eremum frequentia abditae visitationis illustrant. In illo quoque meridie sponsus recubat habitatoresque deserti caritate vulnerati contemplantur eum dicentes: Invenimus quem quaesivit anima nostra, tenebimus eum et non dimittemus.

38. Then the adversary, circling around, roars in vain like a wolf with the sheep hedged within the folds, and as by the obstacle of [fortifications] [so by the ambit of the desert]. He drives back his enemies [his], and, lest those who guard the city keep watch in vain, it is in a special way fortified with Christ as champion, so that the race adopted to God, in proportion as it is exposed to the spaces of seclusion, by so much is shut off from its enemies. The chorus of rejoicing angels indeed visits the beauties of the desert, and, traversing that Jacob’s ladder, they illumine the desert by the frequency of a hidden visitation. At that noonday too the Bridegroom reclines, and the inhabitants of the desert, wounded with charity, contemplate him, saying: We have found him whom our soul sought, we will hold him and we will not let him go.

39. Non est infructuosum, ut creditur, non est istud sterile eremi solum nec infecunda arentis saxa deserti. Illic multiplex germen et centenos accola fructus recondit; non facile illic iacta semina [secus] viam decidunt, quae volucres assumant, nec in petrosa facile dilabuntur, quae non habentia altitudinem terrae orto sole aestuent et arescant, neque in spineta facile fugiunt, quae iam adultis sentibus obruantur. Uberi illic messem proventu colonus metet, producitur in his saxis seges illa per quam etiam ossa pinguescunt.

39. It is not unfruitful, as is believed; that soil of the desert is not sterile, nor are the stones of the parched desert infertile. There the inhabitant stores manifold seed and hundredfold fruits; there the seeds cast [along] the way do not easily fall, for the birds to take up, nor do they easily slip away upon the rocky places, which, not having depth of earth, when the sun has risen seethe and dry up, nor do they easily run into thickets, to be overwhelmed by brambles already grown. There with a rich yield the farmer will reap the harvest; on these rocks that crop is produced by which even the bones grow fat.

Invenitur etiam illic panis vivus qui de caelo descendit, erumpunt in illis rupibus fontes irrigui et aquae vivae, quae non satiandis solum, verum etiam possint sufficere salvandis. [Hic interioris hominis pratum et voluptas, hic incultum desertum illic mira amoenitate iocundum est, eademque corporis est eremus, animae paradisus].

Even there is found the living bread which came down from heaven, in those crags burst forth irrigating springs and living waters, which can suffice not only to satiate, but even to save. [Here is the meadow and delight of the inner man; here the uncultivated desert is there jocund with wondrous amenity, and the same is a wilderness for the body, a paradise for the soul].

40. Nulla iam quamvis fertilis tellus terrae eremi se comparatione iactaverit. Est terra aliqua frugibus ditis? In hac maxime nascitur frumentum illud, quod esurientes adipe suo satiat.

40. No land now, however fertile, will vaunt itself in comparison with the land of the desert. Is there any land rich in fruits? In this, above all, that grain is born which satiates the hungry with its own fatness.

Est alia gravidis laeta vinetis? In hac maxime profertur vinum illud, quod bene laetificat cor hominis. Est alia pascuis praestans?

Is there another rich in heavy-laden vineyards? In this one above all that wine is brought forth which well gladdens the heart of man. Is there another outstanding in pastures?

In hac saluberrime pascunt oves illae, de quibus dicitur, Pasce oves meas. Est alia floribus picta vernantibus? In hac maxime verus ille flos campi et lilium convallium refulget.

In this one those sheep, of whom it is said, “Feed my sheep,” graze most healthfully. Is there another painted with spring-blooming flowers? In this one especially that true flower of the field and the lily of the valleys shines forth.

Postremo alia est speciosis exsultans metallis, alia vero auro suo fulva est? In hac varii lapidum micant vibrante luce fulgores. Ita terra haec singulis terris maior ad singula, omnes longe praecedit bonis omnibus.

Finally, another is exultant with splendid metals, and yet another indeed is golden with its own gold? In this one the varied gleams of stones glitter with vibrating light. Thus this land, greater than each land in each particular, far surpasses all in every good.

41. Recte ergo tu, veneranda tellus, sanctis aut in te positis aut non procul a te remotis aut habitabilis dudum aut desiderabilis exstitisti, quia pro universis bonis illius es fertilis, in quo habentur universa. Tu cultorem hunc, qui suam terram, non qui tuam excolat, requiris, [tu inhabitantium te vitiis sterilis, tu fecunda virtutibus]. Tuam quicumque sanctorum familiaritatem quaesivit, Deum repperit; Christum in te, quisquis te coluit, invenit. Ipse qui habitat, Domino habitatore laetatur idemque est et possessor tuus et divina possessio; tuum qui non refugit habitaculum, factus est ipse Dei templum.

41. Rightly, therefore, you, venerable earth, have shown yourself to the saints—whether placed in you or not far removed from you—either long habitable or desirable, because you are fertile for all the goods of Him in whom all things are contained. You require this cultivator, who may cultivate his own land, not yours, [you barren through the vices of those inhabiting you, you fecund through virtues]. Whoever among the saints sought your familiarity found God; whoever worshiped you found Christ in you. He who inhabits rejoices with the Lord as inhabitant, and he is both your possessor and a divine possession; he who does not shun your dwelling has himself been made a temple of God.

42. Equidem cunctis eremi locis quae piorum illuminantur secessu reverentiam debeo, praecipuo tamen Lirinum meam honore complector, quae procellosi naufragiis mundi effusis, piissimis ulnis receptat venientes ab illo, saeculi flagrantes aestu blande introducit sub umbras suas, ut illic spiritum sub illa interiore Domini umbra anheli resumant. Aquis scatens, herbis virens, floribus renitens, visibus odoribusque iocunda, [paradisum possidentibus se] exhibet quem possidebunt; digna quae caelestibus disciplinis Honorato auctore fundata sit, quae tantis institutis tantum nacta sit patrem, apostolici spiritus vigore et vultus radiantem; digna quae illum suscipiens, ita emitteret; digna quae et praestantissimos alat monachos et [ambiendos] proferat sacerdotes. Haec nunc successorem eius tenet, Maximum nomine, clarum, quia post ipsum meruit adsciri; haec habuit reverendi nominis Lupum, qui nobis illum ex tribu Beniamin lupum retulit; haec habuit germanum eius Vincentium, interno gemmam splendore perspicuam; haec nunc possidet venerabilem gravitate Caprasium, veteribus sanctis parem; haec nunc habet sanctos senes illos, qui divisis cellulis Aegyptios Patres Galliis nostris intulerunt.

42. Indeed I owe reverence to all the desert places which are illumined by the withdrawal of the pious, yet with especial honor I embrace my Lerinum, which, the wrecks of the stormy world being cast forth, with most devout arms receives those coming from it, and, as they burn with the heat of the age, gently leads them beneath its shades, so that there, under that inner shadow of the Lord, while panting they may take back breath. Gushing with waters, green with herbs, shining with flowers, pleasant to sights and to scents, [it presents itself to those possessing paradise] the paradise which they will possess; worthy to have been founded for heavenly disciplines, with Honoratus as author, to have obtained, for such institutes, so great a father, shining with the vigor of an apostolic spirit and of visage; worthy that, having received him, it should thus send him forth; worthy both to nourish most excellent monks and to bring forth priests [to be courted]. This place now holds his successor, by name Maximus, illustrious, because he deserved to be called up after him; it had Lupus of reverend name, who brought back to us that wolf from the tribe of Benjamin; it had his own brother Vincent, a gem pellucid with inner splendor; it now possesses Caprasius, venerable for gravity, the peer of the ancient saints; it now has those holy elders, who, with cells set apart, have brought the Egyptian Fathers into our Gaul.

43. Quos ego illic, Iesu bone, sanctorum coetus, conventusque vidi! Pretiosa in his suavi unguedine alabastra flagrabant, spirabat passim odor vitae. Interioris hominis faciem exterioris habitu praeferebant, constricti caritate, humilitate deiecti, mollissimi pietate, firmissimi in spe, incessu modesti, oboedientia citi, occursu taciti, vultu sereni, prorsus ipsa protinus contemplatione angelicae quietis agmen ostendunt.

43. What companies of saints, and what assemblies, did I see there, good Jesus! Among these, precious alabaster-vessels were blazing with sweet unguent, the odor of life breathed everywhere. They bore the face of the inner man in the habit of the outer, bound fast by charity, cast down by humility, most gentle in piety, most firm in hope, modest in gait, swift in obedience, silent in encounter, serene in countenance, altogether they straightway, by contemplation itself, display the array of angelic quiet.

Nihil concupiscunt, nihil desiderant nisi eum tantum, quem solum desiderantes concupiscunt. Dum beatam quaerunt vitam, beata agunt, eamque et dum adhuc ambiunt, iam consequuntur. Itaque optant a [peccatoribus] segregari?

They covet nothing, they desire nothing save him alone, whom, by desiring alone, they covet. While they seek the blessed life, they act blessedly, and that same thing—even while they still aspire to it—they already attain. And so, do they wish to be segregated from [sinners]?

iam segregati sunt. Castam possidere vitam volunt? Iam possident.

They are already segregated. Do they wish to possess a chaste life? Already they possess it.

Omne in Dei laudibus tempus habere ambiunt? Habent. Desiderant gaudere sanctorum coetibus?

Do they ambitiously seek to have all time in the praises of God? They have it. Do they desire to rejoice in the assemblies of the saints?

Gaudent. Christo frui cupiunt? Spiritu fruuntur.

They rejoice. Do they desire to enjoy Christ? They enjoy the Spirit.

Vitam eremi adipisci gestiunt? Corde adipiscuntur. Ita per largissimam gratiam Christi multa ex his quae in futurum exoptant in [praesentiarum] merentur; rem porro ipsam capiunt, dum spem sequuntur.

Do they long to acquire the eremitic life? They acquire it in heart. Thus, through the most bountiful grace of Christ, many of the things which they desire for the future they merit for [the present]; and moreover they grasp the very thing itself, while they follow hope.

[Habent non parvum etiam in labore ipso pretium laboris, quia paene iam in opere est quod merces erit].

[They have no small reward even in the labor itself, because that which will be the wage is almost already in the work].

44. [Horum mi Hilari carissime, redditus insertusque consortio, plurimum tibi, plurimum etiam illis contulisti, qui nunc pro reditu tuo alacri exsultatione laetantur]. Cum his, [obsecro peccatorum meorum intercessionisque memoriam ne oblitteraveris]; cum his, inquam, quibus nescio an ipse gaudii plus attuleris an maius inveneris. Tu nunc verior Israhel, qui corde Deum conspicaris, ab Aegypto saeculi tenebris dudum expeditus, salutiferas aquas submerso hoste transgressus, in deserto accensum fidei ignem secutus, amara quondam, per lignum crucis dulcia nunc experiris, salientes in vitam aeternam aquas a Christo trahis, internum hominem superno pane pascis, in Evangelio tonitrui divinam accipis vocem; qui cum Israhel in eremo contineris, cum Iesu terram repromissionis intrabis. Vale in Christo Iesu Domino nostro.

44. [Of these, my dearest Hilary, restored and inserted into their consortium, you have conferred very much upon yourself, and very much also upon those who now rejoice with lively exultation at your return]. With these, [I beseech, do not blot out the remembrance of my sins and of intercession]; with these, I say, to whom I know not whether you yourself have brought more joy, or have found greater. You now are the truer Israel, who with the heart behold God, long since unshackled from the Egypt of the age’s darkness, having crossed the salutiferous waters with the enemy submerged, in the desert having followed the enkindled fire of faith; things once bitter, through the wood of the cross you now experience as sweet; you draw from Christ waters leaping into eternal life, you feed the inner man with supernal bread, you receive the divine voice in the Evangel of thunder; you who, while you are contained with Israel in the wilderness, with Jesus will enter the land of promise. Farewell in Christ Jesus our Lord.