Saint Jerome, Complete Works, Vol. II

remain; for from his eyes and countenance he had recognized why he had come. Therefore, the man, hanging upon the interrogation of the servant of God, could barely touch the ground with his feet, and roaring immensely, he answered in the Syrian language in which he had been questioned. You could see from the barbarian’s mouth, even though he knew only the Frankish likely referring to a Germanic dialect and Latin language, words resonating in pure Syriac: so that no harsh sound, no aspiration, no idiom of the Palestinian eloquence was missing. He confessed, therefore, in what order he had entered into him. And so that his interpreters, who knew only Greek and Latin, could understand, he questioned him in Greek as well. When he answered similarly and in the same words, and offered many excuses for incantations and the necessities of magical arts, "I do not care," he said, "how you entered; but I command you to leave in the name of our Lord Jesus B Christ." And when he had been cured 1. Manuscripts add: "the man", offering ten pounds of gold with rustic simplicity, he received barley bread from him, hearing that those who were nourished by such food considered gold as mud.

23. Brute animals cured.

It is little to speak of men; brute animals also were dragged to him daily while raging, among which was a Bactrian camel of enormous size, which had already crushed many. Thirty men and more brought it forward with shouting, tied with the strongest ropes. Its eyes were bloodshot, its mouth was foaming, its tongue was swollen and rolling, and a monstrous roar sounded above all terror. The old man therefore ordered it to be released. Immediately, both those who had brought it and those who were with the old man fled to a man. Furthermore, he went to meet it alone, and in the Syrian language said, "You do not terrify me, devil, with such a mass of body: in a fox and in a camel you are one and the same." And meanwhile, he stood with his hand outstretched. When the raging beast had reached him, as if it were about to devour him 2. In some vulgate editions: "And for the affection of the mind, individuals," etc., it immediately fell down; and it leveled its lowered head to the earth, all who were present marveling that after such ferocity, there was such sudden gentleness. The old man taught, however, that the devil also seizes beasts for the sake of humans; and that he burns with such hatred for them that he desires to destroy not only the people themselves, but also the things that belong to them. He proposed the example of this matter, that before the blessed Job was permitted to be tempted, he had killed all his substance. And no one should be moved that by the Lord's command, two thousand pigs were killed by demons (Matthew 8, and Mark 5); for those who had seen it could not otherwise believe that such a multitude of demons had left the man, unless a large number of pigs, as if driven by many, had fallen together.

24. M. Antonius honored Hilarion.

— Time will fail me if I wish to tell of all the signs that were performed by him. For he had been raised to such glory by the Lord that the blessed Anthony Anthony the Great, the founder of Christian monasticism also, hearing of his conduct, would write to him and willingly receive his letters. And if ever those who were sick had traveled to him from the parts of Syria, he would say to them, "Why did you want to weary yourselves so far, when you have my son Hilarion there?" Therefore, by his example, innumerable monasteries began to exist throughout all of Palestine, and all the monks ran to him in competition. Seeing this, he praised the grace of the Lord; and he exhorted each one to the progress of the soul, saying, "The form of this world is passing away, and that is the true life which is bought by the hardship of the present life."

25. Hilarion visited the monasteries.

— Wishing, however, to give them an example of both humility and duty, on fixed days before the grape harvest, he would visit the cells of the monks. After this became known by the brothers, all would flock to him; and accompanied by such a leader, they would go around the monasteries, having their own provisions, because sometimes up to two thousand men were gathered. But even in the preceding time, every village would joyfully offer food to the neighboring monks for the reception of the holy ones. Furthermore, how great was his zeal, so that he would not pass by any brother, however humble, however poor, is indicated by the fact that, going into the desert of Cades to visit one of his disciples, he arrived at Elusa 3. Manuscripts retain "Elusia" or "Eolesa" with an infinite train of monks, by chance on the day when the annual solemnity had gathered all the people of the town into the temple of Venus. They worship it on account of Lucifer the Morning Star, a deity often associated with pagan star-worship in this region, to whose cult the nation of the Saracens is devoted 4. This note confirms the Saracens historically venerated the Morning Star. But the town itself is for the most part semi-barbaric because of the location of the place. Therefore, having heard that Saint Hilarion was passing by (for he had frequently cured many Saracens seized by a demon), they proceeded to meet him in crowds with their wives and children, bowing their necks and shouting in the Syrian voice, "BARECH," that is, "bless." Receiving them kindly and humbly, he begged them to worship God rather than stones: at the same time, he wept abundantly, looking at the sky, and promising that if they believed in Christ, he would come to them frequently. By the wonderful grace of the Lord, they did not allow him to leave before he had laid the line of a future Church; and their priest, as he was crowned 5. A reference to the "Coronati," a specific order of pagan priesthood, was marked with the sign of Christ.

26. The greedy monk.

— In another year, when he was about to set out to visit the monasteries and...