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The Life of S. Hilarion
1.
Before I begin to write the life of the blessed Hilarion I invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, that He who bestowed upon the saint his virtues may grant me such power of speech to relate them that my words may be adequate to his deeds. For the virtue of those who have done great deeds is esteemed in proportion to the ability with which it has been praised by men of genius. Alexander the Great of Macedon who is spoken of by Daniel as the ram, or the panther, or the he-goat, on reaching the grave of Achilles exclaimed “Happy Youth! to have the privilege of a great herald of your worth,” meaning, of course, Homer. I, however, have to tell the story of the life and conversation of a man so renowned that even Homer were he here would either envy me the theme or prove unequal to it. It is true that that holy man Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, who had much intercourse with Hilarion, set forth his praises in a short but widely circulated letter. Yet it is one thing to praise the dead in general terms, another to relate their characteristic virtues. And so we in taking up the work begun by him do him service rather than wrong: we despise the abuse of some who as they once disparaged my hero Paulus, 1 will now perhaps disparage Hilarion; the former they censured for his solitary life; they may find fault with the latter for his intercourse with the world; the one was always out of sight, therefore they think he had no existence; the other was seen by many, therefore he is deemed of no account. It is just what their ancestors the Pharisees did of old! they were not pleased with 2 John fasting in the desert, nor with our Lord and Saviour in the busy throng, eating and drinking. But I will put my hand to the work on which I have resolved, and go on my way closing my ears to the barking of Scylla’s hounds.
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Vita S. Hilarionis
1.
Scripturus Vitam beati Hilarionis, habitatorem eius invoco Spiritum Sanctum; ut qui illi virtutes largitus est, mihi ad narrandas eas sermonem tribuat, ut facta dictis exaequentur. Eorum enim qui fecere, virtus (ut ait Crispus) tanta habetur, quantum eam verbis potuere extollere praeclara ingenia. Alexander Magnus Macedo, quem vel arietem, vel pardum, vel hircum caprarum Daniel vocat, cum ad Achillis tumulum pervenisset: Felicem te, ait, iuvenis, qui magno frueris [al. fruaris] praecone meritorum! Homerum videlicet significans. Porro mihi tanti ac talis viri conversatio [al. conversio], Vitaque dicenda est, ut Homerus quoque si adesset, vel invideret materiae, vel succumberet. Quamquam enim [0029B] sanctus Epiphanius Salaminae Cypri episcopus, qui cum Hilarione plurimum versatus est, laudem eius brevi epistola scripserit, quae vulgo legitur; tamen aliud est locis communibus laudare defunctum, aliud defuncti proprias narrare virtutes. Unde et nos favore magis illius, quam iniuria, coeptum ab eo opus aggredientes, maledicorum voces contemnimus: qui olim detrahentes Paulo meo, nunc forte detrahent et Hilarioni: illum solitudinis calumniati, huic obiicientes frequentiam: ut qui semper latuit, non fuisse; qui a multis visus est, vilis existimetur. Fecerunt hoc et maiores eorum quondam Pharisaei, quibus nec Ioannis eremus ac ieiunium, nec Domini Salvatoris turbae, cibi, potusque placuerunt. Verum destinato operi imponam manum, et Scylleos canes obturata [0029C] [al. obdurata] aure transibo.