The Ascended Master Hilarion embodies the qualities of healing
and wholeness, music and science, and one-pointed vision (the
action of the third-eye). His retreat is in the etheric octave
above Crete, Greece. At his retreat, Hilarion prepares us to
receive the gift of healing. Hilarion was incarnated as the
Apostle Paul and as Saint Hillarion.
Hilarion is perhaps best known for his work through Maurice
B. Cooke, author/channel of some 25 books dictated by the Ascended
Master. Hilarion is said to be one of the Chohans, senior members
of the Spiritual Hierarchy of this planet dedicated to the peaceful
evolution of the human family. This Master works on the 5th
Ray, the Green Ray of Truth.
The
Apostle Paul
Paul of Tarsus (b. c. 10, d. c. 65), the Apostle to the Gentiles
(Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:8) was, together with Simon Peter,
the most notable of Early Christian missionaries. Unlike the
Twelve Apostles, Paul did not know Jesus in life; he came to
faith through a vision of the resurrected Jesus (1 Cor 15:8-9).
As he wrote, he "received it [the Gospel] by revelation
from Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:11-12); according to Acts, his
conversion was on the Road to Damascus.
Paul was the second most prolific contributor to the New Testament,
after Luke the Evangelist. Fourteen letters are attributed to
him, with varying degrees of confidence. The undisputed Pauline
epistles contain the earliest systematic account of Christian
doctrine, and provide information on the life of the infant
Church. They are arguably the oldest part of the New Testament.
Paul also appears in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles,
attributed to Luke the Evangelist, so that it is possible to
compare the account of his life in the Acts with his own account
in his various letters. His letters are largely written to churches
which he had founded or visited; he was a great traveller, visiting
Cyprus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey), mainland Greece, Crete,
and Rome bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, first to Jews
and then to Gentiles. His letters are full of expositions of
what Christians should believe and how they should live. What
he does not tell his correspondents (or the modern reader) is
much about the life and teachings of Jesus— his most explicit
references are to the Last Supper (1 Cor 11:17-34) and the crucifixion
and resurrection (1 Cor 15). His references to Jesus' teaching
are likewise sparse: that against divorce (1 Cor 7:10-16), the
commandment to love one another (Romans 13:8-10, Gal 5:14),
and the commandment against idolatry;[1] raising the question,
still disputed, as to how consistent his account of the faith
is with that of the four canonical Gospels, Acts, and the Epistle
of James. Nevertheless, he provides the first written account
of the relationship of the Christian to the Risen Christ - what
it is to be a Christian - and of Christian spirituality.
Paul's influence on Christian thinking has, arguably, been
more significant than any other single New Testament author.
His influence on the main strands of Christian thought have
been massive, from St. Augustine of Hippo to the controversies
between Gottschalk and Hincmar of Reims, between Thomism and
Molinism, Martin Luther, Calvin and the Arminians, Jansenism
and the Jesuit theologians and even to the German church of
the twentieth century through the writings of the scholar Karl
Barth, whose commentary on the Letter to the Romans had a political
as well theological impact.
Early Life
Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia in what is now Turkey, with
the name Saul, "an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin,
circumcised on the eighth day" (Phil.3:5). Acts records
that Paul was a Roman citizen—a privilege he used a number
of times in his defence, appealing convictions in Judea to Rome
(Acts 22:25 and 27–29). According to Acts 22:3, he studied
in Jerusalem under the Rabbi Gamaliel, well known in Paul's
time. He supported himself during his travels and while preaching
— a fact he alludes to a number of times (e.g., 1 Cor
9:13–15); according to Acts 18:3, he worked as a tentmaker.
He first appears in the pages of the New Testament as a witness
to the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:57-8:3). He was, as he described
himself, a persistent persecutor of the Church (1 Cor 15:9,
Gal 1:13) (almost all of whose members were Jewish or Jewish
proselytes), until his experience on the Road to Damascus which
resulted in his conversion. According to Acts, after a bolt
of light from the skies brighter than the sun, he heard the
voice of Jesus saying to him in Aramaic: "Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:5 RSV). He fell to the ground
and found himself blinded, a condition which was not relieved
until he had been taken to Damascus where Ananias laid hands
on him, cured him, and baptised him. There are three versions
of the story told in Acts: the first is a description of the
event (9:1-19a); the second is Paul's account of the event in
Aramaic before the crowd in Jerusalem (22:1-22); the third is
Paul's account before King Agrippa II (26:1-24). His own account,
in his letter to the Galatians (1:11-24), is more circumspect,
emphasising his independence from the apostles in Jerusalem
but not describing his conversion in any detail.
The alleged house of St. Ananias in Damascus.In trying to
reconstruct the events of Paul's life, it is necessary to compare
Acts and the letters. Different views are held as to the reliability
of the former, whose usefulness is strongly disputed by scholars
such as Hans Conzelmann. Even allowing for omissions in St.
Paul's own account, which is found particularly in Galatians,
it is difficult to reconcile his account with that in Acts (as
is shown below), or to ascertain exactly when the letters were
written. Acts makes no reference to his letter writing and it
never quotes any of his letters. Omissions, of course, present
less of a problem than apparent contradictions. The general
line taken is to prefer Paul's own account, from his undisputed
letters, to that of Acts.
It is possible to argue that the historicity of Acts may be
discerned from within the book itself by the so-called "we"
passages. In Acts 16:11, the descriptions of events suddenly
change from "he" and "they" to "we",
as if the narrator Luke himself had joined them; these "we"
sections include the trip to Philippi and the conversion of
Lydia. Thereafter, the narrator appears to be present with Paul
as he sails from Philippi to Troas to Jerusalem and again on
the journey to Rome.
Mission
Following his stay in Damascus after his conversion, where he
was baptised, Paul says that he first went to Arabia, and then
came back to Damascus (Gal 1:17). According to Acts, his preaching
in the local synagogues got him into trouble there, and he was
forced to escape, being let down over the wall in a basket (Acts
9:23). He describes in Galatians, how three years after his
conversion, he went to Jerusalem, where he met James, and stayed
with Simon Peter for fifteen days (Gal 1:13–24). According
to Acts, he apparently attempted to join the disciples and was
accepted only owing to the intercession of Barnabas –
they were all understandably afraid of him as one who had been
a persecutor of the Church (Acts 9:26-27). Again, according
to Acts, he got into trouble for disputing with "Hellenists"
(Greek speaking Jews and Gentile "God-fearers") and
so he was sent back to Tarsus.
We do not know exactly what happened in the fourteen years
that elapsed before he went again to Jerusalem. At the end of
this time, Barnabas went to find Saul and brought him back to
Antioch (Acts 11:26). As he had been the object of suspicion
by the Christians at Jerusalem, it is impossible to deduce how
he might have been received when he returned to Tarsus and if
he stayed without incident.
When a famine occurred in Judaea, around 45-46,[2] help was
sent by the hands of Barnabas and Saul; Saul then returned to
Antioch. According to Acts, Antioch had become an alternative
centre for Christians, following the dispersion after the death
of Stephen. In Antioch, the followers of Jesus were first called
Christians.
Writings/Authorship
Of the fourteen letters attributed to St. Paul, one, Hebrews,
was disputed from an early date and is generally not thought
to have been written by him. As for the rest, there is little
or no dispute about the authorship of Romans, First Corinthians,
Second Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, First Thessalonians,
and Philemon.
The authenticity of Colossians has been questioned on the grounds
that it contains an otherwise unparalleled description (amongst
his writings) of Jesus as 'the image of the invisible God',
a Christology found elsewhere only in St. John's gospel. Nowhere
is there a richer and more exalted estimate of the position
of Christ than here. On the other hand, the personal notes in
the letter connect it the Philemon, unquestionably the work
of Paul. More problematic is Ephesians, a very similar letter
to Colossians, but which reads more like a manifesto than a
letter. It is almost entirely lacking in personal reminiscences.
Its style is unique; it lacks the emphasis on the cross to be
found in other Pauline writings, reference to the Second Coming
is missing, and Christian marriage is exalted in a way which
contrasts with the grudging reference in 1 Cor 7:8-9. Finally
it exalts the Church in a way suggestive of a second generation
of Christians, 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets' now past.[6] The defenders of its Pauline authorship
argue that it was intended to be read by a number of different
churches and that it marks the final stage of the development
of St. Paul's thinking.
The Pastoral Epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus have likewise
been put in question as Pauline works only in modern times.
Three main reasons are advanced: first, their difference in
vocabulary, style and theology from St. Paul's acknowledged
writings; secondly, the difficulty in fitting them into St Paul's
biography as we have it.[7]. They, like Colossians and Ephesians,
were written from prison but suppose St. Paul's release and
travel thereafter. Finally, the concerns expressed are very
much the practical ones as to how a church should function.
They are more about maintenance than about mission.
Two further epistles attributed by some to Paul (since some
of the prior epistles mention them) have been lost: Epistle
to the Alexandrians (lost), of which nothing is known letter
apart from a brief mention in the Muratorian fragment that claims
it was a forgery; the Epistle to the Macedonians which is lost.
Paul
and Jesus
As already stated, little can be deduced about the earthly life
of Jesus from St. Paul's letters. He mentions specifically only
the Last Supper (1 Cor. 11:23ff), his death by crucifixion (1
Cor :2:2; Phil. 2:8), and his resurrection (Phil. 2:9) . Instead,
Paul concentrates on the nature of the Christian's relationship
with Christ and, in particular, on Christ's saving work. In
St. Mark's gospel, Jesus is recorded as saying that he was to
'give up his life as a ransom for many'. St. Paul's account
of his idea of a saving act is more fully articulated in various
places in his letters, most notably in his letter to the Romans.
What Christ has achieved for those who believe in him is variously
described: as sinners under the law, they are "justified
by his grace as a gift"; they are "redeemed"
by Jesus who was put forward by God as expiation; they are "reconciled"
by his death. The gift (grace) is to be received in faith. (Rom
3:24f; Rom 5: 9). These three images have been the subject of
detailed examination.
Justification derives from the law courts. Those who are justified
are acquitted of an offence. Since the sinner is guilty, he
or she can only be acquitted by someone else, Jesus, standing
in for them, which has led many Christians to believe in the
teaching known as the doctrine of substitutionary atonement.
The sinner is, in St. Paul's words "justified by faith"
(Rom. 5:1), that is, by adhering to Christ, the sinner becomes
at one with Christ in his death and resurrection (hence the
word atonement). Acquittal, however, is achieved not on the
grounds that Christ was innocent (though he was) and that we
share his innocence but on the grounds of his sacrifice (crucifixion),
i.e. his innocent undergoing of punishment on behalf of sinners
who should have suffered divine retribution for their sins.
They deserved to be punished and he took their punishment. They
are justified by his death, and now "so much more we are
saved by him from divine retribution" (Rom. 5: 9).
For an understanding of the meaning of faith as that which
justifies, St. Paul turns to Abraham, who trusted God's promise
that he would be father of many nations. Abraham preceded the
giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Thus law cannot save us; faith
does. Abraham could not, of course, have faith in the living
Christ but, in Paul's view, "the gospel was preached to
him beforehand" (Gal. 3:8); this is in line with Paul's
belief in the pre-existence of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5-11).[8]
Redemption has a different origin, that of the freeing of slaves;
it is similar in character as a transaction to the paying of
a ransom, (mentioned in St. Mark) though the circumstances are
different. Money was paid in order to set free a slave, one
who was in the ownership of another. Here the price was the
costly act of Christ's death. On the other hand, no price was
paid to anyone – St. Paul does not suggest, for instance,
that the price be paid to the devil – though this has
been suggested by learned writers, ancient and modern, such
as Origen and St. Augustine, as a reversal of the Fall by which
the devil gained power over humankind.
A third expression, reconciliation, is about the making of
friends which is, of course, a costly exercise where one has
failed or harmed another . The making of peace (Col. 1:20) (Rom
5:9) is another variant of the same theme. Elsewhere (Eph. 2:14)
he writes of Christ breaking down the dividing wall between
Jew and Gentile, which the law constituted.
As to how a person appropriates this gift, St. Paul writes
of a mystical union with Christ through baptism: "we who
have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his
death" (Rom. 6:4). He writes also of our being "in
Christ Jesus" and alternately, of "Christ in you,
the hope of glory". Thus, the objection that one person
cannot be punished on behalf of another is met with the idea
of the identification of the Christian with Christ through baptism.
These expressions, some of which are to be found in the course
of the same exposition, have been interpreted by some scholars,
such as the mediaeval teacher Peter Abelard and, much more recently,
Hastings Rashdall ,[9] as metaphors for the effects of Christ's
death upon those who followed him. This is known as the "subjective
theory of the atonement". On this view, rather than writing
a systematic theology, Paul is trying to express something inexpressible.
According to Ian Markham, on the other hand, the letter to the
Romans is "muddled".
But others, ancient and modern, Protestant and Catholic, have
sought to elaborate from his writing objective theories of the
Atonement on which they have, however, disagreed. The doctrine
of justification by faith alone was the major source of the
division of western Christianity known as the Protestant Reformation
which took place in the sixteenth century. Justification by
faith was set against salvation by works of the law in this
case, the acquiring of indulgences from the Church and even
such good works as the corporal works of mercy. The result of
the dispute, which undermined the system of endowed prayers
and the doctrine of purgatory, contributed to the creation of
Protestant churches in Western Europe, set against the Roman
Catholic Church. Solifidianism (sola fides), the name often
given to these views, is associated with the works of Martin
Luther (1483-1546) and his followers. With this view went the
notion of Christ's substitutionary atonement for human sin.
The various doctrines of the atonement have been associated
with such theologians as Anselm, Calvin, and more recently Gustaf
Aulen; none found their way into the Creeds. The substitutionary
theory (above), in particular, has fiercely divided Christendom,
some pronouncing it essential and others repugnant. + The various
doctrines of the atonement have been associated with such theologians
as Anselm, Calvin, and more recently Gustav Aulen; none found
their way into the Creeds. The substitutionary theory (above),
in particular, has fiercely divided Christendom, some pronouncing
it essential and others repugnant.
Further, because salvation could not be achieved by merit,
Paul lays some stress on the notion of its being a free gift,
a matter of Grace. Whereas grace is most often associated specifically
with the Holy Spirit, in St. Paul's writing, grace is received
through Jesus (Rom.1:5), from God through the redemption which
is in Christ Jesus (Rom.3:24), and especially in 2 Cor.13:14.
On the other hand, the Spirit he describes as the Spirit of
Christ (see below). The notion of free gift, not the subject
of entitlement, has been associated with belief in predestination
and, more controversially, double predestination: that God has
chosen whom He wills to have mercy on and those whose will He
has hardened (Rom. 9:18f.).
Paul's concern with what Christ had done, as described above,
was matched by his desire to says also who he was (and is).
In his letter to the Romans, he describes Jesus as the "Son
of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection
from the dead"; in the letter to the Colossians, he is
much more explicit, describing Jesus as "the image of the
invisible God", (Col.1:15) as rich and exalted picture
of Jesus as can be found anywhere in the New Testament (which
is one reason why some doubt its authenticity). On the other
hand, in the undisputed Pauline letter to the Philippians, he
describes Jesus as "in the form of God" who "did
not count equality with God as thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness
of men he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even
death on a cross…"
Holy
Spirit
Paul places much emphasis on the importance of the Spirit in
the Christian life. He contrasts the spiritual and those thoughts
and actions which are animal (of the flesh). The difficulty
comes in determining how this affects action. The gift of the
spirit was much associated in Gentile mind with the gift of
ecstatic speech speaking in tongues and is connected in Acts
with becoming a Christian, even before baptism. In considering
the manifestations of the spirit, he is cautious. Thus, when
discussing the gift of tongues in his first letter to the Corinthians
(Chapter 14), as against the unintelligible words of ecstasy,
he commends, by contrast, intelligibility and order: ecstasy
may illuminate the practitioner; coherent speech will enlighten
the hearer. Everything should be done decently and in order.
Secondly, the gift of the Spirit appears to have been interpreted
by the Corinthians as a freedom from all constraints, and in
particular the law. Paul, on the contrary, argues that not all
things permissible are good; eating meats that have been offered
to pagan idols, frequenting pagan temples, orgiastic feasting;
none of these things build up the Christian community, and may
offend the weaker members. On the contrary, the Spirit was a
uniting force, manifesting itself through the common purpose
expressed in the exercise of their different gifts (1 Cor. 12)
He compares the Christian community to a human body, with its
different limbs and organs, and the Spirit as the Spirit of
Christ, whose body we are. The gifts range from administration
to teaching, encouragement to healing, prophecy to the working
of miracles. Its fruits are the virtues of love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control
(Gal.5:22). Love is the best way of all (1 Cor. 13)
Further, the new life is the life of the Spirit, as against
the life of the flesh, which Spirit is the Spirit of Christ,
so that one becomes a son of God. God is our Father and we are
fellow heirs of Christ (Rom.8:14).
Resurrection
Paul appears to develop his ideas in response to the particular
congregation to whom he is writing. The idea of the resurrection
of the body was foreign to the Greek (i.e. Corinthian) mind;
rather the soul would ascend apart from the body. The Jewish
conception, on the other hand, was of the exaltation of the
body which was assumed into heaven. Neither fits easily into
the descriptions of the risen Christ walking about as described
in the gospels. The Corinthians appeared to believe, from what
Paul writes, that Jesus had avoided death (,[13], but that his
followers would not. He wants to make clear to them that Jesus
died but overcame death and that unless he did so we could not
hope to be raised from the dead; because he did so, we can (1
Cor. 15:12ff.). However, the resurrected body is a glorified
body and thus will not decay.
Paul has a very corporate idea of the resurrection hope of
the Christian community. The hope given to all who belong to
Christ, includes those who have already died but who have been
baptised vicariously by the baptism of others on their behalf
– so that they may be included among the saved(1 Cor.
15:29); (whether or not St. Paul approved of the practice he
was apparently prepared to use as part of his argument in favour
of the resurrection of the dead).
The World to come
Paul's teaching about the end of the world is expressed most
clearly in his letters to the Christians at Thessalonica. Heavily
persecuted, it appears that they had written asking him first
about those who had died already, and, secondly, when they should
expect the end. Paul regarded the age as passing and, in such
difficult times, he therefore discouraged marriage. He assures
them that the dead will rise first and be followed by those
left alive (1 Thess. 4:16ff.). This suggests an imminence of
the end but he is unspecific about times and seasons, and encourages
his hearers to expect a delay. The form of the end will be a
battle between Jesus and the man of lawlessness (2 Thess.2:3ff.RSV)
whose conclusion is the triumph of Christ.
The delay in the coming of the end has been interpreted in
different ways: on one view, St. Paul and the early Christians
were simply mistaken; on another, that of Austin Farrer, his
presentation of a single ending can be interpreted to accommodate
the fact that endings occur all the time and that, subjectively,
we all stand an instant from judgement. The delay is also accounted
for by God's patience (2 Thess. 2:6).
As for the form of the end, the Catholic Encyclopedia presents
two distinct ideas. First, universal judgement, with neither
the good nor the wicked shall omitted (Rom 14:10–12),
nor even the angels (1 Cor 6:3). Second, and more controversially,
judgment will be according to faith and works, mentioned concerning
sinners (2 Cor 11:15), the just (2 Tim 4:14), and men in general
(Rom 2:6–9). This latter characterization has been the
subject of controversy among Reformed theologians, notably N.
T. Wright.
Social
views
The conversion on the way to Damascus, by Caravaggio.Every letter
of St. Paul includes pastoral advice which most often arises
from the doctrines he has been propounding. They are not afterthoughts.
Thus in his letter to the Romans, having reminded his readers
that, like branches grafted onto the olive, they themselves,
like the natural branches, the Jews, may be broken off if they
fail to persist in faith. For that reason he appeals to them
to offer themselves to God, and not to be conformed to the world.
They must use their gifts as part of the body which they are.
He invites them to be loving, patient, humble and peaceable,
never seeking vengeance. Their standards are to be heavenly
not earthy standards: he condemns impurity, lust, greed, anger,
slander, filthy language, lying, and racial divisions. In the
same passage, Paul extolled the virtues of compassion, kindness,
patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and gratitude (Col 3:1–17;
cf. Galatians 5:16-26) Even so they are to be obedient to the
authorities, paying their taxes, on the grounds that the magistrate
exercises power which can only come from God.
As noted above, the Corinthians were inclined to regard their
freedom from law as a licence to do what they liked. Thus, his
attitude towards sexual immorality, set against the mores of
Greek-influenced society, is particularly direct: "Flee
from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside
his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body"
(1 Cor. 6:18). His attitude towards marriage, in writing to
the Corinthians, is to advise his readers not to marry because
of the "present distress" but marriage is better than
immoral conduct: "it is better to marry than to be aflame
with passion"; the alternative, adopted by Paul himself,
is celibacy. As for those who are married, even to unbelievers,
they should not seek to be parted. In Ephesians he appears to
be more positive holding marriage up as a parable of the relationship
between Christ and the Church (Eph 5:21–33). His attitude
towards dietary rules manifests the same caution: all is permitted
but some actions may seem to "weaker brethren" to
be an implicit acceptance of the legitimacy of idol worship
– such as eating food that had been used in pagan sacrifice.
He deals with many other questions on which he may have been
asked for advice: their relationship with unbelievers; the duty
of supporting other needy Christians, how to deal with church
members who had fallen into temptation, the need for self-examination
and humility, the conduct of family life, the importance of
accepting the teaching authority of the leaders of the Church.
His teaching has been criticised as being conservative and
even quietist. His view of the shortness of the time before
the end is thought to have influenced his ethic. That what he
says – for instance, about the appropriate attitude towards
unbelievers – appears to vary may be the result of his
responding to different questioners whose enquiries are unknown
to us. Three particular issues, not all of them controversial
at the time have assumed great contemporary importance. One
is his attitude towards slaves, the second towards women and
the third his attitude towards homosexual acts.
Alternative
views
Most writing on St. Paul comes from the pen of Christians and
thus, as Hyam Maccoby, the Talmudic scholar, has noted, tends
to adopt a reverential tone towards his life and teaching. He
is one of a number of authors who has argued that not only can
we learn little of Christ's life and teaching from his letters
but that Paul of Acts and Paul from his own writing are very
different people. Some difficulties have been noted in the account
of his life. Additionally, the speeches of Paul, as recorded
in Acts, have been argued to show a different turn of mind.
Paul of Acts is much more interested in factual history, less
in theology; ideas such as justification by faith are absent
(see Acts 13:16-41; 17:22-31) as are references to the Spirit.
On the other hand, there is no references to John the Baptist
in the letters, but Paul mentions him several times in Acts.
(But See F.F. Bruce below)
A further charge by Maccoby is that the Gospels present Jesus
as, essentially, a wandering rabbi (except for Jesus' own words)
and that Paul elevates him to the status of Son of God and Messiah,
claims which Jesus did not make himself. Geza Vermes, in his
book Jesus the Jew advances precisely this argument. Christian
scholars, even as long ago as Wilhelm Wrede (1859-1906), have
made similar claims: that Jesus did not claim to be the Messiah
and the references to the secrecy of his Messiahship lead to
this conclusion. The cogency of these arguments depends on how
far the four evangelists themselves are to be treated as creative
theologians and what processes took place in the editing of
the gospels as written. Some differences can be accounted for
by the different demands of storytelling and letterwriting.
Also, the tone of the gospels differs between themselves. Another
important question is the issue of authority: who has the authority
to teach? (At the beginning of St. Mark's gospel the expression
"Son of God" is found but it is not in all ancient
manuscripts; the view has been expressed that Jesus somehow
became the Son of God at his baptism - a doctrine known as adoptionism.
In St. John's Gospel, Jesus is called the divine 'Word' who
existed before Abraham and Jesus said, "Before Abraham
was, I am.") Differences in translation yield different
intepretations. The arguments are dense and complex and cannot
be rehearsed in detail here. Maccoby, on the other hand, argues
that the Gospels and other later Christian documents were written
to reflect Paul's views rather than the authentic life and teaching
of Jesus.
Maccoby questions Paul's integrity as well:"Scholars",
he says, "feel that, however objective their enquiry is
supposed to be, ... never say anything to suggest that he may
have bent the truth at times, though the evidence is strong
enough in various parts of his life-story that he was not above
deception when he felt it warranted by circumstances".
Saint Hillarion
Hilarion (291-371) was born in Thabatha, south of Gaza in
Palestine of pagan parents. He successfully studied rhetorics
with a Grammarian in Alexandria. It seems that he was concerted
in Alexandria. After that he shunned the pleasures of his day,
theatre, circus and arena and spent his time attending church.
According to Jerome, he was a thin and delicate youth of fragile
health.
Beginnings
of Monastic Life
After hearing of Saint Anthony, whose name "was in the
mouth of all the races of Egypt" (Jerome), at the age of
fifteen, he went to live with him in the desert for two months.
As Anthony's hermitage was busy with visitors seeking cures
for diseases or demonic affliction, he went home together with
some monks. At Thabatha, his parents having died in the meantime,
he gave his inheritance to his brothers and the poor and left
for the wilderness.
His
Time at Majoma
Hilarius went to the area southwest of Majoma, the port of Gaza,
that was limited by the sea at one side and marshland on the
other. It was the abode of robbers. With him he took only a
shirt of coarse linen, a cloak of skins given to him by St.
Anthony and a coarse blanket. He led a nomadic life, subsisting
only on dried figs, eaten after sunset.
After he was beset by carnal thoughts, he reduced his diet
to the juice of herbs and less figs. Cold showers not being
available, he took to praying, singing, the hoeing of the soil
and the production of baskets made from rushes. Although he
was quite starved, "so wasted that his bones scarcely held
together" (Jerome) he still had visions of naked women,
voluptuous meals, chariots and gladiatorial contests. Often
he heard voices, of infants or of domestic animals, which he
identified as demons.
He finally built a hut of reeds and sedges, in which he lived
for four years. Afterwards, he constructed a tiny low ceilinged
cell, "a tomb rather than a house", where he slept
on a bed of rushes, recited the bible or sang hymns.
He never washed his clothes, changed them only when they fell
apart and shaved his hair only once a year. He was once visited
by robbers, but they left him alone when they learned that he
did not fear death (and had nothing worth stealing, anyway),
promising to mend their ways.
Jerome gives a detailed account of his diet:
from 20-23: half a pint of lentils moistened with cold water
23-27: dry bread with salt and water
27-30: wild herbs and roots
31-35: six ounces of barley bread, and boiled vegetables without
oil
After that, he suffered from signs of malnutrition, his eye-sight
grew poor, his body shrivelled and he developed dry mange and
scabs, so he had to slightly modify his diet.
35-63: six ounces of barley bread, and boiled vegetables with
oil
63-80: six ounces of water, boiled vegetables with oil and a
broth made from flour and crushed herbs, taken after sunset
After he had lived in the wilderness for 22 years, he became
quite famous in Palestine. Visitors started to come, begging
for his help.
Miracles
His first miracle was when he cured a woman from Eleutheropolis
who had been barren for 15 years. Later, he cured blindness,
raised children from the dead, healed a paralysed charioteer,
expelled demons. He even cured horses affected by evil magic
and tamed a mad Bactrian Camel.
Monastery
In time, a monastery grew around his cell, which was so beset
by visitors, especially females, that Hilarion fled.
After numerous adventures, always beset by enthusiastic visitors
seeking his help, Hilarion died in Cyprus in 371 AD.
Sources
His life has been written by Jerome in 390 AD at Bethlehem.
According to Jerome, bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, had already
described his virtues in a well known letter, which has not
been preserved.
Source: wikipedia
