In Praise of the Desert

Contents

1. 1Eucherius praises Hilary for returning to the desert of Lérins, leaving even Honoratus, whom he had escorted to his bishopric, out of love for God.
2. 2Honoratus, Eucherius believes, willingly let Hilary go, because his love looked to Hilary's good.
3. 3Eucherius calls the desert God's unbounded temple, where Moses and Elijah met God.
4. 4An anecdote: asked where God is, a man led his questioner into the desert and said, “Here is where God is.”
5. 5God, in creating, prepared the desert from the beginning to be fruitful in saints.
6. 6Adam fell in the pleasant garden; whoever desires life should therefore dwell in the desert.
7. 7At the burning bush in the desert God called the ground holy, and Moses the shepherd of sheep became the shepherd of peoples.
8. 8Israel, freed from Egypt, went into the desert, led by the pillar of cloud and fire.
9. 9The Red Sea opened for Israel on its way to the desert.
10. 10The sea closed again on the enemy, as if to keep Israel from returning from the desert.
11. 11In the desert God brought water from the rock and made the bitter water sweet.
12. 12God fed Israel in the desert with manna, daily bread from heaven.
13. 13Israel received the law at Sinai in the desert and there saw God's seat and heard his voice.
14. 14God gave Israel in the desert food, drink and clothing that did not wear out.
15. 15Israel's desert wonders are figures of Christian mysteries, yet they really happened, and they foreshadow the life to come.
16. 16As Israel reached the promised land through the desert, so the way to the heavenly homeland lies through the desert.
17. 17David escaped Saul in the desert, where he thirsted for God and saw his power and glory.
18. 18Elijah, the great dweller in solitude, worked wonders and was taken up to heaven.
19. 19Elisha, Elijah's successor, worked miracles and even raised a dead man after his own death.
20. 20The sons of the prophets left the cities to live in huts by the Jordan.
21. 21John the Baptist lived and preached repentance and the kingdom in the desert and witnessed the Trinity at Jesus' baptism.
22. 22Christ, though sinless, was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert after his baptism, an example for sinners.
23. 23In the desert Christ, the new Adam, defeated the devil who had conquered Adam in paradise, and angels served him.
24. 24Jesus fed the five thousand in a desert place, as God had fed Israel with manna.
25. 25Christ was transfigured on a remote mountain, and Peter said, “It is good for us to be here.”
26. 26Jesus prayed in desert places, showing that the desert is the place of prayer.
27. 27The desert fathers John and Macarius and many others lived in the desert a heavenly life.
28. 28The desert is the treasury in which God keeps his saints hidden and from which he brings them out when needed.
29. 29God still feeds and clothes the monks of the desert as he did Israel for forty years.
30. 30The holy man rightly leaves home and family for the desert, which becomes his homeland.
31. 31Desert dwellers live outside the world, “of whom the world was not worthy.”
32. 32Monks practise the true philosophy in the desert, where Moses, Elijah and Christ fasted forty days.
33. 33In the solitude of the desert one can best be still, see God's sweetness, and cling to him.
34. 34Desert monks build the house of the Gospel on the rock in their hearts, giving up the brief for the eternal.
35. 35In the desert the inner law governs even thoughts: it is evil there not to have done good.
36. 36Monks hide in the desert but cannot hide their merit: they are the lamp on the lampstand and the city on the hill.
37. 37The silence of the desert stirs the mind to God, broken only by the monks' hymns.
38. 38The desert is a fold guarded by Christ, visited by angels, where monks find the Bridegroom of the Song.
39. 39The desert, barren for the body, is fruitful soil for the seed of the Word and a paradise for the soul.
40. 40The desert surpasses every fertile land, bearing spiritual wheat, wine, sheep, flowers and jewels.
41. 41Eucherius addresses the desert: whoever dwells in it finds God and becomes his temple.
42. 42Eucherius praises his monastery of Lérins and its founder Honoratus, Maximus, Lupus, Vincent, Caprasius and its hermits.
43. 43The monks of Lérins already live the blessed life they seek, enjoying Christ and receiving their reward in their labour.
44. 44Eucherius asks Hilary's prayers and calls him a truer Israel who will enter the promised land with Jesus.