Hilarion the Younger

CONCERNING ST. HILARION THE YOUNGER, ABBOT OF THE MONASTERY OF PELECETE, AMONG THE GREEKS.

Hilarion the Younger, Abbot of Pelecete among the Greeks (Saint)

[1] If the younger Hilarion's most remarkable holiness had found such a writer of his Life as the great Hilarion had, that one most famous in all Palestine, indeed in the whole world, to be commemorated on the 21st of October, Celebrated by St. Joseph the Hymnographer who he was, when, where, and how he lived, by what miracles he merited the principal veneration of this day among the Greeks, would be clear to all: now we are forced to follow certain obscure shadows, described in the odes of the ecclesiastical Office by St. Joseph the Hymnographer, that one who is venerated on the 15th of July, the brother of St. Theodore the Studite, and was distinguished with him in virtues, learning, and illustrious confession within years 20 and 31 of the ninth century, to whom it is said to have been customary to interweave acrostics into the ecclesiastical chants he composed, and to seal them in a certain way at the end with the addition of his name: which Simon Wagnereck, one of ours, in his Prolegomena to the Marian Piety of the Greeks, number 22, believes cannot be equally well understood of the other Joseph, about forty years younger and an almost extemporaneous Poet: from which you may gather that Hilarion lived at least not long after the year 800, or had not even reached that date.

[2] But though from the said odes only a small historical aid may be derived, he has his own Office among the Greeks nevertheless from them we shall have great evidence for proving a virtue raised above the common measure, and of the veneration on this account shown him by men: of which, as the first proof on this day, besides the said Office, we have another argument from that verse of the metrical Calendar, commemorating one Saint on each day:

Ογδοάτῃ Ἱλαρίωνα κιχήσατο εἰκάδι πότμος

On the twenty-eighth, death seized Hilarion.

[3] To him indeed the Jerusalem Typicon adds (as that published at Venice presents the feasts of the month of March) and not only adds, it seems the eulogy has been lost but even places before him, St. Stephen the Wonder-worker: but we believe he was brought here by error from the preceding day; and that on this day only Hilarion was to be named, of whom alone is the entire canon of the Office, by St. Joseph as its author, as we have said: besides which we suspect that some eulogy of him once existed in the Menaea, from the couplet customarily prefixed to such eulogies: but we only suspect: and the couplet itself is of this kind:

Δοὺς Ἱλαρίων γῇ τὸ γῆθεν σαρκίον Γῆν μακαρίων ᾤκησε τὴν μακαρίαν

Hilarion gave his earthly body to the earth, And dwelt in the blessed land of the Blessed.

[4] But the eulogy that has been lost from this place appears to be the one that on the 4th of May is found both in the printed Menaea and in the manuscript Synaxaria of Clermont and Mazarin in Paris, and with the title of Wonder-worker the various Ambrosian manuscripts in Milan, and the Turin one, as well as in the Chifflet manuscript and from it that which is in the monastery of Grottaferrata of the Emperor Basil, under the surname of Wonder-worker, but so that in the last two the name Hilary is read for Hilarion: which also happens in the verses prefixed to the eulogy in the already-cited Chifflet manuscript, which are:

Ἔγνω τὸν Ἱλάριον ἵλαρον φύσει Ὁς θαυματουργεῖ καὶ ταφῳ τεθειμένος.

I know Hilarion, a man cheerful by nature, Who even laid in the tomb works wonders.

This one, from a boy raising the cross of the Lord on his shoulders, followed the Crucified as his guide, translated to the 4th of May and subjecting the appetites of the flesh to the spirit, received great grace from God for curing all infirmities and driving out demons. For he enclosed himself in a very narrow cell, and placed beyond all tumult and shining forth as if without passions and without feeling, he received the divine charism of the Priesthood.

And persevering for many years in such austerity of life, he became admirable to all on account of his infinite miracles. For he commanded the brute beasts that were devastating the crops, he stopped the plague of hail, he divided a flowing river like Elisha, he healed a withered hand, gave sight to the blind, straightened the legs of the lame and disabled, and performed many other miracles, to the glory of our true God, and thus he delivered his precious soul to his Creator. Which from the odes about to be presented will be clear to apply so aptly to him of whom we are treating here, that nothing else can seem to be lacking, except that, with the printed Menaea and the manuscript Synaxaria, there should be added what is added to the same name under the title τοῦ νέου "the Younger": The monastery of Pelecete also ἡγούμενος τῆς μόνης τῆς πελεκητῆς, Hegumenus of the monastery of Pelecete, but not everywhere on the same day: for what the Menaea and the Basilian manuscript of Grottaferrata, the Chifflet manuscript and two Ambrosian manuscripts have on the 18th of March, is found in the Clermont Synaxarion on the 27th, in the Turin on the 29th, and in the Mazarin even on the 30th. In the Menologion which Sirletus translated from the Greek and Canisius published, the monastery of Pelecete is written on this present day.

[5] This monastery of Pelecete, of this younger Hilarion (whom one must distinguish from the other Hegumenus of the Dalmatians, venerated on the sixth of July and similarly surnamed), seems to have been in Asia Minor this monastery of Pelecete, I say (in Latin we would render it "of the Hewer"), we judge to have been in Asia, and indeed not far from the Hellespont: and this is indicated by those things which from the Life of St. Stephen the Confessor we brought forward on the 12th day of January, treating of the thirty-eight Monks under Constantine Copronymus, whom a certain Lachanodracon, holding Asia with authority, having dragged them from that pious monastery which is called Peleceta, exiled them to the farthest boundaries of Ephesus, and enclosed them in the vault of an old bath and killed them, the monastery having been burned and the other inmates cruelly harassed, of whom St. Theosterictus commemorates that he was one, reported by us on the 17th of March. In a similar cause but not at a similar time, we shall see from the odes of the ecclesiastical Office about to be presented that this St. Hilarion, of whom we treat, was harassed, in which it is said in express words that, honoring the image of God during the persecution, he showed himself a Martyr: and that he himself lived under the Iconoclasts as a Confessor but whether he endured such things at a similar time I dare not say. The rest that can now be said about him, anyone who hears and reads both the odes and the antiphons will understand: from which we first render here the Antiphons (the Greeks call them ἤχοι) word for word.

Antiphon I. Possessing an immaculate life, endurance, meekness, unfeigned charity, antiphons concerning the same from the Menaea immoderate abstinence, watchful standing, divine compunction, firm faith and hope, in the same passibility as others, Father, you lived like an Angel, dwelling on earth in body alone, Blessed Hilarion, ambassador of our souls to God. II. Being an earthly Angel and a heavenly man, O holy man, you possessed a fountain of compunction, a river of compassion, a sea of miracles: and having become a surety for sinners, and like an olive tree truly fruitful to God, with the oil of your labors you gladden the faces of those who faithfully praise you, O Blessed Hilarion. III. Your mind, illuminated by divine notions, obtained from heaven the mastery over the passions of the body, and bearing unmixed characters from these low things, it expressed in itself the divine beauty: and thus, with the Holy Spirit cooperating, you appeared entirely deiform in the highest degree, our Father Hilarion, glory of monks. IV. You consecrated your most blessed life to Christ, having become truly His excellent Priest, O most holy one: wherefore after a thousand labors and exertions you were joyfully translated to immaterial tabernacles, and now you pour down upon us streams of cures.

So far there; now let us hear St. Joseph and at the same time weave into this work an example of the sacred odes among the Greeks, the form of the Greek odes of which we must so often make mention. Which you must be careful not to think are bound by the metrical laws of poets: they are chants, not poems; and the melodies to which they are adapted are indicated by the initial words of commonly sung hymns in the church, customarily prefixed to the individual odes in the Menaea, which it serves no purpose to render in Latin here. For they are constituted just as if, for some new hymn to be adapted to those melodies by which the very well-known hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus" is customarily sung, there were prefixed those very words, significant of the tone alone; which we imitate in Latin as far as the acrostic rules allow without which tone, when pronounced, these odes differ in nothing from prose: and so we too shall give them in Latin almost word for word, as far as the law of the Acrostics will permit, binding the beginnings of individual strophes to certain initial letters: for we wish to imitate this here, and not to omit the invocatory strophes to the Mother of God, with which the Greeks conclude individual odes, just as the Latin Church terminates all its hymns through the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: for these too contribute to constituting the Acrostic; which in the present festival is set forth as follows, together with the name of its author:

Σοῦ τοὺς ἱλαροὺς ἀινέσω τρόπους, Πάτερ. ΙΩΣΗΦ.

which can be rendered in Latin with the same number of letters thus:

I shall now sing your cheerful ways, Father. Joseph.

Ode I.

Ἐν βυθῷ κατέςρωσεποτὲ.

Made compassionate and gentle by practice, and truly cheerful and affable in spirit by the disposition of compassion; in these St. Hilarion is praised deign me, by your intercession, Hilarion, to sing hymns to you now in cheerfulness of heart.

Sanctified from infancy, Father, and taking up your cross you followed Christ, and by constant abstinence and prayer weakening the passions of the body, you were adorned with great tranquility of the same.

Obedient in all things to the divine counsels, for piety you submitted to His most light yoke, Holy Hilarion; and casting away the most heavy burden of sin, O Most Blessed, you assumed holiness.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: Praying to your Son and God, break the chains of my sins, O Most Pure, and the iniquity tyrannically ruling over me, O ever-Virgin, cast down, that being saved I may eternally praise you, O most blameless one.

Ode II, according to the rite of the Greek Office, is to be taken from elsewhere than the Menaea; it is not usually noted in them: we suspect it is customarily taken from the Pentecostarion or, as we would say in Latin, the Ordinary of the Season, and therefore no account is taken of it in the Acrostic.

Ode III.

Ἐξήνθησεν ἔρημος.

from monastic exercises Shining like the sun, your life, O Saint, illuminated the choirs of monks with bright rays, and put to flight the darkness of the demons.

Well cheerful in heart and humble in spirit you were, O Saint, and full of divine charity you maintained perpetual affability.

With eyes abundantly streaming you extinguished the coals of sins: and just as before death so also after death you lead forth a sea of healings for those who come to you.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: Heal the wounds of my soul, I beseech, and govern the motions of my mind to the will of Him who from you was made flesh, O most pure Virgin.

Ode IV.

Ἐλήλυθας ἐκ παρθένου.

With an unwavering eye to contemplate the uncreated beauty of God and to be illuminated by the rays proceeding from it, from knowledge of the Scriptures you disposed noble ascents in your heart and added wings to your mind.

Opening the secrets of the divine eloquences, from them, Father, you drew divine knowledge, and kindly imparted it to all who came to you, Hilarion.

You gladdened the hearts of those approaching you with the sweetness of your words: for doing yourself whatever you taught, you had an acceptable discourse in the affection of compassion, O Blessed one.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: The Lord established you as mistress and lady of all things, O Immaculate: for from your womb He assumed flesh, to redeem His creature, the Lord.

Ode V.

Μεσίτης Θεοῦ.

Weaving for yourself a nuptial garment from your labors, O Saint, you put it on, from the mortification of the flesh and at the same time clothed the prince of darkness with eternal confusion.

You extinguished the pleasures of the flesh by continence, and you received, Father, the cheerfulness of the mind through heavenly grace: healing every kind of disease in men.

Your hands, never not raised to God, destroyed the impiety of the evil demon, Father, and bestowed health on everyone who was infirm.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: Made the deeds and strength of all the faithful and the firmament of the Saints, O Inviolate, for through you all the best things have come to all, and the inhabitants of the earth ascend to heaven.

Ode VI.

Ἐν ἀβύσσω πταισμάτων.

from the variety of virtues Wholly dead to the world, Hilarion, now resurrected to heavenly things you live, and always overflow with the life-giving power of healings.

Pure of vice, most blessed Father, gentle, sincere, affable, holy, easy to compunction and cheerful in spirit, you always were.

Adorned with the affection of mercy, and graced with that beauty which comes from the love of the poor, O admirable Hilarion, you appeared a genuine servant of God.

What great and how irreproachable was the holiness of your life! How honest and gracious your ways! How tremendous are the prodigies which you daily perform, O Admirable one!

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: We cheerfully beatify the Mother of God through generations of generations; as the inviolate bridal chamber of God, the fiery throne of Him who governs all things.

Ode VII.

Ἀντίθεον πρόςαγμα.

from victories against the demon You wounded and utterly destroyed the incorporeal dragon with the sword of your struggles, whence as a prize you received the gift of miracles, for healing the gravest infirmities of souls and bodies.

Your speech was gentle like dew, O Blessed one, driving away the heat of anxiety from those who, Father, approach you with faith, and who are illuminated by your ways, O Saint.

You made the mind the mistress of the affections, and as if triumphing, you, Holy one, openly obtained the kingdom: and his own passions you exterminated the alien nations, O Wise one, and put to flight the destructive passions of the demons.

The winds of rude temptations did not shake the tower of your breast, O Saint: for it was founded upon the rock of the Lord's love, supported by which you were a divine firmament for many.

TO THE TRINITY: O exalted Trinity, I praise you with hymns, unconfused in Persons and indivisible, an incomprehensible unity in nature; one God, Lord of all, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: The grace of the prophetic spirit once prefigured you from afar in symbols; the fat and holy mountain, the gate of salvation, the new book and the ark, calling you, O Immaculate.

Ode VIII.

Κάμινος ποτὲ πυρὸς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι.

from the heavenly glory he now possesses Leaving behind the glory and temporal rest of the passing life, Father, you received in heaven a never-to-be-lost beauty and delights that are not fleeting, where now you cry out: All works of the Lord, bless the Lord.

Spending your whole life in mourning, you were made worthy of the blessedness and that consolation which the Saints enjoy; and now in the land of the meek, rejoicing, you have fixed your tent, as a prudent and wise man, O Blessed one.

Your death appeared precious before God, most holy Father: from his confession for you honored His image, and endured the persecutions of tyrants, Blessed one, and in this you were declared a Martyr.

You manifestly resolved the sorrow of the fishermen and filled their catch, from which they had previously been frustrated, Father, with God hearing your prayers, O most sacred Priest.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: Open for me the gates of repentance, O most dear to God, washing away the filth of passions and the stains of sins from one who often falls and continually stumbles and offends God, O Immaculate.

Ode IX.

Ἀνάρχου γεννήτορος ἡός.

At your tomb healings gush forth, and by the grace of the spirit flowing from it and from miracles the showers of passions are dried up, and with the spirit of error driven away, the hearts of all are illuminated, holy Hilarion, who faithfully proclaim you blessed.

You breathed the sweetness of fragrance into the souls and hearts of all the pious, like a sweet-smelling apple: and like a rose or a fragrant lily you blossomed in the meadow of monastic exercise, O illustrious Hilarion, patron of those who praise you.

You had a sincere mind and a venerable life, true faith and hope and charity, an affection of compassion, generosity of almsgiving, humility and unfeigned ways, O glorious Hilarion, ornament of monks.

Your commemoration has dawned today like the sun, Father, truly illuminating the hearts of the pious with the radiance of your labors and the rays of your miracles: and the very joy of his feast now do you also remember all those who faithfully praise you in it.

TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: We bring forth to you the word of Gabriel, rejoicing, and say AVE, house of the Almighty: AVE, glory of the Saints, AVE, salvation of all, through whom we are made partakers of divinity, O ever-virgin Mother of God.

Thus far he: leaving it sufficiently clear for all to understand, that he was not only preeminent in every kind of virtue, and especially in those which adorn the monk, but that he shone in life and death with outstanding miracles, from which one performed in favor of fishermen who had toiled in vain is touched upon, while the rest are wrapped in general terms. Likewise it is indicated that the prodigious cures of all diseases were customarily reported from the tomb of Hilarion: finally, that the time in which he lived was polluted by the heresy of the Iconoclasts is not obscurely signified in the eighth ode, joining the mention of the Lord's image with the tribulations inflicted on Hilarion by the tyrants, the persecutors of the Church.