Lives of the Saints
1. VENERABLE HILARION THE GREAT
Just as a rose grows upon thorns, so this great saint was born of pagan parents, in the village of Tabatha near Gaza in Palestine. His parents sent him for studies to Alexandria, where the gifted young man quickly acquired both worldly learning and spiritual wisdom. Having come to know Christ the Lord and been baptized, he desired to devote himself entirely to the Lord's service. With this desire in his heart, Hilarion visited Saint Anthony in the desert and became his disciple. He then returned to his homeland and practiced asceticism near Majuma, by Gaza. Demons frightened him with various terrors, but he always conquered and drove them away through prayer to God and the sign of the Cross. Around him there gathered a multitude of lovers of the spiritual life, and Saint Hilarion became for Palestine what Saint Anthony was for Egypt. A divine teacher, an unwearying ascetic, a wondrous wonderworker, Hilarion was esteemed not only by Christians but also by pagans. But fearing the praise of men — and saying through tears: "Woe is me, I have received my reward on earth!" — he fled from place to place solely to hide from people and remain alone with his own soul and God. Thus he settled and lived for a time in Egypt, in Sicily, in Dalmatia, and finally on Cyprus, where he ended his laborious life around the year 372, in the eightieth year of his life. The wonderworking relics of Saint Hilarion were transferred by his disciple Hesychius to Palestine and placed in the monastery he had founded.
2. SAINT HILARION, BISHOP OF MEGLEN
Born of distinguished and devout parents. His childless mother long prayed to God to give her a child, and in answer to her prayer the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to her and comforted her with the words: "Do not grieve, you shall bear a son, and he shall turn many to the light of truth." When Hilarion was three years old, from his mouth was heard unceasingly the hymn: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth!" Well educated, he was tonsured a monk at the age of eighteen and founded a monastery with the rule of Saint Pachomius. In the year 1134, Eustathius, Archbishop of Trnovo, ordained him Bishop of Meglen. Saint Hilarion waged a great struggle nearly his entire life against the Bogomils and Armenian heretics. But through his spiritual learning and incomparable holiness, he put them all to shame and led many of them to Orthodoxy. He reposed peacefully and departed to the Kingdom of his Lord in the year 1164.
3. VENERABLE PHILOTHEUS
Born in Chrysopolis in Macedonia. The Turks seized him from his widowed mother and, together with another brother of his, cast them into prison. The Most Holy Theotokos miraculously delivered them from prison and transported them to a monastery in Neapolis in Asia Minor. His mother later found her sons as monks and herself was tonsured a nun. Philotheus crossed over to the Holy Mountain, where he practiced asceticism first in the Monastery of Dionysiou and then in the wilderness. A wondrous ascetic and a great conqueror of demonic power. He reposed peacefully in the eighty-fourth year of his life. He directed that he not be buried but that his body be cast into the forest for the birds and wild beasts. Later a fisherman at night saw a great light in the forest and, being cold, went to warm himself, thinking it was a fire. But the light was not from fire but from the wonderworking relics of Saint Philotheus.
“Woe is me, I have received my reward on earth!”
Hymn of Praise
Holy Hilarion, like a radiant comet,
Fleeing from people, traversed half the world,
But in vain does a star hide from sight,
Its light is revealed to all the world.
Hilarion wished to escape glory,
But from glory the saint cannot flee;
Where God did not reveal him, the demons did,
Terrified by the saint who drives them out.
Wondrous Hilarion, wherever he settled,
Showed forth miracles and healed the sick,
Having conquered his own infirmities and passions,
Conqueror of the world — he subdued the demons.
Hidden in a cave, yet proclaimed to all,
Shunning everyone — yet by all glorified.
Thus the Lord glorifies those who glorify Him,
With crowns He crowns the victorious runners.
When the race of earthly life is over,
Then the crowns of eternal life are given.
The elder Hilarion, in spirit ever young,
Now face to face delights in the Lord.
But even now for us he wages war by prayer,
That by His mercy the Lord may have mercy on us too.
“Holy Hilarion, in spirit ever young, now face to face delights in the Lord.”
Reflection
The all-seeing eye of God watches over all people and in a wondrous manner guides the faithful toward salvation. What at first seems to the faithful as a great loss, in the course of time reveals itself as a great gain. The case of Saint Philotheus and his brother, who for their mother were as if lost, is similar to the case of Saint Xenophon (January 26), and similar to the case of Saint Eustathius Placidas, his wife and his sons. When Saint Philotheus and his brother sat in a Turkish prison in Macedonia, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to them in the likeness of their mother and said to them: "Arise, my dear children, and follow me!" And suddenly the young men found themselves in a monastery in the city of Neapolis in Asia Minor. When the young men told the abbot what had happened to them, the abbot understood that this was from God, received the young men and tonsured them as monks. A long time passed since that event. Their mother mourned them and resigned herself to their loss. Finally she resolved to go to a women's monastery and devote herself to God. And the Providence of God led her to the vicinity of the monastery in which her sons were. Once, at the patronal feast of that monastery, she came with other nuns to the celebration. In the church she saw her sons but did not recognize them. At that moment one of the brothers called the other by his worldly name. That dear name pierced the mother's heart, and she gazed attentively at their faces. And the mother recognized them, and they their mother. And their joy was great; and they offered heartfelt thanksgiving to God. A believing Christian, even in the greatest loss, should not despair.
“The all-seeing eye of God watches over all people and in a wondrous manner guides the faithful toward salvation.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the miraculous healing of the blind Saul by Ananias (Acts 9), namely:
1. How Ananias laid his hands on Saul, invoking the name of the Lord Jesus;
2. How something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he received his sight, and was baptized, and became Paul.
Homily
on the God-inspired heart and tongue
Behold the inspiration of the Spirit of God! The prophet wishes to speak of Christ the Lord, and his heart swells with power and wisdom. Therefore he does not say: my heart will speak or utter a good word, but overfloweth — as though he is bringing forth a part of his very own heart. Like a jet of water from an overflowing spring. The surging water presses in its underground confinement, and when it reaches the opening of the spring, it bursts forth in great jets. Such is the heart of the prophet when he wishes to speak of Christ. Such is the power of grace, compressed within the human heart. If it does not manifest itself in mighty words, or if it does not manifest itself in wonderworking deeds, it will shine within the person and work wonders inwardly. And when it issues forth in words, the tongue of the prophet becomes like a reed, like the pen of a ready writer. For here the person does not labor to compose a thought, nor does he labor to clothe the thought in garments of words, but grace itself wells up upon the tongue with ready thoughts and words. Whence such power in a person? From God the Holy Spirit. Why such power? Because the prophet wishes to speak to the King about the King Himself. I will address my works to the King. Here deed and word are identical, as is often the case in Holy Scripture. Where the Spirit speaks, He also acts; and where He acts, He also speaks. Most powerfully does one speak through deeds. The prophet takes from Christ the King and gives to Christ the King. He speaks with the enthusiasm of love for the Savior of the world; he speaks from a heart brimming with the enthusiasm of divine love. From the distance of time he beholds the incarnate Son of God, and his heart leaps for joy. Like a weary traveler in the night when he catches sight of the beautiful dawn in the east! O Lord God, Holy Spirit, do not withhold from us Thy holy and mighty grace, that we may be cleansed of sin and made worthy of the Kingdom of Christ. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“The prophet takes from Christ the King and gives to Christ the King.”