E02534: The Life of *Hilarus (abbot of Galeata, in the earlier 6th c., S01239) is written in Latin, presumably at Galeata in northern Italy, probably in the 7th or 8th c.; narrates the life of Hilarus, founder of a monastery in the mountains, and performer of healing miracles and exorcisms. He is buried in a grave he had made for himself.

Life of Hilarus (BHL 3913)

Summary:

§ 1: At the time when the consuls Dynamius and Sifidius ruled Rome [= 488 AD], there is a boy named Hilarus from Tuscia, fearing God since childhood. At home he secretly follows the Christian rule (Christiana regula), comes across the letters of the Apostle Paul, and reads them night and day. He then aims to find a way to leave his family and serve God; he enters a church and hears the Gospel of Luke 14:26 where Jesus invites all disciples to abandon their family to follow him. He asks an old man about the reading, who tells him that at twelve he is too young. Hilarus quotes Mark 10:13 about Jesus welcoming children, and the old man, clearly an angel, agrees to explain to him everything about God’s kingdom.

§ 2: Hilarus thanks God with a prayer and asks Him to send an angel to guide his path and help him in his quest to lead a solitary life. An angel appears and comforts him. Hilarus leaves Tuscia, reaches Aemilia and stays in a deserted place in the mountains indicated to him by the angel.

§ 3: In that place, below mountains, the river Bethes flowing a mile away, a church is built within three years with God’s grace. Below the church, Hilarus builds a cave (spelunca) where he praises God night and day. The place is isolated and Hilarus obtains food with God’s help.

§ 4: When he reaches the age of twenty, he starts following the monastic rule (regula monasterii). An aristocrat from Ravenna called Olybrius is possessed by a demon, who demands to see Hilarus before leaving the man’s body. The man’s family ask the demon where Hilarus dwells, he tells them. Hilarus is twenty-two, of small build and with a short beard. The man’s family is about to reach the place on the second day at the ninth hour when the demon rushes to the man of God. As he reaches the main doors of the church, the angel forbids him to enter until the servant of God finishes his evening prayer (vespertinus carmen), according to the rule (regula).

§ 5: Hilarus frees the man from the demon, thanks God and asks Him for help in converting Olybrius, so that he may abandon the cult of the idols. Olybrius, his wife and their two sons come to the feet of Hilarus and ask to be instructed in the Christian rule (regula). Hilarus starts to think of a way to baptise them. With God’s help, a priest (presbyter) called Iulianus who is travelling from Arezzo (Aritium) to Ravenna comes along. He baptises the man and all his family, around ninety people in total. On the third day, Eustasia, the wife of Olybrius, dies.

§6: Olybrius and his sons Iovius and Eunomius persevere in the rule of the monastery until their death. They have taken all their household (familia) and possessions from Ravenna and given them to Hilarus. There is a property (possessio) of Olybrius not far from the monastery, only two bow-shots away (iactus sagittarum), where he put his servants to work. With God’s grace the place that was a desert is fully cultivated within ten years and yields fruit in such abundance that something is given to widows and the poor every day. Through Hilarus, God performs many miracles, healing the blind and curing any disease. [Hilarus established the following rule (regula) for the brothers: work until the ninth hour; fasting on days without liturgy (dies privati); evening praise (laudes) after eating at the ninth hour, until nightfall, and again from the middle of the night until the morning]. Then an angel appears to him and provides him with a true rule (vera regula) for that place.

§ 7: At that time King Theoderic comes to build a palace below the same mountains over the river Betes, imposing heavy labour services (angariae) on the local people to build his palace. Some people tell him that Hilarus lives with a large household, without following any of the orders of the king. They suggest that many soldiers should be sent to bring them all to the king. King Theoderic is angered and sends forty soldiers to bring them to him. As the soldiers go down the valley and are about to enter the small property to seize his followers (familia), Hilarus prays to God asking for help. Right after the prayer, the soldiers take the wrong route and roam across the mountains for two days.

§ 8: Hearing this, Theoderic, full or rage, rushes on horseback to Hilarus. However, his horse stops a stone-throw away from the enclosure (cortina) of the monastery and refuses to move further because of an angel. After beating his horse, Theoderic falls and is unable to move. He asks two soldiers to go and ask Hilarus to free him. When Hilarus comes, Theoderic falls at his feet, asking him to pray God for the forgiveness of his sins. Hilarus catches his hand, lifts him up and leads him into his cave, where they eat together (fecerunt caritatem) after a prayer. From that day, the king holds the place dear and donates a great amount of money and possessions that the monastery did not have. Hilarus keeps the rule of the monastery night and day. He rules over the monastery, ordering that monks should wash the feet of one another and show respect to one another. He rules not as a pater familias but as one of the brothers of the community (congregatio). Nothing is done without his command in the community, and there is no dispute among them. He established a rule that at the time of harvest, no fruit should be eaten before being blessed by him. The fruits are collected in a basket hidden with a veil; after the benediction, each of them takes a fruit under the veil, without seeing which one they take.

§ 9: One of the brothers called Glycerius (or Clicerius), as he walks amongst the vines at the time of the harvest, sees a beautiful and ripe grape and wants to taste it. As he continues on his way as usual, he remembers the fact and goes to Hilarus to tell him. Hilarus orders him to go and eat it; Glycerius takes the grape but it becomes a huge snake; he comes back to tell Hilarus. Hilarus goes to meet the snake, understands that it is an unclean spirit, catches it and brings it back to the church. At sunset, a demon speaks from the snake’s mouth, complaining about the burning fire that he endures because of Hilarus, and saying that he wants to be sent away. Hilarus learns from the demon that he attempted to take the brother away from Hilarus’ service by tempting him to eat the grape. Hilarus prays, the snake bursts into dust with a very dark smoke, and the demon sinks into deserted places.

§ 10: Refraining from telling all about Hilarus’ life, we tell you what we have seen and heard from his mouth in order to promote peace (concordia) and faith among the brothers. He left rules that he followed all his life: anyone who wanted to enter the service of the Lord had to leave all his possessions to him and these were held in common, so that nothing was given without his permission.

§11: At the end of his life, aged eighty-two, an angel appears to him on the 4th day of the Ides of May [= 12 May], telling him to comfort his community because in three days he will be taken away from this world. Hilarus with great joy summons all the brothers and tells them to keep what he has ordered. The next day he orders a modest burial place (locellus) to be made ready a hundred stades (stadia) away from the church. There he spends the time left him chanting to the Lord night and day. On the morning of the third day, the Ides of May [= 15 May], he leaves this world. Having embalmed his body with perfume, we buried his body with great veneration. I, the least amongst the brothers, have written what I have seen and heard.

Text: Acta Sanctorum, Mai., III, 471-474; Zaghini (2004), 64-88. (Paragraph numbering according to the Acta Sanctorum). Summary (with the paragraph numbering of Acta Sanctorum): M. Pignot.