Time At Majoma
Hilarion 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, which he ate after sunset.
After he was beset by carnal thoughts, he reduced his diet to the juice of herbs and fewer figs and took to praying, singing, the hoeing of the soil and the production of baskets made from rushes. He was quite starved, "so wasted that his bones scarcely held together" (Jerome), and frequently heard voices, of infants or of domestic animals, which he identified as demons, and had visions of naked women, voluptuous meals, chariots and gladiatorial contests:
| “ | So many were his temptations and so various the snares of demons night and day, that if I wished to relate them, a volume would not suffice. How often when he lay down did naked women appear to him, how often sumptuous feasts when he was hungry! (Jerome, Life of St Hilarion, 7) | ” |
He finally built a hut of reeds and sedges at the site of modern-day Deir al-Balah 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, and 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.
Saint 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 eyesight 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 Syria Palaestina. Visitors started to come, begging for his help.
Read more about this topic: Hilarion
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