St. Hospitius, Recluse

“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

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	St. Hospitius, Recluse

May 21

ST. HOSPITIUS shut himself up in the ruins of an old tower near Villafranca, one league from Nice in Provence. He girded himself with a heavy iron chain and lived on bread and dates only. During Lent he redoubled his austerities, and, in order to conform his life more closely to that of the anchorites of Egypt, ate nothing but roots. For his great virtues Heaven honored him with the gifts of prophecy and of miracles. He foretold the ravages which the Lombards would make in Gaul. These barbarians, having come to the tower in which Hospitius lived, and seeing the chain with which he was bound, mistook him for some criminal who was there imprisoned. On questioning the Saint, he acknowledged that he was a great sinner and unworthy to live. Whereupon one of the soldiers lifted his sword to strike him; but God did not desert His faithful servant: the soldier's arm stiffened and became numb, and it was not until Hospitius made the sign of the cross over it that the man recovered the use of it. The soldier embraced Christianity, renounced the world, and passed the rest of his days in serving God. When our Saint felt that his last hour was nearing, he took off his chain and knelt in prayer for a long time. Then, stretching himself on a little bank of earth, he calmly gave up his soul to God, on the 21st of May, 681.

Reflection.—If we do not love penitence for its own sake, let us love it on account of our sins; for we should " work out our salvation in fear and trembling."

Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/

The above text was published in February 2017.

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