But error is slow to die; and long after the introduction of Christianity men
continued to think that GOD would not hear them, unless, like the priests of Baal,
they approached Him in blood and tears. At the bottom of it lay, no doubt, a
truth, that the spirit could be exalted and purified only by contempt of the flesh:
—and not perceiving that what was demanded of them was a moral and spiritual
victory, they sought, by sore treatment of the body, to conquer its sinful
appetites. They forgot that CHRIST had spoken of the body as “a temple,”—the
temple of the HOLY GHOST; that it was as much the creation of GOD as the
immortal soul, and as His wondrous handiwork should be treated with the
reverence due to all that He has made. And they came to look upon the body as a
deadly enemy, the slave and accomplice of the devil, which could be subdued
only by a regimen of pain and terror. And so, when an evil suggestion tempted
them, they scourged themselves until the blood ran from their mangled flesh, or
they plunged naked into the deep winter snow, or barefooted they trod the flinty
soil, or they fasted until the exhausted brain sank into the stupor of delirium.
Thus we read of S. Hilarion:—
Covering his limbs only with a sackcloth, and having a cloak of skin, he
wandered forth into the desert that lies beyond Gaza, and enjoyed the “vast and
terrible solitude,” feeding on only fifteen figs after the setting of the sun; and
because the region was of ill repute from robberies, no man had ever before
stayed in that place. The devil, seeing what he was doing, and whither he had
gone, was tormented. And he who of old boasted, saying: “I shall ascend into
heaven, I shall sit above the stars of heaven, and shall be like unto the Most
High,” now saw that he had been conquered by a boy, and trampled under foot
by him, who, on account of his youth, could commit no sin. He therefore began
to tempt his senses; but he, enraged with himself, and beating his breast with his
fist, as if he would drive out thoughts by blows, “I will force thee, mine ass,”
said he, “not to kick; and feed thee with straw, not barley. I will wear thee out
with hunger and thirst; I will burden thee with heavy loads; I will hunt thee
through heat and cold, till thou thinkest more of food than of play.” He therefore
sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and a few figs, after each three
or four days, praying frequently, and singing psalms, and digging the ground
with a mattock, to increase the labour of fasting by that of work. At the same
time, by weaving baskets of rushes, he imitated the discipline of the Egyptian
monks, and the Apostle’s saying, “He that will not work, neither let him eat,” till
he was so attenuated, and his body so exhausted, that his flesh scarce clung to
his bones.